Montana labor news., 1936-06-25
Business, Industry and
the Townsend Plan
By MARK J. DOEPKER

AEOl III AAAA+NAAaA6N VI NNEAA ~
tween its citizens and the production
of wealth by the members OF society
within its confines.
Too long has the control Of money
in the hands CT a few OF our people
retarded the purchasing power OF
ninety-five per cent OF our population.
The circulation of money, which, in its
essence is not wealth, but the repre-
sentation Of wealth, is what IS needed
TO keep the wheels Of industry hum
ming in the manufactures OF the
country.
Money spent in the channels OF trade
will absolutely turn over many times
before it m to rest in the vaults OF
the hoarders and as it does so, It ere
ates as healthy a condition in business
and industry as good red blood does
in our bodies as it circulates and
feeds the tissues OF our bodies.
Opponents Of the Townsend Plan
never look to the side of the ledger
which the plan benefits. They fail to
recognize that co-existant with its en-
actment, comes the death knell OF all
other forms of pensions to persons o.
the age OF 90 years or better; the
closing of the doors OF the poor
houses; the determination OF the
spendthrift dole, and wasting public
employment in the projects developed
to postpone the inevitable unemploy-
ment that the machine age has thrust
upon us. All forms of charity with its
mounting costs will be dispensed with
because the need for it will disappear,
as If bv magic. Poor houses will be a
memory graft will starve in the desert
OF its own making and the jails and
prisons will find their cells and dun
geons scarcely inhabited. Do II OPP
ponents lose sight of the sigh OF re-
lief Uncle SAM will breathe when
these costs are removed from govern
ment?
Is it not the height of assinity for
millions to want in a land Of plenty Z
My friends, the Townsend Plan is de-
signed to counteract and correct these
conditions.
We view with pride, the machines
that have been designed to displace la
Dor because we propose to utilize them
for the creation Of wealth SO that the
standard Of living Of the whole OF our
people shall be raised to a point where,
youth and prime manhood, manning
the machines, shall create and share in
the wealth created so that our fathers
and mothers, after their active years,
can be supported in decent comfort
by the society, to which their minds
and bodies have devoted the useful
wears and contributed the benefits
thereof. Is it not a shame that rust
gathers on the bearings OF the ma
chimes, because the greed OF the few
who control them, refuse to share with
the workers the benefits which the
machines could provide for all? The
Townsend Plan is directed to the elimi-
nation Of this condition.
No longer shall we plow under the
burrows; no longer shall we let the
implements Of production gather rust
no more shall we curtail the produc-
ton of wealth in any of its forms. In
stead we propose to put our active
members of society to work creating
wealth for all Of our people and per-
hitting them to share in its benefit
till the standard of living in these
United States, our beloved country,
shall be raised to provide a minimum Of
Two Hundred Dollars per month to
each of its citizens over the age Of
sixty who merit it and spend it. We
propose to use the aged to force feed
the draft that circulates the money
through the channels of trade and
thereby keeps constant the production
and interchange of wealth among our
people. =
The transaction tax of 2 per cent is
all that is necessary to provide the
means for this benevolent plan. Trans :,
actions totalling One Hundred Billion ,
per month, the level OF 1929, will pro-
vide more than is necessary for our ,
purpose and honest accountants can
show you where this tax will add but ;
little to the cost of commodities, if !
any at all. A prominent automobile
manufacturer has assured a member Of :
one of our clubs that he would not :
add one penny to the cost Of his car :
but would gladly pay the tax for the
increased business he would do if the {
plan were in operation. You, Mr.. :
Business Man would likewise, gladly :,
absorb the tax to enjoy the business I;
the Townsend Plan would bring. {
Let US apply it to Butte, Montana.
According to the census we would 4
likely have, in round numbers, five +
thousand people in Silver Bow County, +
as beneficiaries of the plan. The $
first month the plan was in operation $
these persons would start into circu- r
lation enc million dollars per month +
in Silver Bow County. Q
Taking the year of lowest ebb in {
transactions, 1884, as a criterion, ac- 5
cording to Dow-Jones Company, noted .
statisticians, every dollar spent turned y
over twenty-five and one-half times so +
hat each dollar spent would transact =
$3.50 worth OF new business annually. II
This means that the $4,000, 10000 b
spent in this county during the year, d
would transact $270,000,000.00 worth of b
NEW business which our merchants b
tradesmen and professional men are
not getting under present conditions, q
A gross profit Of rs per cent on this =
volume would give them a profit of {
approximately 6 ,500,000 on this bust n
ness. And if the net profit was only 4
10 per cent it would mean that our s
people would enjoy a profit from this
NEW business of $27, O00,000.O a year n
which would be in addition to what \