University of South Carolina Libraries
* — * r4~ Thursday, November 29, 1951 COMMENT ON MEN AND THINGS Br The Spectator A businessman’s headache, I may call the new tax Federal laws. A Manager and a Board ol Directors may handle enormous sums ol money, but they are always won dering whether the Company will r close its» annual report with a profit or a loss. You and I have a very real interest in the profit. You do not have to be a millionaire to have an interest in successful, profitable operations. Perhaps the man of small means, or the man without any capital at all, is more interest ed than the big, multimillionaire. Let’s see about it: the man of mil lions can buy Government bonds and sit back and live luxuriously on the interest. He need not fear, for as long as everybody else is working, the Nation will prosper. And even the tax-eaters and the golden-spenders cannot wreck this .Natipn in a year or two. So he maj lap up the cream while the rest of us drink heavily watered skim- *med milk. We, on the other hand, * need jobs. Jobs don’t just happen; nobody shakes a bush and catches a job; and nobody expects a job to float toward us from the air. You 1 remember Mr. Micawber, the ne’er-do-well character i Dickens * tells us about; the man who always expected something to tum-up, but who didn’t use his energy to bring it to pass: something would just happen, you know. You can’t build great plants that way; nor great stores, nor great farms:" they require what we call a capital in vestment. Where do they find the capital? The greatest corporation in the world has a million stock holders. Who are these stockhold ers? Women* orphans, men of ssmall means. Of coursCj there are wealthy stockholders, too, but they don’t own the Company; and they don’t manage it; for their holdings are a small part of the total. By the way, Mammoth Corporation of New York has stockholders in this State; as well as in every other city and in every County in this State. That enormous enterprise is known as the widows’ favorite be cause so many widows own an in terest in it. And you and I can buy an interest any day, if we have the money; we can buy one share of stock for less than $200, or we can buy five or ten or a hundred shares. We can buy stock in any bank of this city or of New York or Boston; or we can buy a share or ten shares in any. one of a thou sand great Corporations. These concerns perform a great public service and they employ millions of our people. All that comes from the profits, the earn ings on the investment. Well here is the business man’s headache: “All the while that Congress was working on a revision of the rev enue laws to bring in more money for the defense program its mem bers were urged by various and sundry to get after the allegedly swollen earnings of the big cor porations. They did pay a good deal of attention to that advice, but it may be doubted whether many of them realized on what thin ice they were skating in doing so. Take, for example, the income account of General Motors Cor poration for the first nine months of 1951. Its management has pre pared en exhibit showing how the sales dollar of that period was ap plied. To the company’s own em ployees went 26.T5 cents. To the suppliers of parts and materials went 49.25 cents, of which natural ly a good proportion was paid to wage earners. Thxes took 15.2' cents. Now the total of these items is 91.25 cents out of each dollar of sales; only the remainder of 8.75 cents was left to maintain the in tegrity ol the company’s invest ment and its ability to obtain more capital as needed. Of that re mainder the owners received 4.75 cents in dividends, little more than one-fourth as much as was given up to tax collectors. It wasn’t a particularly good time in the mo tor industry; General Motors’ net sales were almost the same as in the same months of 1950 and its net earnings before taxes were down by $193 million. Nevertheless income and so-called excess prof its taxes rose by $136 million, ac counting for a decrease in final profit from $702 million to $375 million.” When we read that a great steel corporation earned a net income of five cents on a dollar of sales! profit? Do you know any farmer or do we regard that as a heavy small merchant, any garage man, any filling station man, any res taurant man in your community, that would operate on that per centage of profit? That means a profit of $500 on $10,000 of bus iness, or $5,000 of profit on a $100,- 000 volume. I like to talk to my brethren of the farms: If you “rented out” a farm of a thousand acres, with all necessary buildings, would you think $5,000 was too high a rent? Well, try it on one hundred acres; would $500 be an exorbitant rent in a good year, with cotton nearly forty cents a pound, tobacco around fifty cents and beef cattle pawing at the skies? And, worse, * they don’t pay out all that net profit; they hold back part for emergen cies; if business gets slack they can’t shut down over night and close up. We have a vital interest because we find jobs and the job-holders spend money; and the wage-earner really supports the business of our towns. When the business does not make a profit you soon see even the corner grocer looking gloomy. And when someone invites you to buy a share in a new business you hold your money and say “No”; I can’t risk my thousand dollars”! But somebody, probably many men, “risk” their money in every business. Wilson Harris of Clinton is one of the many level-headed, sound editors of our State. We have many of them, fortunately. And, j by the way, where is my old friend, O. F. Armfield? He can’t be j in retirement—a handsome young man like that. Well, I say it again, I that we are fortunate in having so many sound men in editorial offices. My friend, Mr. Harris, car ried a story recently under this heading “Nation Can’t Prosper If Folk Won’t Takp,Chances." And he then publishes a story that brings out the idea I am trying to pre sent. I have always been interested in people. The world is full of peo ple, most of us of no special dis tinction in our personal worth or quality. Many people may be in the public eye but have no person- many who never appear in print al worth of notable merit; but are real heroes by virtue’ of char acter and voluntary service. I know a lad who starts early in the morning at one job and goes on another job later, thep attends classes. It warms my heart to see such a spirit. He has the real stuff of manhood in him, glorious, achieving manhood. Nor should it surprise men, knowing his people; yet that is speaking too lightly for How is my energetic and enter prising young man to rise in the business world? He has no capital in money. Well, somebody else will put up the m9ney and he will put up the rest. THE CLINTON CHRONICLE Page Fire SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICL* “The Paper Evevrybody Read*” Headaches .... Headaches which are associated with high blood pressure, sinus trouble, low blood pressure, nervous prostration or those termed migraine may be easily corrected thru the modern appli cation of scientific Chiropractic. Consult Dr. C. J. Hart, 254 West Main St., Laurens, S. C., for complete details. No obligation for consultation. Write or call 22501 for free booklet entitled “Headaches, What Chiropractic Will Do for Them.” Hours: 9:00 to 5:30 Phene 979 LOANS $10.00 to $50.00 and up Friendly, Courteous, Confidential American Credit Corporation Ted Marr, Manager 104 W. PITTS STREET — CLINTON, S. C. Automobiles - Furniture - Signature “NOW is the time to pick up EXTRA SAVINGS for the Christmas holidays! Visit your nearest Dixie-Home and make my Shopping Test by comparing our prices with those you have paid elsewhere! Then, you’ll see how much you can save!" TRUE SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY IS OUR RULE FOR COURTESY Only Florida’s Finest Stamped “Seald-Sweet*' Grapefruit 3 17 C Extra Largs Honduras Cocoanuts ^ 21 c California Red Emperor Grapes.... 2 - 23 c Canadian Waxed , Rutabagas... 3 Seald-Sweet "Zipper Skin” Florida Tangerines 2 ^»29 C ■ -t*. Vitamin-Enriched—Yello Brand Colored ('4-Lb. Prints) Margarine.. - 21 c An Exceptionally Good Buy! Florida Fine Quality Dixie Orange juice Stock Your Shelves! Georgia Gold Field Peas & SNAPS 2 Buy A Supply And Save! Libby's Garden Green Lima Beans 46-Ox. Can No 303 Cans No 303 Can 19' 27' 23' Libby’s Nutritious Strained Baby Foods. 3 - 29 ////// Xv Swift's Creamy-Smooth Peanuf Butter 35* I Sliced Bacon 48 c Dixie-Home Features A GIGANTIC Pork Sale! Dixie-Home's Pinky Pig Sugar-Curad Slow-Smoked Lb. 16' Enriched •*Spoil-Proof” Grits Aunt Jemima. ^ Rich Com Taatel Freshly Ground Corn Meal... ^ 30° For Hearty Fall Appetites—Baby Lima Beans Economical Tasty Pinto Beans Lb. Callo Bag Lb. Callo Bag 14' 14' Rib End Haalthful Sliced Pork Roast “> 47c Pork Liver 36c Economy Cut Pinky Pig Pure Pork Pork Chops “> 49c Sausage “ 49c Country Style Meaty Smoked Ham Back Bone “ 47c Patties . “ 49c Fresh Tasty Pork Straak O’ Laan Brains.. “24c Bacon.. “29c A Good Buy For Several Meals—4 To 6 Lb. Smoked PICNICS u> 45' Dixie Thrifty tc Sate! Buy any item listed below at the regu lar price shown, and get an extra item of the same kind for only 1c. Dixie-Home Quality Paste Wax £ 49 c Dixie-Home Creme Furniture 12-Ox. Bot. um Aic-numc v*rcme r urn Polish. Easy To Use—Dive-Home Glass Wax 39 Pint Can 39‘ Auto Polish 49 c Dixie-Home Quality Mahatma Long Grain RICE 3-Lb. Cello Bag 39 c Swift's PREM 12-Ox. Can 51 c New England SYRUP 12-Ox. Bot.- 22* ' Kretschmer’s Vacuum Packed WHEAT GERM 12-Ox. Jar 28^ Armour Pantry Sheif! Armour's Sugar-Cured Chopped 12-Ox. Can Armour's Rich Savory 16-Ox Can Armour’s Smoky Flavor Vienna i* Can Armour's Meaty Corned armours sugar-cured Ch< Ham Armour's Rich Savory Beef Stew Armour’s Smoky Flavor Vien Sausage.. Beef Hash38' 57' 53' 22' Armour’s Tender Roast beef 51 c HM Delmonico Macaroni Or SPAGHETTI Jolly Time PDPC0RN Toilet Soap IVDRY SOAP i • ^ r--- For That Ivory Look IVORY SOAP 7-Ox Pk« 0C I06x Can 20® 2 kge Six# 29® 2 Siza ' ^ JO For Family Wash DUZ Fine Shortening CPISC0 1 Toilet Soap SWAN SOAP Mild Pur« SWAN SOAP LO* Pk0 30® 3.U) Can JO® 2 *«• ^ y® 2 s.xa 29® Granulated Soap SILVER DUST For Fine Washables LUX FLAKES Shortening SPRY Buy 3—Get 1 Free! DIAL SOAP 31 ® Lga Pkg 30® in. c ggc Special M ft fir Complexion U Sa<» -4Mb Pack Only * wW