the American colonies
toward those few gentlemen who set themselves up as economically
superior beings, and who insisted upon living without any labor, upon
the labor performed by their fellows. It was against the suggestion of
such a practice that Captain John Smith vociferated his famous "He that
will not work, neither shall he eat." The suggestion that some should
share in the proceeds of community life without participating in the
hardships that were involved in making a living seemed preposterous in
those early days.

To-day, living on one's income is accepted in every industrial center of
the United States as one of the methods of gaining a livelihood. Some
men and women work for a living. Other men and women own for a living.

Workers are in most cases the humble people of the community. They do
not live in the finest homes, eat the best food, wear the most elaborate
clothing, or read, travel and enjoy the most of life.

The owners as a rule are the well-to-do part of the community. They
derive much of all of their income from investments. The return which
they make to the community in services is small when compared with the
income which they receive from their property holdings.

Living on one's income is becoming as much a part of American economic
life as living by factory labor, or by mining, or by manufacturing, or
by any other occupation upon which the community depends for its
products. The difference between these occupations and living on one's
income is that they are relatively menial, and it is relatively
respectable, that is, they have won the disapprobation and it has won
the approbation of American public opinion.

The best general picture of the economic situation that permits a few
people to live on their incomes, while the masses of the people work for
a living, is contained in the reports of the Federal Commissioner of
Internal Revenue. The figures for 1917 ("Statistics of Income for 1917"
published August 1919) show that 3,472,890 persons filed returns, making
one for each six families in the United States. Almost one half of the
total number of returns made in 1917 were from persons whose income was
between $1000 and $2000. There were 1,832,132 returns showing incomes of
$2000 or more, one for each twelve families in the country.

The number of persons receiving the higher incomes is comparatively
small. There were 270,666 incomes between $5,000 and $10,000; 30,391
between $10,000 and