The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-08-13

EsAAsa London. Aug. le.--tThere ss go
f@sss to be no profiseering 70 far as
ssss Il concerned" was the statement
de by Leonard j. Martin. the man
"a ITO bought 10000. zee yards Of linen
frs N the government for $se.oee.ooo,
a good deal Of interest naturally
~ tiers In the man who cornered n
4 70 portion Of the worlds supply OF
sss..cn by buying all the Aircraft
Equipment section. ct the government
xassDoeal board. had on hand. Nat
Sss-tatiy. too, the world has lively in
ss.tsAst in what he means to do with II.
,fr Martin is human dynamo.
il whom action is practically CO.
Il ident with decision. He plunged
II, . one of the greatest individual
s,mercial deals without detailed
,wiedge of the goods he was pur-
Il sing.
I'll have jumped into this thing"
= ia Mr.. Martin frankly. without any
7 ss,hand knowledge OF the linen
/ .ssiness-
u.s. My line is agricultural machinery.
l5f,i l have the second largest bust
- in the world in that trade. But
Z Il concern runs itself now. and !
W come into this line mainly be-
: Use had nothing else to do.
'iday when / saw the possibilities
this deal and returned TO Jump into
I bought over the heads OF every
iv else, simply by offering a higher
CO than anybody else would pay.
negotiations took only few
aks, for everybody seemed scared
1 the size of the deal.
I am fascinated by the possibilities
Z this thing. | have never seen a
i opposition with so much scope IN the
1 arkets of the world.
There are no stocks Of linen any
vt.cre, ana very little raw material
q 4ailahle The ordinary traders in
haen have shown themselves pig
1 tied.
Then have a sufricien, amount of
& iff TO make it well worth while TO
! 4 . big propaganda.
why, II I spend a quarter of mil
ESn dollars in placing the stuff on the
i nrld's markets II is nothing by COM
! arison with the probable turnover.
There IL going to be no profiteer-
Z ( ~ far as ! am concerned.
II zee that II is already suggested
4 at the government should not have
J snded the whole stock over to one
i ,an, but look al the other side of the
/; cture.
1T may surprise the public TO know
4, at the bulk Of this linen was manu-
sartured after the armistice was sign
81. The Belfast manufacturers de-
xhnec TO allow the government 10
Lack down from their contract,
What they wanted to do was TO
Iay II ali for Is. t2scl a yard. fMr.
ssartin's price works out at round
i cures about 2s)
They had previously declared that
III NaE no good for commercial pur-
l.,ees, and had advised the govern
1.irnt to burn it,
; Yenrs' Normal supply.
The purchase represents three
ssnrs' normal supply OF this class OF
ltnen. For two years the linen mills
ave been making nothing but this
esuR.
TT is absurd to say that 1t liz NO
rood for commercial use. For mems
linen suits. which are worn universal
n In warns climates, II is both lighter
rid better looking than that usually
exed.
For handkerchiefs i, is a hundred
II cr cent more durable than the liner
handkerchiefs.
The linen had to be Of the highest
Quality that could be made for the
purpose--fhe covering of areoplant
rsinge-for which 1t was intended
They had to get strength and light
Il eight in combination, and that
could only be done with the best ma
t.rial.
THE Belfast manufacturers have
Iltcen waiting till the government
would accept their price.
las the government has instead
sold to one man, you can stake your
lnat dollar that the treasury will sec
10 It that ! pay out all right for al
the duties and taxes that are pay
s.bis. They can check me as an in
tiividual more readily than they couic
check q combine Of manufacturers.
n III should make a million pounds
q 8.00o,o00) profit. there will bt
iz00.0 pounds TO go back to tn,
SreAsury in excess profits, and another
'.eso. 900 pounds in supertax to that
The government will gain $50. DOT
hounds out of tht deal
Again this stuff has been on, Offer
since January, but only f20o worth