Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Wealth and Income of the American People (1924).pdf/218

196 on the stock of goods are held by the bankers whose main business is such financing.

It is a prevalent misconception that the possession of great wealth is an evil which ought to be mitigated by income and inheritance taxes, or ought to be re-divided as has been tried in Russia. The truth is, in the words of C. W. Barron, that “capital increase means railroad and transportation expansion; more transportation and better transportation and cheaper transportation. More capital means more coal mines and thus more coal; more oil wells and thus cheaper fuel and cheapened transportation; more wheat and corn fields; more cattle and pork and thus cheaper food. Cheaper food means more vital energy in the arms of the people; more and larger homes and houses. More saved and invested wealth means more happiness for all. Great fortunes can not be eaten or worn by the possessors. They are for the most part put in productive enterprises, and their fruitage reinvested, employing more labor and steadily raising the price of labor while steadily falls the cost of living. Thereby, the accumulation of capital is easier, and the standard of living is raised.

“There can be no such thing as too much capital accumulation or too great personal fortunes. All power and all wealth can be put to an evil service. There is nothing in the world that is good but that can be reversed into an evil. There can be no excessive accumulation of capital so long as human nature has an unfilled want or aspiration. The great need of the world today is capital accumulation. The great danger of the world today is the lack of capital accumulation.”