The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-11-23
40


100000 56.51%, 1000
100000 60.01% 1850
There! Who wants to be rich,
anyhow?
Now what do you suppose that poor
rich man is going to do about it?
Well, ordinarily when a man is in
danger, he takes the quickest way out.
Last Wednesday we compared his po-
sition to that of a man in the same
field with an angry bull. Does any
one think the rich man is going to sit
still and smile at that bull till it
cores him and losses him on it's
horns? Not much! He didn't get
rich doing that sort of thing!
He is going to jump over the fence
to safety. He is going to buy Lib
erty 1-2's, which are absolutely
non-taxable and which at present
prices yield him 8 IL per cent. And
that yield will not be reduced.
OF course, he isn't going to put all
his capital into Liberty FPS He
can't. It is tied up in. his business
lumber, oil, manufacturing,
shipping, etc. But he's going to
transfer some of his taxable invest
ments into Liberty 1-2's and he's
also going to. put a goodly share of
his yearly income into them-after he
has kept out something for carfare
and the washwoman and little to
run the house on from week to
week.
And what he does this year he is
going to do again next year, and the
next and for several years to come,
because this income tax is here to
stay a while.
Now let's go back again to what
Secretary McAdoo said, namely, that
100000 people took $1,000, 900, 900
of the First Liberty Loan. Thousands
and thousands Of those people have
already taken steps to convert their
1-2's into AS. Many thousands more
are going to do so before next May
because if they don't happen to have
these things pointed out to them they
will naturally want per cent. rather
than 8 IL per cent.
There were $4,000, 100000 of the
IL per cent. bonds, 500, 10000 are
already lodged in wealthy hands,
and they are going to stay there! That
leaves a floating supply of $1,000, 000,-
900. Conversions will cut that down
very materially, perhaps in half, or
even more. (And don't forget that
the yearly buying power Of those s.
626 large incomes mentioned last less
on Is over $3.50, 000,000.)
Now what happens when the supply
diminishes and the demand increases?
What happens to sugar? What hap
pens to coal? What happens to la
Dor? The price goes up!
And that is exactly what is going
to happen to 3 Ia per CEN Liberty
Bonds. They are going to rise In
price. It is risky business trying to
say when, or how much, but they are
going to rise, you may be sure OF
that, unless all past experience counts
for nothing. Their superior merits
are going to impress themselves grad
ually upon the large buying power Of
the country and 1t is not only prob
able but almost certain, that'they will
sell a good deal higher than the AS
within a very few years.
In private conversation with indf-
viduals the writer has been making
this prediction for the past six weeks.
He hardly expected it to be fulfilled
so soon, but if you will look at the
sales of Liberty 1-2's and As on the
New York Stock Exchange daily
from Nov. 16 to Nov. 2, you will see
that the 8 LIS have sold higher than
the AS every day. At one time the
8 1-2's were $3.50 higher than the
As ON each 500 worth of bonds.
Why? Is it because people would
rather have 3 IL per cent. than
per cent. on their money?
Now suppose that IN a year or two
the price of a 500 Liberty IL is
IS higher than that of a 4 per cent
bond. If you have converted into a 4
per cent. bond you will get SO cents
more interest each year on each $10O
worth of bonds. It will take 10
years for that extra SO cents to
amount to SIS, while if you keep your
8 IL per cent. bond you stand an
excellent chance of making that IS
in much less time.
Before we get through with these
lessons we will tell you something
about prices that prevail on govern
ment bonds. And When you under
stand more about that phase of the
matter you won't think that a IS diff
ference between these two Liberty
bonds is very unusual.
In the meantime do you begin to
see why we said, Don't convert 90
The poor rich man isn't going to stay
poor unless he has forgotten how to
use his money. And in using it he
is going to help you make money,
too.