The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, November 30, 1951, Image 4
■ * A.". Tifti—
tHE NEWBERRY SUN
Friday, November §6, issi
xm
1218 Collegre Street
NEWBERRY, S. C.
PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY
By ARMFIELD BROTHERS
Entered as second-class matter December 6. 1937,
at the Postoffice at Newberry, South Carolina, under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In S. C., *1.50 per year
in advance outside S. C., *2.00 per year in advance.
Comments On Men And Things . . .
Investors Take Froi
One-Fourth Ai
Only
Business
lount Of Taxes
Big
businessman’s headache,
may call the new tax Federal
laws. A Manager and a Board
of Directors may handle enor
mous sums of money, but they
are always wondering whether
the Company will close its an
nual 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
i man of small means, or the man
without any capital at all, is
more interested than the big,
multimillionaire. Let’s see about
it: the man of millions can buy
Government bonds and sit back
and live luxuriously on the in
terest. He need not fear, for as
long as everybody else is work
ing, the Nation will prosper. And
even the tax-eaters and the gold
en-spenders cannot wreck this
Nation in a year or two. So he
may lap up the cream while the
rest - of us drink heavily watered
skimmed milk. We, on the other
hand, need jobs. Jobs don’t just
happen; nobody shakes a bush
and catches a job; and nobody ex
pects a job to float toward us
from the air. You remember
Mr. Micawber, the ne’er-do-well
character Dickens tells us about;
the man who always expected
something to turn-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 cap
ital investment. Where do they
find the capital? The greatest
corporation in the world has a
million stockholders. Who are
these stockholders? Women, or
phans, men of small means. Of
course there are wealthy stock
holders, 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 city and in every County in
this State; as well as in every
other State. That enormous en
terprise is known as the widows’
favorite because so many widows
own an interest 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
E this City or of New York or Bos
ton; 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 revenue laws to bring in more
money for the defense program
its members were urged by var
ious and sundry to get after the
allegedly swollen earnings of the
big corpdVations. 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 skat
ing in doing so.
Take, for example, the income
account of General Motors Cor
poration for the first nine months
of 1951. Its management has
proved an exhibit showing how the
sales dollar of that period was ap
plied. To the company’s own em
ployes went 26.75 cents. To the
suppliers of parts and material
went 49.25 cents, of which natural
ly a good proportion was paid to
wage earners. Taxes took 15.25
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
integrity of the' company’s invest
ment and its ability to obtain
more capital as needed. Of that
remainder the owners received
5.75 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 motor 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 profits taxes rose by $136
million, accounting 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 do we regard that as
a heavy profit? Do you know
any farmer or small merchant,
any garage man, any filling sta
tion man, any restaurant in your
community, tht would operate on
that percentage of profit? That
means a profit of $500 on $10,000
of business, or $5000 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 $5000 was too high a rent?
Well, try it on one hundred
acres; would $500 be an exorbit^
ant rent in a good year, with cot
ton 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 emergencies; if business
gets slack they can’t shut down
over night and close up.
We have a vital interest be
cause 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 busi
ness.
Wilson Harris of Clinton is one
of the many level-headed, sound
editors of our State. We have
many of them, fortunately. And
by the way, where is my old
friend, O. F. Armfield? He can’t
be in retirement—a handsomei
young man like that. Well, I say
it again, that we are fortunate
in having so many sound men in
editorial offices. My friend, Mr.
Harris, carried a story recently
under this heading “Nation Can’t
Prosper if Folk Won’t Take
Chances.” And he then publishes
a story that brings out the idea
I am trying to present.
I have always been interested
in people. The world is full of
people, most of us of no special
distinction in our personal worth
or quality. Many people may be
in the public eye but have no
personal worth of notable merit;
but many who nev6r appear in
print are real heroes by virtue of
character and voluntary service.
I know a lad who starts early
in the morning at one job and
goes on another job later, then
attends classes. It warms my
heart to see such a spirit. He
has the real stuff of manhood in
him, glorious, achieving man
hood. Nor should it surprise me,
knowing his people; yet that is
speaking too lightly for I know
many fine people whose -sons
don’t reflect the sturdy qualities
of their parents.
How is my energetic and enter
prising young friend to rise in
the business world? He has no
capital in money. Well, some
body else will put up the money
and he will put up the rest.
Mr. John A. Campbell, Presi
dent of The South Carolina Na
tional Bank, delivered an address
in Florence recently that catches
my eye. I quote several para
graphs:
“In 1944 the assessed value of
all property in Florence County
was $12,014,620. In 1950 the as
sessed value had grown to $17,-
141,160, which represents a gain
of nearly fifty percent in the as
sessed value of property on the
tax books. Gn May 15 of this
year the debt of Florence County
(the total debt less sinking funds
on hand) amounted to only $127,-
625. (Municipal debt within coun
ty excluded).
In 1945 Florence County had
13,466 motor vehicles licensed.
At the end of September of this
year, the latest available figures,
there were 21,968 motor vehicles
licensed in this county. Again a
gain of more than fifty percent.
The total capital investment in
productive plants in Florence
County in 1945 was $2,538,000. In
1950 this figure was $5,400,000, a
gain of over 100 percent. The
value of the manufactured pro
ducts coming from these plants
increased from $8,751,000 in 1945
to $12,000,000 in 1950, anther fifty
percent gain.
The State Highway Department
tells me that in 1946 you had 327
miles of state highways in Flor
ence County and in 1950 you had
569 miles, of which there were
313 miles of hardsurfaced roads
against only 67 miles of hard
surfaced roads five years ago.
This county had 1763 farms
which enjoyed electricity in 1945,
and in 1950 there were 2939 such
farms. During the same five-
year period, the farmer in this
county increased their mechanical
equipment substantially. Last
year there were 883 tractors
being used for farming operations
as against only 251 five years ago.
And the number of acres of crop
land harvested !□ steady at about
155.000 acres.
Cotton and tobacco alone will
bring in about $17,000,000 to the
farmers of Florence County this
year. I do not have the produc
tion record on tobacco and cot
ton for the season just ended but
the best estimate I can get is that
approximately 30,000,000 pounds
of tobacco were produced in this
county this year.”
“The state also has made great
economic strides in the past five
years. The capital investment
in manufacturing plants in this
state in 1945 was $495,000,000. In
1960 it was $775,983,000. The
value of products manufactured
increased during those five yeard
by more than $600,000,000 and
in 1950 the manufactured products
of this state were valued at $1,-
708,000,000.
Automobile registration in the
state nearly doubled, rising front
343,064 to 612,209. The state
now affords 22,646 miles of high
way in its system, of which more
than half are hardsurfaced, as
against only 13,770 miles of high
way five years ago.
The crops in this state were
valued at $191,665,000 in 1944;
and in 1949, the latest figures
available, they were valued at
$213,529,000. I am satisfied that
the crops this year will be worth
far more than that to the state.
The resources of the banks of
the banks of the state have kept
abreast of these increases and I
am glad to say that in my opinion
the banks in this state have never
been in better condition. The
total resources of the banks were
$672,300,000 last year. They are
greater now. The banks have
never been in a better position tol
serve the state and I believe that
without exception they are mak
ing an honest effort to perform
the functions which the public
has a right to expect of them.”
NJr. Campbell is not a word-
slinger in a spell-binding sense.
He doesn’t confuse you with a
lot of rhetoric and loose talk: he
is a thoughtful man who speaks
calmly and clearly and leaves
the audience something to think
about. Of course you know some
thing about Florence, the City
of Florence, the * Gateway to all
the thriving Pee Dee.'
I like to know what is going
on. After reading a lot of papers,
magazines and bulletins I drop
in occasionally to talk over con
ditions with Mr. John Campbell
and Mr. B. M. Edwards. Mr. Ed
wards recently t discussed Jesse
Jones’ book with me and he can
throw a lot of light on the Na
tional financing of that era.
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TUSSY MIDNIGHT
COLOGNE & LOTION
Both
$1.00
De Vibliss
ATOMIZERS
$125
3 Piece
EVENING IN PARIS SETS $1.50
Nylon
Hair Brushes 98c
Blue, Red and White
BEAU KITS
$1.00
Ladies and Men
MANICURE SETS
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' Flowers and Gifts for All Occasions
CARTER’S
Day Phone 719 — Night 6212
Car Damage
Can Happen
Windstorms, lightning, collisions can transform a
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Make sure your automobile is protected against all
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For D.tails
C.IM97
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E. B. Purcell Keift Purcell
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Stationery
19c up
2
YARDLEY SETS
$2.35
Lotion and Mug
SEA FORTH
$2.00
Lotion and Talc
Old Spice
$2.00
Shick and Remington
ELECTRIC RAZOR
$19.50 up
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Utility Kit $ 1.98
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