Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Wealth and Income of the American People (1924).pdf/32

10 because it suited their purpose, just as did the idea of an advanced scale of living engage the labor leaders. Both thoughts were as mischievous as was that ancient one of Rousseau’s about man being born free but being kept everywhere in chains.

The quantity theory of money is one of the things that is close to the root of our economic troubles for it contributes to the popular illusion that in some way the wealth and income of the people of the United States increased as a result of the war. When the question is asked in what manner the world could become prosperous out of the destruction caused by the war the preposterousness of such a thought is readily admitted. The illusionists then fall back to the position that while Europe undoubtedly suffered enormously by the war the United States profited at the expense of Europe and gained both in wealth and earning capacity.

The entertainment of this illusion is one of the explanations of the profligacy in living that has characterized us in recent years; and is one of the reasons for the specters of economic disaster that are now stalking around to plague us. Among these is the soldiers’ bonus, which as formulated will mean a distribution of about two billion dollars, at the lowest estimate, among the ex-soldiers. The thoughts underlying the demand for the perpetration of this economic crime were concisely stated in recent remarks by Richard S. Jones, Editor of the Stars and Stripes, the war veterans’ newspaper, as follows:

“There is reason to doubt the soundness of the argument that payment of compensation to ex-service men would be bad for the country at this time. Many authorities hold that it would be a much needed