The Detroit times., 1917-03-08
The Small Investor
~ Or. FRANK CRANE
Copyright. 1915. by Frank Crane)

IL is impossible TO resist the conviction
that the small investor is veritable
bonanza mine Of unworked capital which
our financial nabobs have been walking
over, all unknowing.
The coming big factor in finance Ia the
enormous power of the aggregated lit
ties. Whoever will tap that swollen
reservoir will not only vastly quicken
the development of the country by a
flood of new capital, but will render ser
vice to the people.
What to do with ten thousand dollars
is not much Of problem. Hundreds of
experts stand ready to advise YOU The
real, genuine problem, of the crying
kind, is what to do with ten dollars.
Not knowing how to save il. the ordi-
nary man spends it. And when there
are million or so ordinary men the
waste becomes alarming.
would like to raise my feeble voice
here, and say TO Mr.. u. S. Government:
ut looks like war. You are talking Of
selling a billion dollars more or less of
bonds for preparedness. Why, oh, why,
will you turn to the big financial manip-
ulators to engineer this transaction
Why not come right directly to me, and
Jones the grocer, and Perkins the rail-
way conductor. and Mrs. Francina the lit
tie milliner across the way, and all the
rest of Us small fry? To be sure we
haven't any million dollar humps. But
take Us all together we have so many
ten dollar Jumps that we could buy and
sell the big fellows. Put your billion dol
lar bonds on sale, in denominations Of ten
dollars each. at every postofice In the
United States, and ask the people for
the money. You would get 1t before .
week passes. Because we have it; reg
ular money. too, cash.
You wouldn't have any brokers conn.,
mission to pay. Use your postmasters.
They're already paid.
"And think Of the moral effect of hav-
ing the millions Of people financially In
terested in the governmentp
A corporation has recently been FORM
ed in New York State for the purpose of
selling what they call thrift bonds" 1t
proposes to purchase bonds such as are
suitable for savings banks investment.
including municipal, county, state and
national bonds, and with these as secur-
ity TO issue it's certificates or thrift
bonds to be placed on sale In denomi-
nations as low as $40 each. They will b
sold to department stores. cigar stores,
drug stores, and other retail distributors
for 1886 apiece, and will bear 3 per cent
| interest. A trust company will keep the
securities, collect the interest on them,
and pay the interest on the thrift bonds.
The point In this is good one. The
president of this enterprise gives 1t In
these words:
"As long ago as the fan of 1912 l b.
gan to think about the possibility of get
| ting some form of safe investment that
would be as easy TO buy as cigar or
ten yards of dress goods.
What started me was a talk with
relative who asked my advice about In
vesting the tag end of small legacy.
She said it was pity she couldn't go to
department store and buy something
that she was sure was safe - and feel
while buying II that she was getting the
same courteous and efficient service she
got when buying other things"
The cure for the prohigacy and I'M
thrift of our nation is 10 make 1t SIM
pie and easy TO invest small amounts OK