Business: 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¢. 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.