The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1920-01-06

a deep study Of economic conditions
is not to abolish capital and capital
lists, but to increase capital by ever,
citizen becoming capitalist. II is thu
contention Of the Savings Division
of the Treasury Department that il
is possible for every American to be-
come a capitalist, in greater or less
degree, by regular saving and invest
ment in government securities, such
as War Savings Stamps, Treasury
Savings Certificates and Liberty
Bonds.
'sNsxt to personal liberty says
Lawrence Minct in the Mex York
Times, "the one thing without which
life is not worth living, is capital.
ANYTHING whatese. &c capita; ;s:.... K i ~.
value lies in continued use as distin-
guished from immediate consumption.
There is no form of human activity
that is not dependent on a supply of
capital in some form.
Moreover, capital always reduces
the cost of living Increased capital
means increased efficiency and in
creased efficiency means lower cost
of production. In this respect it is the
exact opposite of increased wages
which, except to the extent that they
represent increased efficiency of the
worker, mean always higher cost of
production. There is at this time
good deal of feeling against capital
and those who provide capital No
doubt much of this feeling is due to
failure to distinguish between capital
and the capitalist. Capital is always
heneficient force.
"Hitherto the mass of our popula-
ton has absolutely neglected the duty
and necessity of providing capital,
which is vital to our existence. II has
depended on the savings of a small
part of the community with the re-
suit that few men hold in thrall the
lives and fortunes of the many.
The remedy lies not in the de-
struction of capital, which is vital to
our existence and beneficient in pro-
portion to its abundance, but in TAX
ing out of the hands of the small
class the duty of providing it, in
recognizing its fundamental import
ance and in having the community it.
self and every man in it, according
to his ability provide the capital nee
essary to our life and well being.
at is estimated that the total in
come of individuals in the United
S-ntes is $4,000, 100000, of which
rs per cent. belongs to families hav-
ing an annual income of $4,000 or
less. A saving and investment of ten
per cent. of this income would pro-
duce an annual fund of $4,000, 00O,-
900, available capital three fourhs of
which would be furnished by the
great mass of the population"
Mr.. Minot declares that if the
members of each community set aside
proportion of their earnings and
invested in some form of capital, the
capitalists as we now know him,
might not entirely disappear as some
might voluntarily save larger per-
centage than the others, but he would
be shorn of his power over mems lives
and capital would be in large part
owned by the people as a whole.
"Every man would be a capitalist"
he continues, "and the war of class
against class would disappear"
Hartley Withers, an economist of
worldwide reputation, says: "Capital
is a first necessity of industry and
a greater abundance Of capital, by
quickening industry, would tend TO
lessen the risk of labor disturbance
by increasing the demand for labor
and so improving its reward.
If we are right in contending that
the concentration Of industry on ar
ticles Of necessity would help to