sending out waves and waves of de- 
pression. 
Until recently, there was very lit- 
tle system in business and there is 
still practically none in agriculture. 
Highty percent of the people of this 
country are living in cities and towns 
with a population of over 5000, leav- 
ing the other 20 percent to feed this 
great majority. The agriculturalists 
of this age are using the antiquated 
methods of their great-grandfathers 
with regard to equipment, crops and 
markets. The salvation of the coun- 
try people, and, too, of the other 80 
percent, is in scientific agriculture, 
which is a demonstrated success, in 
motor trucks, in a good market for 
‘the producer’s goods, in the doing 
away with the middleman, and in 
large markets in the cities where the 
consumer may buy direct from the 
producer at greatly reduced prices. 
The next great factor in the pre- 
sent high cost of living is the over 
production of gold, so that a gold 
dollar is not now worth 100 cents. 
Thus it takes a greater amount of 
dollars to equal the purchasing power 
of a smaller number of dollars, when 
the market is not flooded with gold. 
It is the same with any commodity ; 
when there is an over-production of 
the supply, prices drop. This is es- 
pecially true of unskilled labor,for as 
long as a man is not proficient in any 
one line, he will never be able to com- 
mand: more than a minimum wage, 
because there is always an over-sup- 
ply of common labor. 
Besides the glutting of the mar- 
ket with gold, there is the cavreless- 
ness of the American people, which 
surpasses that of all other nations. 
This is especially true about fire. 
A $35,000 house is destroyed by fire 
every 15 minutes in the United 
States; consequently, prices of fire 
insurance are very high. Nearly 
every fire is caused by indifference. 
such as oldfashioned shingle roots, 
poor installation of lights, and dust- 
less dusters, which explode from 
spontaneous combustion. The whole 
country must pay for the constant 
loss of the surplus wealth, which 
has been, perhaps, laboriously ac- 
eumulated. 
Out extravagance, said Mr. Spear, 
is fast pushing us on the heels of 
the old Romans, who ate, drank and 
dissipated themselves out of exist- 
ence. He gave a business maxim, 
which he made especially emphatic : 
when a man hasn’t the money or 
quick assets to pay every cent he 
owes, that man is insolvent. The 
typical American home is insolvent 
all the time. Mr. Spear urged the 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
il 
INCORPORATED 1869 
The New England Trust Company 
BOSTON, MASS. 
Capital $1,000,000 
Surplus and Profits over $3,000,000 
ACTS AS EXECUTOR, ADMINISTRATOR, 
TRUSTEE, GUARDIAN, ATTORNEY OR AGENT 
Our Trust Department now holding over $28,000,000 of 
Trust property, is fully equipped to handle Trusts of all 
kinds. We are always glad to consult with persons who 
contemplate making a will or creating any sort of a 
Trust. We give our clients the advantages of a capital 
and surplus of $4,000,000 and a corporate organization, 
Write for our Booklet : 
“THE MANAGEMENT OF TRUST PROPERTY” 
ARTHUR ADAMS, Vice-President 
GEORGE WIGGLESWORTH, V.-Pres. 
FREDERICK W. ALLEN, Treasurer 
THOMAS E. EATON, Asst. Treasurer 
EDWARD B. LADD Asst. Treasurer 
JAMES R. HOOPER, President 
ALEXANDER COCHRANE, V.-Pres. 
DAVID R. WHITNEY, Vice-President 
HENRY N. MARR, Secretary 
FRANCIS R. JEWETT, Trust Officer 
ORRIN C. HART, Asst. Trust Officer 
JAMES H. SAWYER, Manager Safe Deposit Vaults 
THE OLDEST TRUST COMPANY IN BOSTON 
ASTRA SS SE SEPT DITA ES ES PO DFU 0? SCRE SOLUTES 
21 Se ee Ea Se ee ee 
|S 
women present to preach economy 
in their homes and to face the situ- 
ation squarely. The, cost of living is 
going up, interest on borrowed mon- 
ey is going up, while interest on de- 
posited money is going down. Every 
person ought to save a minimum 
amount of 10 percent of his income. 
The years of a man’s life may be 
devided thus: 0—21 years, the edu- 
cational period; 21— 30, the begin- 
ning of achievement; 30—45 the 
firm establishment of success and of 
family life; 45—60, the accumulat- 
ive period; 60—75, the non-produc- 
ing period, when a man should be 
living upon the accumulated dollars 
of his career. This, in face of the 
fact that 90 percent of the business 
men in this country are bankrupt at 
the age of 65 is appalling. In 
speaking of saving, Mr. Spear made 
a point of investments, which are in 
the United States, notoriously un- 
profitable; 92 percent of the mines 
exploited are failures. The speaker 
gave the following tests for an in- 
vestment: Is it safe? Is if modest in 
returns? Will it be quickly convert- 
able into cash? A woman has abso- 
lutely no right to take any chances 
in investing her money; she must 
assure herself of the safety of any 
investment she makes. 
After finishing with the causes of 
the high cost of living, the speaker 
proceeded to give some of the meth- 
ods for reducing expenses. The first 
method is to cut down on luxuries; 
others are to take up a system of 
collective buying, if practicable; the 
establishment of a cash system for 
household expenses; scientific mar- 
keting; the curbing of the extrava- 
gance of the coming generation and, 
above all, compulsory saving, such 
as holding shares in a co-operative 
bank. Mr. Spear made an earnest 
plea for the co-operative bank, 
which, he said, will do more to es- 
tablish thrift in the American public 
than anything else. 
Mr. Spear was generously ap- 
plauded and his lecture caused much 
discussion in the social hour, which 
followed. Mrs. Ethel Hoare fur- 
nished the music on the program 
with a vocal solo, ‘‘You are My 
Harbor of Love,’’ very sweetly ren- 
dered. 
Don’t believe that everybody else 
is happier than you. 
Man sent to jail when he told the 
court he was a lawyer probably 
couldn’t prove it. 
