called insurance. The amount of money which a careful business man sets aside from the unusual gains of prosperous years to secure himself against disaster from losses in lean years is not profit."
A single plant is known which though now making large contributions to the supply of necessaries, and earning substantial profits that may prove purely illusory did not pay any return for over thirty years. Could anything better illustrate the absurdity of indictment for its present transactions than the proof that it at last was making a large percentage of profit, especially as the high prices now prevailing must mean more lean years to come?
A most highly instructive instance of the uncertainty of money is given by Professor Fisher:[1] "A farmer inquired from the manufacturer the present price of a certain type of buggy, such as he had bought once before. The price quoted seemed to him outrageously high, and he accused the manufacturer of 'profiteering,' reminding him of what the former price of the buggy had been. The manufacturer * * * * discovering that the farmer had previously paid for such a buggy by a shipment of wheat * * * replied: 'If you will ship to me for the new buggy the same amount of wheat you shipped for your old one, I will gladly ship you the buggy, and, in addition, will ship you a piece of household furniture and a good kitchen stove.' In short, everybody is eager to take advantage of rising prices, but feels aggrieved if anybody else snatches the advantage away. Thus the high cost of living becomes a veritable apple of discord.' * * * The fact is that among
- ↑ Fisher's "Stabilizing the Dollar," Chap. III, Sec. 14, page 73; also Sec. 15, page 75.
