The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1935-09-13

Application of a stub pencil to
the back of an envelope immedi-
ately shows that about two percent
of population in society's fluffy
upper crust were getting more
than twenty-five percent Of all in
come, while forty percent of popu-
lation in the soggy lower layer
were able to annex less than thir-
teen percent of the national pay
check. In short:
Two and One-half million who
were Princes had more than
twenty million dollars income.
Fifty million who were Paupers
had less than ten million dol
lars income.
Mariner S. Eccles. Banker and
Governor Of the Federal Reserve
Board, admitted a much wider in
come spread when he testified be-
fore the House Banking Com
mittee on March 9Th, 1895, and
said,
"At thetop of the boom, ore
tenth of one percent of families,
at top of the income list, re-
ceived as much as forty-two per-
cent of families at the bottom
Of list"
This was in annual income, not
wealth. Income for the masses is
almost wholly salaries and wages;
income for the classes is largely
dividends, interest and rent. Veal
tn concentration is therefore al
ways greater than income, distri-
button shows. Anyway, it was six
long, hard years ago these bedevil-
ing conditions obtained. They were
bad, but,
"Of comfort there was left one
crumb, TO-wit: the worst was
yet to come"
Upward flow Of profits, divi-
dends, interest and rent have con-
tinued to concentrate wealth since
1929. but an automatic process has
been even more effective. Fore
closures, sheriff sales, assign
ments, bankruptcies and liquida-
lions of divers and sundry kinds
have coursed like little whirlwinds
all over the economic landscape. To
the value of billions of dollars
ownership was transferred from
the Have Nots to the HAYES. AS
concentration increased you and l,
and hundred million more of
victims, have taken up hole after
hole in our belts and wondered
when Mr.. Roosevelt would begin
delivery of that "more abundant
life"
Our economic and political mas
tiers undoubtedly know, with fair
exactness, the present extent of
wealth concentration and who are
not paupers. We of the common
herd, who produced the wealth, are
not privileged to share that secret.
A fair idea can be had from such
information as comes to hand
Look some of it over and do your
own guessing.
In population of 125 million
people:
(a) Fewer than two million pay
federal income taxes.
! (b) There are about two million
operators of small independ-
ent business. Much of this is
mortgaged to and virtually
owned by Big Business.
(c) There are six million farms,
valued at forty billion dollars,
and in hook to banks and loan
companies for seventy percent
of value.
(d) Nearly eighty percent of all
wealth is corporation owned
About ten million persons own
all the stocks and bonds of
corporations.
(e) Two hundred giant corpora
tions have assets aggregating
nearly one-half of all national
wealth. These are owned by a
few thousand people and con-
trolled by less than five hun
dred men.
(f) Private debt has forged chains
of real ownership and control
that we cannot follow. By
pyramid process, and to a
total aggregating ninety per-
cent of the value of all prop
erty in the country, these run
back to the counting house of
Wall Street Princes.