Vagabond Editorials

By Jack Dionne

Well, now we,have one hundred and twenty-eight million people on relief; relief from political speeches.

And Turke y Day"-oi *"" ".. Some bird, that turkey I Whether you consider him historically or as the center-piece for a big home dinner, he plays a splendid part in our national life. Welt said the poet when he wrote: rFt*

To feed the hungry pilgrims, He suffered and he bled; And yielded up his plumage

To make a feather bed. :t ,t rt

His praise should be sung by our bravest and best. He needs the sort of eulogy that my old friend John Bonner once gave the Texas chicken. John was inviting a convention of Hoo.Hoo in Chicago to hold their next meeting in Texas, and he said: :1.**

"I invite you in the name of those yallerJegged Texas chickens, who raise their raucous voices in the wee small hours of the morning, testifying to their willingness to fulfill the destiny provided for them by their Maker, and lay down their simple lives, that you may feast.', tfrt*

The American Eagle has really had alt the breaks, getting his picture spread all over our money and our insignias, etc. \Mhat's he got that the turkey hasn't?

I've heard a full ream of election day gags and stories since November 3, but the best one I've heard is about a dear old lady, the mother of a good lumber friend of mine, and I'll guarantee it's true. She is very old, and partly crippled, and lives with her son. She is one of Mr. Roosevelt's most enthusiastic admirers. Election night she sat up until midnight and listened to the returns. She was still anxious, and asked her son before she went to bed, "Son, do you think there's liable to be a change by morning?" He likes to "kid" her, so he said, "Yes mother, f think there's likely to be."

She woke him at five-thirty the next morning. The paper boy had just thrown the morning paper on the porch, and he went down and got it. Afraid to look herself, she asked him, "Son, how does it look?" He said, ,,Ma, it looks kind of bad." She said, "What do you mean, son?" He said, "Ma, it looks like the Republicans are going to carry two states." She didn't even see the joke. She said, "Son, how do you suppose that happened?" He said, ,,I don't know, Ma; I suppose those Republicans just stole 'em." She thought about that a minute, and said, "Son, you know it's getting so nowadays they can't hardly have an election without some crooked work, can they?,' rl. * ,k

I heard a preacher, the other day, deliver one of the finest talks to a group of business men that I've ever listened to. I got an awful wallop out of his remarks, which were not only wisely made, but delightfully and forcefully delivered. But the gist of his talk was that for years the business men looked down on the clergy to a very large extent, and were generally of the opinion that what the churches needed was better business management. He says that since the depression they don't hear any more about that.

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While business went to smash in gvery line and in all directions, the churches generally came through safe and sound, in good working order, and with their doors wide open. He told of two counties he knew of in which every single bank folded up, BUT NOT A SINGLE CHURCH OF ANY DENOMINATION CLOSED ITS DOORS. And he expressed the conviction that he wouldn't give a thin dime for the future of the United States if the churches weren't here to furnish their uplift and their guidance. And hundreds of business men rose and thundered their approval of his remarks. ***

I think he convinced many men of many minds right there that it is not more business in religion we need, but more religion in business. However, let me add that there aren't many men in the churches so magnificently able to tell the story as this splendid gentleman. I thought him a worthy successor to Paul; and Paul was the Bible's supersalesman.

***

Ever hear about the time Paul entered the strange and pagan city of Athens, unknown and unheralded? And in the market place he saw a mighty statue dedicated "To The Unknown God." And Paul gathered the populace around him when he told them: "No longer will your God be unftnown, for f know Him and I have come to tell you about Him." And he had their attention from the start. He was religion's greatest traveling salesman. And this man I heard the other day could sure do the work until another Paul comes along.

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Said a well known business thinker the other day: "If the great American flair for gambling HAS to be indulged, why not take a flier in a carefully chosen piece of real estate property? The margin required in the purchase of a home is now far less than that required by the rules of the New York Stock Exchange in the purchase of 100 shares of your favorite stock. Probably the reason for this is the far greater safety in the home investment."

***

Pretty swell idea, eh? Tell your folks, "If you MUST gamble, buy real estate ! The danger element is the smallest known." This same authority said further: "Comparatively a non-liquid commodity, shelter lags behind the movement of the other necessities of life. Food has advanced 40 per cent from the low, clothing has advanced 25 per cent, but rentals are still only 16 per cent above the low point.

"From a national standpoint, a group of important happenings has brought real property to the very top of the list of desirable investments at this time. Real estate activity and prices move in fairly well defined cycles, with peak periods occurring every ten to seventeen years. These periods are longer than, and do not always coincide with, the more generally recognized business cycle. :F ,t rf

"The last peak in the realty cycle occurred in 1923-25. In 1926, some time before the crest of the business boom, real estate had definitely entered a major decline. During this decline the usual accompanying features have been observable; descending prices, descending rentals, increasing vacancies, increasing doubling up of families, decreasing marriage rate, a practical cessation of new construction in many areas. With a definite reversal of all these trends clearly indicated, we are face to face with an opportunity to profit from selective purchases of real estate, such as does not come more than once or twice during our business lives."

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In short, there is no better investment today than intelligently selected real estate. My own opinion is that rrle are just starting another realty up-swing that is likely to be tremendous in sqope and activity. And THAT, my building friends, is where YOU come in.