For Money

A traveling salesman stopping at a small-town hotel approached the cashier one morning. "I'm carrying more money than I like to," he said importantly. "Will you take care of this $100 bill for me?" The cashier put it in the safe, gave a receipt.

The hotel's butcher called to collect what was due him, $100. The drummer's money being handy, the cashier paid with that. The butcher went on down the street, paid his rent, $100. The landlord owed his lawyer $100. The lawyer owed the doctor. The doctor owed the hotel $100. Before dark the same $100 bill was back in the hotel's safe. In came the drummer.

"Thanks," he said as the clerk handed over the money. To a big-city friend the drummer said, as they strolled out of the lobby: "I had that hick all hot & bothered, keeping this $100 bill for me. It's stage money!" and to impress other hicks, he used the bill to light a cigar. . . .

Wall Streeters were telling each other the above story last week as a joke, a puzzler. But in several places throughout the land businessmen were seriously experimenting with new kinds of money to lubricate their local credit systems. In 140 communities in 29 states, 1.000,000 citizens were solving their problems notably through the use of scrip and the foundation of barter associations. Examples :

Eirma. In Evanston, Ill. city employes received their pay in the form of "Eirma" money, named from the initials of the Evanston Independent Retail Merchants' Association. Merchants agreed to accept the paper at face value. Every time a scrip dollar changes hands, the receiver sticks on it a 2-c- stamp, bought from the Merchants' Association. When the back of an Eirma bill has been covered with 50 stamps, it can be redeemed in U. S. coin. Merchants who have bought stamps will be credited with the amount in tax anticipation warrants. Milwaukee and Chicago pondered following Evanston's lead.

Wood. In Washington, brave little Tenino's celebrated wooden money experiment (TIME, March 14) came to a glorious close, thanks to the nation's numismatists. When Tenino's one & only bank failed last year, Publisher Donald M. Major and a group of public-spirited men thought up a plan to keep some kind of currency circulating in the town. They issued to each depositor plywood certificates valued at 75% of his bank deposit. Gradually the bank's affairs were settled. Last week Tenino bought in its wooden money with U. S. money, found that it had $3,500 left over.

Scrip. Three months ago at Hawarden, Iowa, 300 red-white-&-green certificates were put in circulation by the city. The Hawarden scrip was issued along lines similar to that of Evanston, but it had 36 places on the back to stick 3-c- stamps, thus assuring the city an 8-c- profit per dollar on redemption.

Anaheim, one of the oldest towns in California, tried issuing scrip last winter. The amateur financiers of Anaheim used 4-c- stamps on their currency, followed the Evanston plan in the main but neglected one step: making a tax certificate refund to merchants. Result: Puzzled merchants found themselves accepting scrip, buying stamps, but not getting anything back to pay for merchandise sold. The plan was actually a 4% sales tax.

The U. S. Government holds a monopoly on making legal tender. But up to last week the Department of Justice had made no move to suppress local home-made money, regarding scrip as not being legal tender since no one is obliged to accept it.

Barter. By far the most completely organized and successful barter group now operating is the Natural Development Association of Salt Lake City. It was organized by Benjamin B. Stringham, a realtor, during the harvest time of 1931 when city laborers needed food but had no money to buy it and farmers needed hands but had no money to pay them. The laborers worked for farm produce. The N. D. A. now operates an oil refinery, two canning factories, a tannery, a coal mine. It has a two-story headquarters at Salt Lake City in which it maintains a produce and goods exchange. There are branches in Ogden, Brigham. Logan, Lehi, American Fork. Price and Delta, Utah. Idaho branches are located at Preston, Montpelier, Rexburg, Ridgedale. There is another at Phoenix, Ariz. The N. D. A. plans to spread.

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