F.W. Woolworth

Maybe you remember Woolworth’s Five and Dime stores?  There were thousands.  All started by Frank Winfield Woolworth, who was born in 1852 on the family’s hard scrabble potato farm near Watertown New York.  Woolworth worked in a dry goods store in Watertown with no salary for the first three months. His boss told him that he should work free, because he was being taught the business.  He remained for six years, making $3.50 a week.  Woolworth noticed that left over items were placed on a ’sale’ table for a nickel.  He liked the idea, borrowed $300, opened a store in Utica NY, where all items were sold for a nickel.  It failed quickly.  Three months later, he opened a store in Lancaster, PA, and items were priced at five  and ten cents.  That one worked, and “5 & 10’s” were born.  He took his brother and former boss as partners, formed a corporation, and began a chain store operation, which was wildly successful.  Why do I mention Woolworth’s? To me it’s obvious. 

Woolworth became very rich.  There was no income tax.  In those days, a rich person had to build the tallest building, own the most grandiose home, biggest yacht, race the fastest horses, and import priceless antiques from Europe to decorate one’s possessions. Woolworth wanted to build the world’s tallest building, which he did.  The Woolworth Building was the world’s tallest building, and Woolworth paid $13.5 million cash to build it.  It’s still there in all of its 57 storey glory, at 233 Broadway in New York City.  He then went to Long Island, and built Winfield Hall, a 56 room mansion, which had 70 full time gardeners, plus upstairs maids, downstairs maids, chauffeurs, chefs, butlers, chambermaids, and close to 200 full time servants to maintain the estate.+

I can hear the liberals now!  “Nasty rich man, miser, had 200 slaves working for him, etc.”  Totally untrue.  Woolworth paid excellent wages to his staff, architects, builders, and the hundreds and thousands of employees he had.  He deducted nothing from their pay, because there was no income tax, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, or all the other Ponzi government schemes which now afflict us.  When he built, there were no electrical inspectors, plumbing inspectors, no building inspectors, zoning bureaucrats, or other riff-raff we now suffer. Quality buildings were built and needed no such harassers.  Everyone kept their profits and salaries.  Everyone looked out for themselves, and government was miniscule.  The wages, construction, maintenance, all that went with a huge estate, business, corporation, and all the expenses that went with them, were paid from Woolworth profits. 

Now, mister idiotic liberal, please note that since the income tax, and hundreds of other taxes, bureaucracies, laws, regulations, and horrid intrusions into everyone’s lives, there are no more rich people with huge estates, yachts, and myriad servants.  It is virtually impossible to be really rich today.  Most of the the profits and wages go to governments at all levels, rather than to the people who earned them, regardless of amounts.  This in keeping with the communist manifesto.  Woolworth paid excellent wages to his employees, who KEPT THE MONEY.  Woolworth’s profits WERE KEPT BY HIM to further build more stores, buy more yachts, hire more people, or build bigger buildings, all of which endeavors paid workers whose wages were paid from Woolworth profits.  Profits were not seized by governments, and bureaucracy.  Governments are NOT PROFIT MAKING ORGANIZATIONS, but seize, waste, squander, and abuse every dime they forcibly collect from us slaves.  We are the slaves of government.  Woolworth’s well paid employees were not slaves.  We are the slaves.

Woolworth, and other early day rich tycoons, who built America and America’s once grand prosperity, usually started from nothing, as did Woolworth, and used their brains to succeed.  No government help or grants, and no taxes.  Profits went to expand empires, build mansions, railroads, streetcar lines, steamship lines, elevator companies (Elisha Otis), grocery chains, skyscrapers, and dozens of other businesses which hired millions who bought houses, and paid no taxes.  America made, mined, built, and exported.  Nothing was imported.  There was no inflation.  How utterly catastrophic has government become.  Government took care of, and subsidized no one or nothing, which is as it should be.  Damn the D.C. empire which has destroyed our once grand nation!