It seems as though Mr Roosevelt called a conference between Mr Morganthau, Mr Ickes, and himself. He explained that he had 28 million which had been left over from somewhere, and wanted to divide it equally among the seven different relief departments running at the time. The 28 million was credited to the treasury and the two went on their way.

Mr Ickes figured thusly: we have 28 million, (write down) and 7 departments (7/28). 7 goes into 8 once with 1 to carry (put after the 2), 7 goes into 21, 3 times, and therefore they get 13 million apiece (write the 13 under the 28).

Mr Morganthau had a piece of paper and a pencil, too. He remarked that it didn’t sound exactly right but the thing to do was multiply the 13 by the 7 (write 13 with 7 under to multiply). 7 times 3 is 21, 7 times 1 is 7, and 21 plus 7 are 28.

All seemed very much correct at this time, but both agreed that it was a lot of money and they should be sure before letting any of it go. They figure they have 7 departments that get 13 million each. Therefore they write down seven 13’s in a column and proceed to add them up.

Going up the right hand column, they reach a total of 21. Then, at the top they start down the left hand column, saying “22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28”. Marking the 28 underneath, they march off to the treasury, allot 13 million to each of seven different departments, and no one ever knows the difference except the magicians who use the problem in front of their audiences, on blackboard or slate, as a form of amusement rather than education in political finance.