The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1934-11-24

the land is worth much more than the 10
or Is per cent of the wealth allotted TO
IS or 90 per cent of the population.
| Then there is the Industrial wealth OF
THE country, which the radicals would
have us believe is owned by mere hand
full of the nations citizens. Exactly the
contrary is true. First of all there are tens
Of thousands of small enterprises owned
by citizens of small means and the own
ership of the great corporations is not
lodged in a few stockholders put in hum
dreds of thousands.
For example, the countrys largest cor
Lporation Is the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company. Some citizens may
think this greatest of the corporations is
owned by a few nulti-mflfiohaifes. As
matter of fact this corporation is owned
by more than 500, 900 stockholders. Thou
sands Of these stockholders are widows
whose subsistence is derived from their IN
vestments and many more than a hundred
thousand tockholders are employees OF
the company office men and women, tela-
phone operators, linemen and other work
efs. Get the records of ownership of this
They will astonish you, II you
bel6ng" to the great uniformed class of
the country.
The story of the ownership of the A. T.
& r. is duplicated by that of a majority
Of the country's great corporations. Those
who don't believe this should get the facts
from authentic sources and should not be
mis1ed by the prattle of the radicals and
politicians.
The Aluminium Company of America is
always held up as horrible example by
the friends of the common peepul." 1t
is said TO be owned outright by the Mellon
family and the Mellon family is supposed
to be cordially hated by, millions of our
citizens. The fact is the MELONS own
around 80 per cent. of the stock of the
Aluminium Company.
In the boom years, when it was believed
that scores of nilionaires were being
made every day and the millionaires were
Being converted into billionaires over
night, when the country 8 income was at
the highest point in its history, by far the
greater part of that income did not 60 20
the rich but to the workers. Wages and
salaries accounted for ttree-fourths or
more of the country's productivity in the
boom years. During the depression years
only a fraction of the corporations and
business enterprises of the country have
made any profits at all and nearly all OF
the eountry's greatly reduced income in
business has gone for wages and salaries.
Undoubtedly the country has few very
wealthy people and Il has some very poor
people, but the distribution of wealth IS
greater than in any other country and a
larger proportion of the people live in
comfort than in any other country-in
fact, average living conditions in this coun-
try would be considered luxury in foreign
countries.
The conditions existing in this country
could not prevail where FIVE per cent. of
the population owned rs to 80 per cent.
Of the wealth In order for that condition
to prevail it would have been necessary for
the five per cent over a long period #
years to garner rs to 80 per cent of what
the country produced, of its income. Re-
liable facts and figures prove conclusively
that nv far the greater bart of the cOhri-