The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1919-10-17
SPECULATION ORGY.

NOT only are the people Oh America
beset with the sin OF extravaganza to
an extent never before known but all
over the country there is perfect
orgy of speculation. People of the
country are wild with the idea of get
ting rich quick. They are eager to
seize upon any scheme that promises
unusual rewards for their money.
Newspapers from one end of the coun-
try to the other testify to the rapidity
with which get-rich,quick schemes are
put over. Seemingly the people are
no longer content to pursue the old
stony pathway of endeavor in order to
get ahead of the world. Methods by
which success has been achieved in
the past are altogether too slow for
them now.
Enormous sums of money are being
put into speculative. enterprises in
this country. Men who can i'll afford
to lose the small accumulatons of
years of toll and effort are putting
savings into ventures that are at the
best of doubtful nature. 1t is esti.
mated by Federal authorities that
since the first Of the year hundreds of
millions of dollars worth of liberty
bonds have been sold in order that the
money might be invested in enter
prises of doubtful merits. In addition
thousands of these bonds have been
directly exchanged for speculative
i stocks. There is no better or safer
investment in the world than liberty
bonds. They do not pay very heavy
interest return and that is true OF
the greater portion Of really safe in
vestments. But the principal is safe.
That cannot be said Of stocks in
thousands of enterprises that are be-
ing promoted all over the nation.
1t is frequently stated that men do
not get rich unless they take chances.
The very opposite of this is more
often true. Men seldom speculate or
take, chances until they are financial
ly independent and usually in such
cases they take care that investments
of this character even If total loss,
will in no way impair their capital
In other words they risk only what
they can. afford to lose Too many
people now are risking what they can
not afford to lose #.
This mania for extravaganza is
largely responsible for the orgy OF
speculation. People are spending
more than they feel that they can af-
ford unless they are able to supple
ment their incomes through some
scheme that will make an enormous
return on a small investment They
are told in glowing details of the for
tunes that have suddenly been made
in similar fashion. They never heard
of the, fortunes that have been lost
through speculative schemes. They
do not stop to realize that for every
bonanza there have been dozen OF
more failures. Or either they do think
of this, but with that fatal optimism
of which Americans are so thoroughly
infected, they fancy their shemes i'm
mune to. such disaster, Others have
lost, will doubtless continue to lose
but the enterprise in which they have
invested is sure and certain to yield
surprisingly large returns.
II Americans would steer closer tt
shore. be less extravagant and re
sist the speculation mania, it would be
much better for our country. The ma
sltion is staggering under a tremen
dous load of debt and taxes. These
in the end can be met only by the say
ings OF the people. 1t is duty tt
save and equally one to safely invest
those savings.