Profits of a Prophet

Happy as a waterbug which has just swum around a bowl of soup, Dr. Wilbur Glenn ("The World is Flat") Voliva, frock-coated overlord of Zion City, Ill., last week landed in Manhattan after a cruise around the world. To him, of course, it had been a cruise around the edge of the world, the circumnavigation of a soup-plate whose centre is the North Pole./-

From Manhattan Dr. Voliva sped on to Chicago, was met there by delegates from his Zion City, 40 miles north upon the Lake Michigan bluffs. Joyously they told him that Zion City, free from vice and wickedness, has not known the sorrows which Depression has visited upon other cities. And, unlike many a less fortunate tycoon, Dr. Voliva found himself no poorer after his jauntings. If what he says is true, he is still many times a millionaire, still has a gross income of $6,000,000 a year.

Many a religionist has been shrewd in obtaining and holding wealth for his church. Others have been canny in their personal affairs as well. Unfortunate was the bucket-shopping of Bishop James Cannon of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (TIME, May 26 et seq.) But remarkable were the financial coups of Brigham Young who took unto himself the great monopolies of the Desert, tolls on gates and roads, timber rights. The late Benjamin ("King") Purnell of the House of David, at Benton Harbor, Mich, across Lake Michigan from Zion City, took unto himself and his Queen Mary the rights to some $1,000,000 worth of his followers' properties until 1927 when he was ignominiously banished from his throne and his belongings taken by a receiver. In 1928 Millionaire Voliva was accused of confiscating property for his own use, but he shook away the charge, continues to enjoy his reputation as an industrialist although Zion City, like the House of David, is a communistic scheme.

Soon after the turn of the century Dr. Voliva found himself trying to reorganize Zion City, in bad shape following the fall of its founder, John Alexander Dowie. One day he found he had accomplished nothing, had net assets of 87-c-. He there upon set up a tent, hired a band on credit, held services. Three services brought him $3,500. He then made the proud boast: "The day will come when I will own every foot, every inch, and every pinch of the 6,500-acre site of the City of Zion and then I will float the flag of Zion over every building."

By an agreement with Federal Court. Dr. Voliva acquired the city on the instalment plan. He slashed payrolls, economized in every direction. Soon he was able to buy the Tabernacle from the Court for $200,000. Owning all the land, he decided never to sell any but to offer 1,100-year leases. A land boom sent his fortune skyward.

At present the Voliva organization is divided for convenience into four groups, the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, the educational institutes, the industries, the real estate. He maintains sole proprietorship over his enterprises and refuses to incorporate although the Government wishes him to do so. The Church, he claims, is worth $1,250,000. It is supported by tithes and offerings from Zion City employes, of whose earnings strict record is kept.

Greatest of Zion industries is Dr. Voliva's candy factory. Sparkling Beauties, a hard candy in cans, is the best seller. Fig Pie, Liberty, Cherrie Sundae and other 5-c- bars are good sellers. Some of the output is taken by the Great Atlantic & Pacific stores, some by Independent Grocers' Association. He controls the Zion Bank (capital: $50,000) whose rival is First State Bank, largely held by officials of Marshall Field & Co. who also own Zion City's big lace factory. A publishing plant and a department store also loom large in Voliva-land.

Fair wages are paid, with workers contributing 5% monthly to an investment fund. Salaried officials likewise have a monthly sum deducted, Dr. Voliva fixing the percentage yearly. When convenient, he gives employes his personal, nonnegotiable, eight-year notes.

Zion City consists mostly of old frame houses, although Dr. Voliva's hilltop, gabled mansion is a superior building with a gaudy roof. The streets are narrow, mostly unpaved and potholed. Visiting motorists know well they must not curse at bumps lest a Zion City officer arrest them. Huge signs prohibit smoking.

Although some people marvel that the overlord of Zion City is worth $10,000,000, he clearly stated this upon his arrival last week in Manhattan. "Certainly I'm worth $10,000,000," he cried. "I own everything in Zion City--the factories, the land. I made $100,000 last year out of my Zion fig bars alone. I have 26 departments in my department store. Any manager who doesn't make a profit I fire. I am 61 and in the prime of condition. I do the work of twelve men. If you stripped me of all my money tomorrow, I'd be a millionaire again within five years."

/- Thus did Dr. Voliva last week explain his trip: "I have been traveling in a circle around the North Pole, traveling on a flat plane. Naturally I came back to my starting point." On this thesis the doctor has argued much, offered a $5,000 prize to that wise man who can convince him of the earth's rotundity. Many wise men have tried, but wiser Dr. Voliva refuses to be shown. He argues that if the world were round, trains and boats could not make the uphill grade of its curvature; that people at the bottom would tumble off. When he heard that Commander Byrd planned to explore the South Pole he sent many warnings that the rim of the world is a hazardous place. Now he says that Commander Byrd was indeed lucky that a big wall of ice hemmed him in so he could not venture too far, tumble into eternity. He also holds that the sun is 32 miles across, no more than 3,000 miles away. He says that to have made a bigger or more distant sun would have been wasteful on the part of the Lord.

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