The Philosophy of Fra Elbertus. I believe in the Motherhood of God. I believe in the blessed Trinity of Father, Mother and Child. I believe that God is here, and that we are as near him now as ever we shall be. I do not believe he started this world a-going and went away and left it to run itself. I believe in the sacredness of the human body, this transient dwelling place of a living soul, and so I deem it the duty of every man and every woman to keep his or her body beautiful through right thinking and right living. I believe that the love of man for woman, and the love of woman for man, is holy; and that this love in all its promptings is as much an emanation of the Divine Spirit as man's love for God, or the most daring hazards of the human mind. I believe in salvation through economic, social and spiritual freedom. I believe John Ruskin, William Morris, Henry Thoreau, Walt Whitman and Leo Tolstoy to be Prophets of God, who should rank in mental reach and spiritual insight with Elijah, Hosea, Ezekiel and Isaiah. I believe that men are inspired to-day as much as ever men were. I believe we are now living in Eternity as much as ever we shall. I believe that the best way to prepare for a Future Life is to be kind, live one day at a time, and do the work you can do the best, doing it as well as you can. I believe there is no devil but fear. I believe that no one can harm you but yourself. I believe that we are all sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. I believe the only way we can reach the Kingdom of Heaven is to have the Kingdom of Heaven in our hearts. I believe in freedom-social, economic, domestic, political, mental, spiritual. I believe in every man minding his own business. I believe in sunshine, fresh air, friendship, calm sleep, beautiful thoughts. I believe in the paradox of success through failure. I believe in the purifying process of sorrow, and I believe that death is a manifestation of life. I believe the Universe is planned for good. I believe it is possible that I shall make other creeds, and change this one, or add to it, from time to time, as new light may come to me. Cumulative Value. The cumulative value of advertising is as effective as the stream of water which washes away the rock. We may read the ad in a favorite monthly publication- and forget it. We may read it again a few days later in another and perhaps retain some lingering memory of the proposition. A third time our attention is attracted and our interest develops to much larger proportions. The fourth attack is indefensible and we succumb. That is the result of strong, liberal advertising, whose cumulative principle applies with equal force in all classes of legitimate publications. It is not good judgment to experiment with one medium, but try several of the best if the appropriation will permit, and if not it might be well to wait until it can be increased. We all want money, but most of us have an honest desire to earn it. The most honest publisher can only deliver the circulation; it is up to the advertiser to use it rightly. Our Silent Partner. Character Vs. Quantity. Many advertisers seem to work on the theory that, no matter what style or character their "literature" may have, if they send it out often enough, and keep everlastingly at it, it is bound to bring results. Maybe it will-but it's a pretty good bet that Mr. Advertiser will either get tired or die before his "system" has a chance to prove itself. It is a generally understood fact that drops of water will wear away the hardest stone; but what if these drops of water could be changed into pellets of steel? We might cut the time down a century or two. Or, still better, suppose a diamond-pointed drill is substituted. The work of centuries is made a matter of a few minutes. Corresponding results will be obtained if our advertiser who is content to peg along, sending out his weak, unconvincing, unattractive circulars, will substitute some straight-out-from-theshoulder talks about his products, written in the most convincing style and dressed in covers that compel attention.-Cover Chat. America's Musical Future. Mr. Henri Martean, the French violinist, during his recent visit to the United States, said: "In America there are many conditions working for and against music. The spirit of commercialism is one thing that, in a great measure, causes a check, but this cannot stamp out the mark of greatness in music if the composer is a genius who is in earnest." He then compares several sections of the country and closes with the following thought, which bears interestingly on present discussions as to the source of characteristically American themes. "In the South have the ideal conditions for the artist. There is the dreamy atmosphere, which will aid a man to think of themes. California, too, is a state where art will flourish. There they have trees and mountains and running water. It is out of the South that the music typically American will ultimately come. Thus far the only music written in this country has been that which has been influenced by German, French, Italian and other foreign composers, but the day will come when there will be music distinctly you American and it will come from the old southern melodies. "They are weird and wild, some of them; others are soft, but about them all is a rhythm which is unmistakably new in music and which will some day bring forth a truly original national music for the country. "Already these melodies are beginning to be popular throughout Europe and though the greatest demand for them is in the dance halls, the time will come when they will be played in the finest drawing rooms of Europe. "It is becoming more and more pronounced each year; better combinations of old strains are being blended and great musicians predict that before many years a new element will have permanent place in American musical literature." "No man is free who has a job which he is afraid to lose." Probably you never heard of the man who said that; perhaps you never will. But honestly now, don't you agree with him? Don't you wish that was your attitude toward your job? Is it a staff in your hand or a crutch under your arm? Or are you like the abject one in the chair, clutching your job with the desperation of a sinking sailor grabbing a floating spar? Has your job become a fetich, to which you have sacrified your manhood? Has the splendid mystery we call life resolved itself for you into a mere sordid struggle to hold your Paper Clothing. So many of us fail to pay proper attention to the clothing in which we convey our written and printed thoughts to the strangers with whom we wish to establish business relations. We have something high grade and strictly meritorious and yet we go after our man with a poorly printed letter-head on a flimsy paper, or a piece of literature so inferior that it goes unread into the oblivion basket. We hire a salesman to go out to sell goods and he understands well that his personal dress is one of the big factors he must maintain at any cost. His personality is the principal thing in landing the order, should the line be a competitive one. The order comes in, is acknowledged, billed out and collected, too many times, on "tramp" stationery. This is a paradox in the business world. Houses that won't for a minute stand for a slov enly salesman and who insist on everything else about their establishments being high grade, will for the sake of saving less than a cent on the paper used in a communication, send out stationstantiality. One class, however, has full appreery which reflects the reverse of dignity and subciation of the benefits accruing in the use of high quality printing in a proper paper setting, and the dollars lured from the pocket of strangers testify to the foresight of the "get rich quick" exploiters of fake investment stocks, etc. In these days when the use of the mails is so large to promote every kind of scheme, many firms have no personal relations whatever with their correspondents. These latter, per se, have largely to form their impressions of the concern approaching them by the way in which the received communication is dressed. An untidy. salesman might overcome faulty dress by brilliant conversation, but the slovenly missive, no matter how profound or how choice the diction, makes its own confession. True, there are instances where the use of cheap paper is admissible, but they are few in comparison to the myriads of cases for which there is no defense. Your best thoughts, your choicest grammar, goes on paper to your correspondent. See that the clothing is not shabby. Midland Trade Times. "Our grand business undobutedly is: not to seek for that which lies dimly in the future, but to do that which lies clearly at hand." "To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." Greatest Lumber Cut. More lumber was cut in the United States last year than in any other year in its history. The enormous amount of 37,550,736 board feet was produced, and the mill value of this was $621,151,388. In addition, there were produced 11,858,260,000 shingles, valued at $24,155,555, and 3,812,807,000 lath, valued at $11,490,570. On the whole, it is safe to say that the present annual lumber cut of the United States approximates 40 billion feet, and that the total mill value of the lumber, lath and shingles each year produced is not less than $700,000,000. These figures give some idea of how vast is the lumber industry and how great is the demand for its products. A glance at the kinds of lumber produced shows very clearly the passing of white pine and oak, one the greatest softwood and the other the greatest hardwood which the forest has ever grown. Since 1899 the cut of white pine has fallen off more than 40 per cent, while that of white oak has fallen off more than 36 per cent. Today yellow pine leads all other woods in amount cut, while Douglas fir-and this will be a surprise to many-comes second. Since 1899 the cut of Douglas fir has increased 186 per cent. Louisiana is the foremost yellow pine State, with Texas, Mississippi, and Arkansas following in order. Washington produces by far the greatest amount of Douglas fir. A comparison of the lumber-producing states shows that since 1899 there have been many changes in their relative rank. Washington, which in 1899 stood sixth, now leads, while Wisconsin, which eight years ago led all others, is now third. In the same period Oregon, Louisiana, Mississippi, Idaho, and California made great strides as lumber-producing states, though, on the other hand, the amount produced in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, and Ohio, fell off anywhere from 29 to 54 per cent. The highest-priced native woods are walnut, hickory, and ash, and the cheapest are larch and white fir. From the fact, however, that since 1899, the average increase in the price of lumber has been 49 per cent, it will not be long before cheap woods are few and far between. If you desire further information on the cutting of lumber in the United States in 1906 write to the Forester, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Fence Posts Made Durable. Woods Given Sixteen Years Additional Service By Preservative Treatment. Fence posts of many kinds of cheap woods which ordinarily would soon decay if set in the ground can be made to last for twenty years by a simple treatment of creosote. Most of the socalled "inferior" woods are well adapted to the treatment, and this is especially true of cottonwood, aspen, willow, sycamore, low-grade pines, and some of the gums. When properly treated, these woods outlast untreated cedar and oak, which are becoming too scarce and too much in demand for other uses to allow of their meeting the demand for fence posts. Impregnation with creosote has been greatly cheapened by the introduction of the "open tank," which can be installed at a cost of from $30 to $45, or much less if an old boiler is used. A tank with a bottom 12 square feet in area will suffice for treating 40 or 50 6-inch posts a day, or double this number when two runs per day can be made. The absorption of creosote per post is about as follows: Eucalyptus, one-tenth gallon; Don't stop to consider, consider and then stop. willow, two-tenths gallon; sassafras, ash, hickory, red oak, water oak, elm, and maple, fourtenths gallon; Douglas fir, quaking aspen, and black walnut, six-tenths gallon; sycamore, cottonwood, and lodgepole pine, seven-tenths gallon. The price of creosote is about 10 cents per gallon in the East and Middle West, 16 cents per gallon on the Pacific coast, and 27 cents per gallon in the Rocky Mountain States. The cost of treating a post will therefore vary from 4 to 15 cents. Froperly treated, it should give service for at least twenty years. Experiments of the Forest Service show that with preservative treatment the durability of lodgepole pine in Idaho is increased sixteen years. The cost of creosote is there relatively high, yet by treating posts there is a saving, with interest at 6 per cent, of 2 cents per post yearly. More important than the saving, however, is the fact that through preservative treatment other woods are fitted to take the place of cedar, of which the supply is rapidly becoming exhausted. Don't tell them how it happened, unless they ask you; perhaps they don't care. One Great National Banking System Controlled By Fred L. Johnson Panics Prevented. Or The Insurance of The People's Money, by The People, for The People. We insure almost everything that we possess, and we insure against nearly every kind of calamity, but, strange to say, we do not insure our money. The writer's idea is that the United States government should establish such measures and such drastic laws as would enforce savings banks and trust companies to give up their present state charters and come directly under the control of the national government, also such laws as would then empower the government to insure the deposits of all banks. It makes no difference how far reaching the failure of a national bank may be, the confidence of the public in its circulating noteseverywhere current, and part of our supply of money is not hurt by the failure, for the Government is back of its circulation and guarantees the same; why, then, should not the Government guarantee the deposits of national banks, and— to go a step further-the deposits of all banks? Why should not the government protect and reimburse depositors of insolvent banks from a special fund created for that purpose? This fund to be raised by means of a yearly tax or assessment on the average daily balance of depositors in all banks, or a tax on the banks themselves. Note: this tax to be based on the depositors' average daily balance, and not on the total deposits for the year. This tax would be very small, never amounting to more than 15-100 of 1 per cent annually. This estimate is ample, as statistics show that the actual average yearly losses from failures of National Banks are less than 1-10 of 1 per cent of the annual average deposits. (The actual rate is 83-1000 of 1 per cent, or at the rate of 83 cents per $1,000.) The writer quotes from 1906 figures, as these are the latest records in his possession. It is fair to suppose that the losses from savings bank failures are a little less than the above, and of trust companies a little greater; but it is well within the mark to figure that 15-100 of 1 per cent would be ample to cover all losses, and that the annual tax of this amount, once a year on the average bank deposits, would provide for all contingencies; but it is sure that the failures in every year would not reach these figures; there would be years when a smaller tax would be sufficient. This estimate also allows nothing for the accumulation of interest, which would consider ably lower the rate of taxation from year to year. The amount of money on deposit in 1906 was, in round numbers, 12 billions of dollars; and an assessment of 15-100 of 1 per cent on that sum would have placed at the disposal of the government, in that year 18 millions of dollars, with which to pay off, immediately, the depositors of any insolvent banks, the government then liquidating the bank's affairs. The advantages of such a plan are many, the most important being the prevention of panics. Bank panics are not caused by people needing their money, but because they want to be convinced of its safety. With the United States government back of the banks, it is sure that no panic would ensue so long as the government endured; the banks would stand or fall with the government. In times of financial stress, when banks are in danger of a run, as they are under present conditions, a government guaranty of the safety of the deposits would make such run an impossibility. This plan would work no hardship to anyone. The government would require bank officials and directors to be more careful in their scrutiny of collateral for money loaned, and would insist upon a better performance of their duties. A better and more able class of men would be elected-men who would be alive to their obligations and who would faithfully keep the trust reposed in them.. The government bank officials would be forced, under such a plan, to make laws and regulations that would be rigid enough to absolutely control the situation. There would be no shirking of responsibility on the part of bank officials; the fact that the government had assumed some part of the responsibility would not make them careless, but rather the reverse; everyone knows "it doesn't pay to fool with Uncle Sam." No burden is imposed on either the bank or the depositor. If the depositor pays the tax, then surely absolute security at a cost of 15 cents or less, once a year, for every $100 of his average annual deposit, is not unreasonable—but the banks themselves can best afford to do this. The majority of banks pay good dividends and should be willing to insure the deposits of their clients without cost to them. In addition to their dividends, the banks have accumulated a surplus of $1.592,122,892 on a total combined capital of $1,640,619,187. Banks are simply institutions to safeguard wealth. and facilitate business; therefore there is no reason for any bank to make the excuse that it cannot afford to pay the tax in question because the records of dividends and surplus show they are well able to do this. This plan would not affect the rate of interest paid to the depositors, nor the rate charged to borrowers; the tax should come out of the banks' earnings; and with the government behind the banks the need of so large a proportion of a bank's funds in surplus would be a thing of the past. A bank that can't afford to pay 15-100 of 1 per cent annually on its average net deposits for the insurance of depositors is incapable of doing business, is a menace to the community, and should be liquidated. This plan would be advantageous to the depositors, the banks, the government and the public at large; its only opponents are a clique of bankers who see in such an arrangement the end of one-man banks, the end of banks run for the Short Talks on Advertising. In most newspapers there is a dead level of advertising excellence, or rather lack of excellence. The advertisements are generally of about the same degree of badness. Probably in every town there are two or three advertisers who secure distinct prominence for their announcements by giving them a little attention and infusing into them a little life and interest. A man doesn't have to get his head very far above the sea of mediocrity to command wide attention. Nine cases in ten, when a man says that advertising doesn't pay, he has arrived at this conclusion because he has expected the newspaper to do it all. If he were to neglect his show window and his store front as he neglects his advertising space he would have still other complaints to make about business in general. If the window were never washed and the display of goods never changed he would not expect people to stop and lose themselves in an ecstasy of admiration; and yet he does seem to expect just this sort of thing for an old, moss covered advertisement. There is nothing magical about advertising. It is one of the tools of trade, just as a chisel is a tool of carpentry. The man who handles the chisel properly can do many useful things with it. If he is careless and awkward he is likely to cut himself. It's the same way with advertising. Because men have short ears is no sign they cannot bray. personal ends of one man or set of men, the end of dummy directors, of memorandum notes, etc. The sound, conservative banker, who realizes that the peoples' funds are entrusted to his care for safe keeping and to facilitate business, would welcome such a plan. Panics would be a thing of the past, as there would never be a run on a bank which was backed by the government; a panic could not exist while the government endured. Nothing can shake the confidence of the people of these United States in the government, and nothing could shake the confidence of the people in a "government-backed" bank. With no panics to disturb trade, business would be stable, prices firm, labor well paid, work plentiful; and the strength of the nation would be sure that the world's powers would recognize its commanding position. The people are demanding some such plan and do not let us forget that "the people are the government and the government is the people." Why Business Men Fail. Mistakes in the choice of professions. Living beyond income, and speculating with borrowed funds. Outside speculations not thoroughly understood. Lack of principle, of fixed purpose, of perse verance. Want of thoroughness, want of fixedness of purpose. Want of punctuality, honesty and truth. Fast living, mentally, spiritually and bodily, lack of attention to the details of business. Want of moral strength. Lack of persistent and protracted effort. Desiring another man's success without being willing to work as that man does, and begin, as he did, at the foot of the ladder. Unwillingness to begin at the foot of the ladder and work up. Trying to do too many things rather than sticking to the one thing one knows most about. Giving money-making the first place, and right-doing a second place. Wavering purpose, non-sticktoitiveness. Because your wife thinks your funny, don't het money on it; she has to live with you. |