, 1922-11-19

H-ELLESLET HILLS, Mass Nov
w 1t-Thomas Edison hAs submit
ted 20 b san engineers O. the Bah
son Institute his plan for stabilizinE
business and breaking h '"ckhone
q the high cost OF living. He has
authorized the following popular do
scription OF his theory-the first com
plete story OF his startling plan
with characteristics sudseity. ht
goes TO the heart OF economic he
He 10 afford the ordinary
consumer cheaper commodities. 10
furnish the producer with ready caPE
tai and security and to eliminate such
parasites as unnecessary middiemen
and dishonest specuiators-by estab-
fishing the government as country
great middlcman and by making or
binary commodities as well as gold
the basis or currency.
The Government on the Job.
Sometime at the suggestion
Of Henry Ford and tier Edison de-
voted himself TO study h causes Of
economic unrest. His solution Of this
momentous problem Is now under the
scrutiny Of The abiest economists and
business experts At Wellesley.
His is; is simple and startling. He
would have the government list some
forty basic commodities. such as cot
ton. corn. copper. coal. wheat, flax.
iron. and then taking the prices OF
the last twenty-five years rs a basis.
establish an average price FOR each.
This price no would have determined
In terps OF gold and called a unit or
a dollar.
He would have h government take
over or establish great warehouses
and storage plants. when the pro
Queer is ready to market his product
he bring. it to the agent at the gov
warehouse. who gives him .
certificate covering his whole deposit.
and at the same time pays him half Of
the value OF the deposit, as computed
on the twenty-five year basis. in cash.
The government then stores the prod
net.
When n dealer wants wheat. coal,
cotton or a'y other commodity ne
buys the producers certificate on the
market;h he presents II at a warehouse.
=. Us the government back the money
advanced and takes the product away.
The government.fixed average price
safeguards the producer from the
vas Of dishonest speculation. The
- Il. L.. -rzuHWv.a e-A-a
the government affords him a ready
capital. The certificate he receives
is put on the market subject TO the
ordinary laws of supply and demand
But the certificate does not depend
on the gold in the treasury vaults but
on the commodity in the warehouse
In one sense the Edison plan is a
return to the ancient system of barter
as far as Tho completely of modern
life will allow.
How the Farmers Would Find II.
Unit money in the Edison plan Il
not money in She popular conception
that is, metal money or money with
a metal basis. The day when metal
furnished the most exclusively pract-
ical basis for n medium OF exchange
as wei as a measure of value has.
according 10 Edison. gon by. His
money would still be determined In
terms of gold. But instead OF gold in
the treasury vaults being its only ba
sis. you would have wheat in the
government bins, coal in tho govern
ment pits rice in storage. cotton in
the warehouses. etc.
"-An articles deposited.i in the ware
house, said Edison. bear the same
ratio when loan Of unit money Is
made. only one kind of unit money Is
issued together with the deposit Ger
t~ificate.
Suppose a farmer puts in the
warehouse 1000 bushels of wheat
graded by the government as No. /
red. The average price for 20 years o
this grade, including high war pricei
is, say 81 per bushel, The farmer
is given $500 in unit money-he then
can hold his wheat by means OF his
certificate until he thinks the pric,
is satisfactory and thus be independ
ent of the spectators who low sc;
the price ahead months before the
crop is reaped. This certificate is
bought on the exchange. at market
price now. say Sis for No. 1 red.
The farmer would get sG5O-as the
wheat is higher than the 25.year av
erage. II, on the other hand, it was
selling at 96 cents he would only
get s46O.
But the unit money would not
vary. 1t would always be the same.
because wheat would not be likely to
be sold over a period of one year for
80 cents. In other words. the certi-
ficate or equity would have to he
yalueless to impair the value OF the
unit money.
The averages are changed every
year, a new year being added and
the earliest year of the twenty-five is
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