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Show I I Yojir Valuable j ' ARE you thinking of buying the Russian crown1 jewels, including the famous Orloff -dia-: mond? They are offered for sale by the IwlshcJ viki. The price? A trifling $500,000,000. The whole caboodle of them, pried out of their golden crowns and scepters, could be carried in your; suitcase. As far as being useful, the Russian crown jewels are about as valuable as a peck of, broken glass. Their value is entirely imaginary j no more, no less than the imagination of man makes .it. j Queer thing is value. Ford Motor company's latest statement shows that its assets exceed' 1400,000,000. Of this, $81,626,633 is invested in real estate, the only imperishable form of material wealth. Patents are listed at a value of; only $110,740. The company's good will is j i entered as worth nearly $21,000,000. This good will is intangible. No eye can see it No scales can weigh ,it. Accumulation of values seems to be a national mania. There are fixed values such as gold, whose price is set by law. There are sentimental values heirlooms, remembrances, etc. Value is the-Tnosrirustve-ttilrig-amarTO: msThemagT-i cian of economics. You think you have obtained a small value. Suddenly it swells to enormous! size. This is increasing value. Ford fell into its embrace and from a poor bicycle repairman became one of the three richest Americans. I In the far corner are declining values ones! that ire deceptive, look substantial and permanent! at first, then shrink." Ask Wall street plungers! who have been caught in bear markets. Value skips about like a flea. Big fortune comes to the man who can guess where it will jump next. Typical of this is real estate. Values are the poker chips of uncertainty. And, of all values, the only ones that have permanenec approaching the per-! petual are knowledge, fame and good deeds. These are the real wealth. No man is really! poor who has created any of the three. j |