New-York tribune., 1918-04-07
The Wealth of the World and
MIR. George L. Record

We doubt not that very many Of our
readers were deeply interested in the
letter we printed on Friday from Hon.
George l.. Record, candidate for the SEN
atorship in New Jersey. We had spoken
in lightsome vein Of Mr.. Records plat
form to finance the war out of the "sur-
plus wealth. of the nation.
Mr.. Record wishes us to be more Sc
rious, and because an enormous number
of people think, or rather feel, as Mr..
Record does, we are glad to be so. AS
the burdens of the war increase, and as
under the Administration policy of un-
restricted and inflated bank credit expan-
sion the cost of living and the cost of
the war go higher and higher, there Will
be more and more of just such talk of the
transcription of wealth."
The argument of Mr.. Record, and all
like him, is specious and extremely seduc-
tive. In nutshell it is:
We conscrpt the young men of the
nation to fight the war. Why should
we not conscrpt the riches of the rich
to pay for the war?
The answer is very simple. In the
first place, we are conscripting "wealtl"
that is, the incomes of the rich-and
to very heavy extent.
Secondly, all the income of the rich
would not pay for quarter Of what the
war will cost us when We really get into
the war.
Finally, real "conscription Of wealth"
is to all intent, a physical impossibility.
No nation has ever been able to DO it;
and if we tried it. it would be exactly
like man opening the veins in his wrist.
Stored up wealth alone makes possible
the modern scale of production, the pres
ent standard of living and the modern
conduct of war.
In the present war there are, it is esti-
mated, seven or eight men engaged in in
dustrial production for the war--that is
to say, the utilization and transforma-
tion Of wealth--to every soldier at the
front. Mr. Record shares the popula;.
delusion that the nominal cost Of the war
IS the real cost, and that the manner in
which this money is collected is an i'm
portant matter
No one knows what the real cost of the
war is. 1t may be that this real cost is
zero, that in the speeding up of industry
the enormous stimulus to production and
the huge enhancement of wealth through
enforced saving will actually pay for the
war while it is going on, and pay for it
many times thereafter within a genera
ton. Be that as it may, the nominal cost
of the war, in bonds and taxes, repre-
sents but a slender part of the wealth
actually employed in prosecuting the
war, which might readily be anywhere
from fifty to hundred billions, and
possibly great deal more
The Bureau of Statistics publishes fig
ures to show that the "wealth" of the
United States is now $50 billions or more.
The figures are absurd. The only real
measure of wealth" is production or in.
come. The income, or the total of goods
produced and services rendered, of the
United States this year-reckoned in
dollars and cents-may readily be fifty
billions. It has been estimatcd much
higher.
If this be capitalized on a per cent or
per cent basis, then the real "wealth"
of the United States is easily thousand
billions or more.
In the face of this colossal total of act
uai productive capital, what becomes of
the puny fortunes Of Mr.. Rockefeller or
Mr.. Henry Ford and all their like?
They are bagatclle
The income Of all the billionaires ard
miiiionaires in the United States does not
represent more than or per cent nj
\ the actual income ct the people Of the
United States.
II all their "wealth" were equally di-
vided, it would not make difference of
10 per cent in the actual income of
other people
1t every penny Of it were taken. it.
would not pay for running the war from.
say, the first Of next January for ninety
days-possibIy not sixty.
These are the facts about that "syrnlns
wealth" which 50 deeply disturbs Mr..
Record and al! like him who arc possessed
by what may be called the "Catiljnc" or
"anti-rieh" complex.
Mr.. Record is especially disturbed be-
cause Mr.. Rockefeller SHOULD get back
bonds for turning over to the government
S2O,OO0,00O Of his income. II is very
popular TO assaiI Mr.. Rockefeller, and to
envy the "enjoymcnt" the mark
ne hag had out of his great riches. W..