Marion Progress

WHEN WEALTH IS SHARED

In case you are among those who
are clamoring for a division of the
wealth, you will be interested to
know that if the total holdings of
the five big fellows and the three
hundred others whose wealth is es-
timated at five million or more, were
divided equally among all of
us,
your part would be $20.35.

That is assuming that all great
fortunes are available in cash, which
is not the case. Most of them are in
stocks and bonds which, if thrown
on the market would not fetch par.

Mr. Mellon's $94,000,000 if divi-
ded among our 127,000,000 popula-
tion would net each of us 75 cents;
Mr. Morgan's $50,000,000 would provide
40 cents for each of us; Mr. Ford's
$500,000,000 would increase the
chicken feed by $5.00 for each; Mr.
Hearst's $200,000,000, would net
each person about $1.60, and the
same figure would apply to Mr.
Rockefeller's $200,000,000. The to-
tal wealth of the above five, $1,-
044,000,000, if divided among all
of us would leave each $8.35 richer.

Which is hardly worth waiting for,
and nothing to split our
shirts
about.

And then if some "soak-the-rich"
politician should succeed in over-
turning the established order, the
next move would be to "divide the
land." and that would be something
else. There is more real wealth in
soil than in cash, and the apportion-
ment would be more attractive.

Wouldn't there be a howl if the
slum dweller found himself with all
entitlements to a plot of ground
that cut the cow pasture half in two
and included a bricks portion of the
clover patch?

When you see a young man busy
attending to his own business you
may feel sure that he will one day
be an old man with some business to
attend to.

What with fishing and swimming
coming along the average business
man will hardly have time to make
any money this summer.

Getting mad with
a newspaper
because it doesn't print everything
to suit your opinions is a sign that
you are not sure of your opinions.