cargoes sunk at sea, or from silk factories whose equipment was not needed for munitions of war.

Farm products and other commodities of commerce are not the only goods the price of which is strongly affected by wants. Land values in Chicago furnish a good illustration of the way in which wants indirectly give value to "production goods." A hundred years ago land in the present heart of the city, which is now worth thousands of dollars a foot, could be purchased for almost nothing. But there has developed a vast new want for it. A hotel now houses thousands of people on land once required for three families only.

On the other hand, during the past few years, when building costs have been so high that profits could not be made in erecting new buildings, the want for residential land decreased; as a result we hear that there is a "poor market" for such real estate. If building costs come down, costs of construction "fall," and vacant lots may be expected to "rise." With new construction the want for homes, which is now great and causes rents to be high, will become less and rents will fall.

One of the most interesting facts about wants as a basis for value is the making of the wants themselves. Our wants come from customs, habits, tastes, imitation, fashions, and esthetic desires. Were we willing to live as our grandparents were we willing to suffer the same privations, were we satisfied with cotton and bread instead of lace and French pastry our wants would be considerably lessened.

Monopolies, costs, bank credits, and governmental money issues all play a part in the tangle of factors that fix prices. But perhaps the most important force is that deeply human trait that made folks remark, as they replaced the little oblong relic between Aunt Carrie's seashell and Uncle Peter's tintype: "Would you care to sell it?"

CLASS ACTIVITIES

Add to your list of questions (see p. 292) any of the problems on page 295 which you are unable to answer. Study these questions before discussing any of them in class. When the time comes for class discussion,

take up first No. 10.

1. Read the sentence which gives the main reason why people wanted to buy the relic of the Chicago fire.

2. Explain the meaning of "market value." Did Aunt Carrie's seashell have a market value? Did Uncle Peter's tintype? Did the relic of the Chicago fire? Give reasons with each answer.

3. During the World War the government promised to pay manufacturers of war materials the cost of production plus 10 per cent. Give an illustration showing what this means. Would it be wise for the government to give a promise like this to all industries at all times? On what ground can the action of the government during the war be justified?

4. Explain the "cost theory of production." Does the author regard this theory as true? Read the passage in which he gives his opinion. According to the cost theory of production was the Minnesota farmer wronged? What did he think the chief cause of his trouble ? What was in reality the chief cause?

was

5. Explain the chief reason for products being cheaper now than they were during the World War.

6. What paragraph in this selection reminds you of "The Skyscraper (p. 163)? Explain.

7. Our wants come from customs, habits, tastes, imitation, fashions, and esthetic desires. Mention wants you have which come from each of these six sources. Would it be better if we were to live as our grandparents did? Give reasons.

8. Name five wants you have which would disappear if you lived like the pioneers in "Turkey Red" (p. 27); like Ab in "The First Bow and Arrow" (p. 141).

9. Answer the questions at the head of this article (p. 292).

10. Read aloud, in turn, the questions which you cannot answer and the details which you do not understand. Let any pupil who can explain these points volunteer to do so. Ask your teacher to clear up any difficulties which remain.

II. Suggestions for oral compositions: Tell about souvenirs you have at home which you would not wish to sell. If possible, bring one or two of them to class. Mention a souvenir you could sell if you wanted to, and tell of another for which you would have trouble in finding a purchaser. Account for the difference. 12. What paragraph in the selection is illustrated by the poem which follows?

ADDITIONAL READINGS. -1. "Why We Buy- A Study in Advertising,” H. F. Adams, in Scribner's Magazine, 67: 608–616. 2. “Living Up to His Advertising," E. E. Calkins, ibid., 71: 105–111. 3. “Imagination in Selling," R. R. Updegraff, in Harper's Magazine, 144: 245-252.

CONTENTMENT AND HAPPINESS-REAL RICHES

Which of the following three poems best expresses your idea of contentment and happiness?

4. CONTENTMENT

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

"Man wants but little here below."

Little I ask; my wants are few;
I only wish a hut of stone,
(A very plain brownstone will do),
That I may call my own.

And close at hand is such a one,
In yonder street that fronts the sun.

Plain food is quite enough for me;

Three courses are as good as ten
If Nature can subsist on three,

Thank Heaven for three. Amen!
I always thought cold victual nice
My choice would be vanilla ice.

I care not much for gold or land
Give me a mortgage here and there,
Some good bank stock, some note of hand,
Or trifling railroad share;

I only ask that Fortune send
A little more than I shall spend.

Jewels are baubles; 'tis a sin

To care for such unfruitful things
One good-sized diamond in a pin

Some, not so large, in rings -
A ruby, and a pearl, or so,
Will do for me I laugh at show.

I would not have the horse I drive

So fast that folks must stop and stare;

Which others often show for pride,
I value for their power to please,

And selfish churls deride

One Stradivarius, I confess,

Two meerschaums, I would fain possess.

Wealth's wasteful tricks I will not learn,
Nor ape the glittering upstart fool;
Shall not carved tables serve my turn?
But all must be of buhl.1

Give grasping pomp its double share-
I ask but one recumbent chair.

Thus humble let me live and die,
Nor long for Midas' golden touch;
If Heaven more generous gifts deny,
I shall not miss them much
Too grateful for the blessing lent

Of simple tastes and mind content!

1buhl: Furniture inlaid with tortoise shell or with yellow-and-white metal.

5. IKE WALTON'S PRAYER

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

I crave, dear Lord,

No boundless hoard

Of gold and gear,

Nor jewels fine

Nor lands, nor kine,

Nor treasure-heaps of anything.
Let but a little hut be mine

Where at the hearthstone I may hear

The cricket sing,

And have the shine

Of one glad woman's eyes to make,
For my poor sake,

Our simple home a place divine; ---
the cricket's chirr

Just the wee cot

Love, and the smiling face of her.

I pray not for

Great riches, nor

For vast estates, and castle-halls.

Give me to hear the bare footfalls

Of children o'er

An oaken floor,

New-rinsed with sunshine, or bespread

With but the tiny coverlet

And pillow for the baby's head;

And, pray Thou, may

The door stand open and the day

Send ever in a gentle breeze,

With fragrance from the locust-trees,
And drowsy moan of doves, and blur
Of robin-chirps, and drone of bees,
With afterhushes of the stir
Of intermingling sounds, and then
The good-wife and the smile of her