Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-10
NATIONAL INCOME
GROWS STEADILY
Return of $745 Per Capita
Is Shown in Economic
Survey.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.
Dispatch to The Star.

Congress, "big business" seems 70 DC
lees concerned than at any time IN
generation. Has business had change
of heart or is this new attitude-so sur
prising to many-due to certain eco
nomic features which do not seem 20
show on the surface?
The ''pauper wage levels In Europe
argument has begin duly resurrected 10
justify a higher tariff. But the wage
bill to manufacturers In the United
States has been rapidly dropping. They
were able to get along with 4OO,Uoo
fewer men in 1927 than in 1928, re-
ducing their wage bill by $160,00O,ooO
Then industry has made substantial
savings by using less labor ana more
machines and power. Prof1ts nave noC
been decreasing in the face OF "1orelgn
pauper labor"
mining CORPORATIONS combined with
still larger group increased profits pc
tween 1928 and 1928 by "a per cent.
Our export trade last year was greater
than. any year since 1920. But imports
into the United States have been drop
ming steadily since 1927. At present the
American market is 96.16 per cent sup
pligd by domestic manufacturers; pacK
in 1914 it was 95.8 per cent. DO Glie
foreign manufacturer has mace no N
crease vet in the home market. QUITE
the contrary-relatiVely' they nave
slipped. .,,..oo;,,, r,,-
rope in its share of foreign trade WIN
Australia and Latin America: IN
every instance Americas share OF trace
has substantially grown. Even IN tne
very strongholds of Americas chel
rivals. Germany, Great Britain, Fratice
and italy, the United states mas IN
creased its share of imports into THESE
countries. ,-. o,,4,,,,t
greater than ever, profits mounting, the
home market over 90 per cent In the
hands of domestic manufacturers, ana
exports rapidly increasmg-pernapS
here we have the answer why pig pusl.
ness" in the manufacturing neid Is no 2sS
so concerned as 1t once was with tarLI
walls. But what of agriculture! 1ha'
is another story.
Prof Morris A. Copeland, in recent
economic changes in the United states,
saws the total realized income IN the
United States for 1928 was STAB per
capita. with paper profits excluded.
since 1914 our national income mas
steadiIv Increased. From $35,6O0, O0O,-
200 in that year it rose to sos gu, OO0'-
600 in 1919; in 1920 1t was S74 ,ooo,oOo,-
600: in 1921 and 1922, years OF depreS,..
sion. it showed decreases, but IN 1879 ~
still further to $50 900, 900, 900 last year.
But when we divide this amount INTO
the number of people in the Unlteo
States, $745 per capita Is notnlng 70
brag about. Nobody could live on tnat.
Where will the money for food, clotnlng,
shelter. doctors bills, ETC.. come from
We are prosperous in the aggregate'
but how about the millions OF nolVL-
duals who are not able to BUY a new
suit of clothes. much less a ne% I "a
every wear? What can the "equal o1'l-
sion" nropagandistS say to this?
Agriculture has Jared the worst OF
ali The proportion of income gong
TO agriculture over 13-year perloo ma
decreased 3 per cent. TINS is que u,
mart to increasing induStrializatlon ano
partly to q change in the relative re-
Enumeration of agriculture; w.
But after all, what Is income? How
does it differ from profit? 1t Is marc
matter to separate earned from -
earned" income for. purposes OF 'ax "a
tion. Any attempt to appralSe tne
leverage personal income" Is mere
e1,esswork, There is an $4,000, 000,OOG
difference between our realized ano
leash" income. Realized income is IKE
counting chickens before they haIcn'
It may or may not be what 1t is es'i-
i Such estimates then must be taken
with q grain OF salt.
Motor buses are not having every
thing their own way either. 1ney AaEe
their problems, too.
Taxes on motor coaches have been
increasing steadily for years until now
the average annual total taxes agalnSl
motor coaches are almost twice as much
as they were in 1924.
There is no uniformity in the assess.
ment of registration fees. The so-calleo
Especial" taxes have increased not only
in number, but in amount. All states
now have q gasoline tax, and In only
nine of them is the tax as low as Z
cents a gallon, or less. Inc genera
trend appears to be toward maximum
gas tax of 5 cents per gallon. one
state now has Cor will have) 6 cents
tax. Gasoline taxes amount to As pei
cent of the average annual taxes palo
on motor coaches. =
The increasing amount OF taxes i
bad enough, but when the States have
no uniformity of method in taxing, the
motor coach officials are kept con-
stantly on pins and needles wondering
what will happen. next. The States
can't agree regarding the basis on
which a motor coach shall be taxed
Should they be taxed upon the wear
and tear" on the highway. weight. size
kind of tires, or what? Nobody seems
to know. It is one grand guessing game
The problem Is becoming more acute
too. now that the railways are running
motor coach lines. What reasonable
taxes" in the motor bus field are prob
ably never will be agreed upon.
Still, that's nothing unusual. Taxes,
from the beginning of time. have always
been paid under protest"
For q scientific tax plan has yet to be
formulated.
The number and sizes of investment
trust and finance companies Is 1ncreas-
ing apace. During the last few weeks
several new, gigantic finance companies
with assets Of $100000,000 or more
have astonished the financial world.
The public has been so eager to buy
their stocks that they soon have mar
ket quotation so to 200 Der cent higher
than the nquidating value OF their as
sets.
This looks like nothing more nor less
than a creation of Values in hundred:
of millions of dollars What will be the
effect of such artificial imitation upor
the future?
These large finance companies arr
the natural result of the trend toward
| the consolidation Of corporations. They
are not organised by wildcat promoters
but bv some of the best known men II
| industry and finance. A number o.
them are confined primarily to the pub
| lie utility and railroad fields, some Il
| the Industrial. while others operate II
| the banking and insurance fields.
The tendency Of the public to pay
such fancy prices for their stocks recalls
the situation Of IS years ago, when tht
public paid huge sums for the good vii
| Of United States Steel and American
Can. The late Thorstein Veblen asked
| the banking house then why they die
not CAPITALIZE on their good will like