The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1920-09-11
WEALTH AND LABOR

ganized labor at each and every occasion" Matthew
Wo vice president Of the American Federation of la
Dor, said:
"War has brought this nation to the verge Of
cataclysn as it has other nations The world has
destroyed much of the real wealth But yet in spite of
the fact that these nations for years have produced
only to destroy life and to destroy the wealth Of each
other find recorded in financial records that the
wealth of the nation today greater than it has been be-
fore. Reconcile, if you WILL four years Of destruction
of life and wealth. Consider the stream of human blood
rolling the plains Of France and then behold that the
wealth of the nation is greater than it before
But this intangible wealth. this artificial capitalization
is the of worry to the ruling classes. Therefore,
these appeals to the wageearners to produce and
still more SO that these inflated valuations may be made
| good
What is real wealth? In the national sense it is the
sum of all things having real value 1t Is expressed in
terms of money because money the recognized meas
ure of wealth. But money is faulty measure because
it is elastic. house, for example, may be worth $4,000
this year and worth $4,000 next year. yet it is the same
house. probably little deterorated and its actual value
somewhat less instead of greater. We cannot however
find any way to fix its actual value 1t cannot be positive
measured by COST for it may cost 20 build at one
time than at another We cannot declare its real value
be the selling price, for that may vary also with cond
TONS may vary indeed with the conditions of the seller
The same house may have value to one man and
another value to another. Yet must be
had and the world has found no better than money
In economi there is value in anything that is
not measurable in terms of money. The wealth of the
nation generally represented by the estimated value of
its real and personal property of all kinds expressed in
dollars Our aggregate wealth in 1912 estimated to
be 000 based upon the of 1910 The
census for 1920 still to give such estimate for our
present wealth, but whatever it may be it will be ex-
pressed in terms of the present doar which has lower
value than in 1872 and although the figures may be much
larger than those of that year cannot know the exact
ness how much richer we are nor indeed that we are
richer at all.
There u.s. however, nothing intangible in this wealth
whatever it may be- 1t consists of things of roa value
of land and its products Of factories and machinery of
of houses and buildings Of all kinds of railroads and other
of transportation, of all innumerabe articles of
property of the stocks Of gold and silver and
other metals These are not intangible and they cons
tute the real wealth of the nation is expressed in
statistical reports But there is vast potentaity of
wealth in the productive power of the nation power that
constantly turning brains and muscle into tangible
property and whatever may be the of money
only through that productive power that wealth pro-
duced created Labor and labor alone creates tang
BILE values, labor of mind and muscle
But labor cannot produce without the means of pro-
ducton Grain cannot be grown without land seed and
the implements of husbandry. Flows cannot be made
without machinery and materials What call capital
in the industrial is the agency that supplies the
of production 1t is essential to labor and labor
essential capital Neither exist without the other
They complementary not inherently anagonstic, as
Mr.. Vol would have think, they need to work in
harmony to obtain the best results for BOTH Loss of
production throughout the world is the of imitation
Inflated valuations" cannot be made good by produc
ton but, the contrary production is the way to
remove such fictitious valuations. Mr. VOL reasons
against his interests The way to increase tangible
wealth and to decrease the intangible by the production
of the tangible things which constitute real wealth.
"The mastering classes feel in danger" says Mr. VOL,
land labor the other hand realizes that its power
greater that before because the only thing that sub
stantiae this documentary wealth is the production of
labor the fruits of my and your TOLL This is the call
class antagonism and it is in theory is
in principle. Not in that way is labor to find its reward
et no one beguie you with the dreams of idcness of
the passing of employment, the abolition of employer
and employee" said Senator Harding, the other day
Life without toll if possible would be intolerabe
stence Work is the supreme engagement, the sublime
luxury of life. And there will be employers long as
there leadership among men, and there will be en-
plowes until human progress is parazed and the devel
opment of human kind dies common altar of me-
diocrity Our problem then is to find the highest order