Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1918-04-05
Profits of Stockholders In Mail
Order Houses Stagger the
Imagination.
CUSTOMERS SUPPLY CAPITAL
One Man Makes More Than $3.50 900
on $4,000 investment In Nine
YearS--Hundreds Like
Him,
(Copyright.)

1HcFe ID one way W udhc AuOIeS ny
dealing with the mail-order houses but
it isn't by buying goods from them.
The man who thinks he Is making
money by buying his goods from mail
order houses has only to read Of the
amazing profits made by some Of these
big corporations to realize that all the
money is being made by the man on
the other end of the deal.
The stockholder in big mail-Order
concern tolls not and neither does he
spin, but he piles up his money SO fast
that it makes the ordinary mans head
swim to read about it. Here is the
experience of the stOckhOlder in one
of the large mail-order concerns, as
told by reliable financial journal. It
gives a glimpse into the inside work
ings of the mail-Order business that
should be of interest to those who
have made such things possible.
How the Game Works.
In 1908 this man bought 900 shares
Of stock in the mail-order corporation
in question when the stock was selling
around $40 a share, the 600 shares
costing him a little less than $4,000.
In 1911 the company declared stock
dividend of 33 1-3 per cent. In other
words the company after paying cash
dividends regularly, had accumulated
surplus profit Of One-third of the
amount of capital invested in the
I,,k NVrt % OF ;h11ti tiY,,r
this profit among the stockholders the
company kept the money in the bust
ness and issued stock for that amount
TO the stockholders. By this action
200 more shares of stock were issued
to the man who had originally bought
GOO, increasing his holdings to 300
shares, without his having put any
more money into the business.
Another stock dividend of so per
cent was declared in 1915 and this
added 400 shares more to his holdings,
giving him 1900 shares in all. A third
stock dividend of 25 per cent was paid
early in 1917, bringing this mans
stock holdings up to 1900 shares, still
without his having paid in any more
money. On this 1,500 shares Of stock,
cash dividends of So share are now
being paid. This investor therefore
is now receiving $4,000 a year from
his original investment of about S25,-
600, and as the stock is now worth
around $3.50 a share, the present mar
ket value of his stock is $240,O00, Civ
/ LII 4 6 -, IA
tion to cash dividends which he re-
ceived during nine years, amounting
to many more thousands of dollars.
Only One OF Hundreds.
This is the story of just one small
Stockholder In one mail-Order concern.
A profit of more than $215,000 made
| by one small StockhOlder In nine years
On an investment Of less than $4,000!
It reads like fiction but it is financial
history. There are hundreds of other
stockholders in this and other Inail-
order corporations, some of whom
have made millions while this man
made thousands. Add the profits of
Ill these stockholders together and the
result is a sum that staggers the imag-
! nation.
Small wonder that the men who own
he stock of the big mail-order houses
IAN i've in palaces, ride in the highest
priced automobiles, own palatial pri-
rate yachts and buy 100000 paint
ngs. But who has furnished the
money to pay for the palaces and the
automobiles and the yachts and the
100000 paintings? The people In the
country and the small towns who have
Iept an endless stream of money flow
ng into the Golfers Of the mail-Order
houses have made all this possible.
Their millions of dollars have gone to
he big cities to build up these great
concerns. Their millions Of dollars
nave provided the automobiles and
Fachts and other iuxuries for the
stockholders In these corporations.
Present From MalI-order Buyers.
These men who have piled up such
big fortunes In the mail-Order busi-
ness have not even had to pay for
much of the stock from which they are
now drawing princely dividends. The
I people In the country and the small
towns, generous souls, have bought 1t
for them. This is shown in the case
of the stOckholder just mentioned, who
originally invested. The generous
mail-Order buyers have made him a
present Of $215,O0O worth of stock and
he has not had to turn his hand over
to get it. He has never even had to
so much as write a letter to get it.
The generous mail-order buyers have
handed it to him on golden platter
There's money in the mail-order
business without a doubt, but Its on
the side of the man who does the sell
ing and not the one who does the
buying. If you must do business with
the maiI-Order house, buy some of its
stock and let the fellow in the next
town buy you automobiles and private
yachts while he struggles with the
hard times that come from draining
his town of the cash that goes to keep