Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1950-02-23
MONEY ISN'T OUR
REAL WEALTH

THE ANNOUNCED PURPOSE @
l the promoters of the welfar
state is to redistribute the wealtl
of the nation among a greater mum
Der of the people. But they hav,
not told us how that is to be &C
complished.
Wealth is far more than the mon
ey of the nation. To redistribut,
the money might not be an impos
sible job. II each of the $50 million
people were to be apportioned al
equal share of the nations money
each would be allotted approx
mately 500. That would not go fal
under present conditions.
The real wealth of the nation
is the value of its factories,
railroads, farms, mines, for
ests, live stock, buildings, mer-
chandise, and all the other
things to which can be as
signed a money value. United
States Steel represents a mon
ey value invested In its plants
and equipment, but how can its
plants be redistributed? II
might be divided among those
who have jobs with that COM
pany. If that were done one
man could be allotted a ham
die from a machine, another a
wheel or a few bricks. In the
end no one would have any
thing of value, and no one of
those employees would have a
job.
As it is United States Steel Is
owned by more people than the
number Of its employees. But rel
atively few of those owners are
people of wealth. The vast major
ity are those who have thrifty
saved from their earnings, thai
through such savings they might
provide their own security fol-
their non-working years. 1t was
largely their money that provided
the machines, the machines and
equipment that is United States
Steel.
Whatever the welfare state,
or its successor, the sOcialistic
state, may take from that cor
pOratiOn, II is taking from a
greater number than those TO
whom IL would be redistributed.
The only thing the welfare state
could do would be TO, directly
or indirectly, cOnfiscate the
plants and equipment of that
corporation, and TO do that
would be to take from those
the welfare state is supposed to
serve by its program Of rcdis-
tributiOn.
The government could confiscat.
and continue to operate the plants
of the nation-not alone United
States Steel, but all production ano
transportation plants, large and
small-and in so doing so continue
TO provide jobs for present work,
ers. 1t would mean operation under
the direction of government bureau
Gratis. entirely unfamiliar with the
needs Of production in the plants
to which they were assigned. That
would result in production loss
and either higher prices to con
sumers or decreased wage scale,
or higher taxes from which tc
make up the loss. That is what
happened in England.
Such a government can be op
Grated only as a dictatorship. The
English people have found this &c
be true. The English workman is
today told at what job he can work,
where he will work and at what
wages. He must accept those con
ditions, or else. The English farm
er is today told what he must
raise on his farm, how much anc
at what price he must sell his crop
Should he disobey the DEGREES the
dictator can and has deprived thai
farmer of his acres and assigned
him TO other work. Such thing.
are but the beginnings.
The English peope have en-
jOyed the freedoms Of the in
dividual, as have we Ameri-
cans. They have lost those free
doms. as we will lose them.
The socialism Of today In Eng
land started less than five
years ago as a welfare state.
AS we are seeing IL In Amer
lea today, there was no men,
tion TO the English people Of
socialism. In this country we
have heard only Of the well
fare state, with an occasional
mention Of social" or ma
tiOnaI' planning, but a welfare
state there, as II will be here,
is but a fOrerunner Of social
ism, and the end is commu-
nism as dark as that of Russia,
with all the evils of an extreme
dictatorship.
All OF the welfare spending
means longer spending. and 1t can
not be long before all the sum.
must come from the little men.
=
Our only defined foreign pol
icy Of this time Is that pre-
scribed by President Monroe.