The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-18
TALKS ON THRIFT
The Star of Thrift

| The word had forgotten how to be poor.
 It was ashamed to practice thrift. Wealth
 had been increasing prodigiously without
 saving. The advent of machinery and the increased efficiency on the part of men 1 rad been creating wealth faster than it could be consumed. The homely virtue ot thrift had disintegrated. Nobody had to save. When capital was required it was created, not by saving or by cutting out waste. but by creating more of it. The farmer did not cultivate his land better, but more of it. The individual who as- pired to better living did n,t economize, I but worked harder The miser had be- come but fiction.
 A generation or two ago everybody carried a purse. It was a lot of bother 10 spend nickel. But the old wallet has disappeared and we now have a. change pocket" and wear it out by fre- quent Journeys thither. We have been a race of wasters, .and have justified our waste by our power to earn.
 Then came the war Everybody was so rich that the world thought it could ! fight on stored capital. Why save a few hundred millions to pay for a war that cost billions? 1t would be a brief strug- gle at best. Why not pay for it on bor- Irowed money? Only recently has it | dawned on the people of Europe that they have stopped creating new capital, been destroying the old in suicidal l amounts. and only close economy and thrifty living on the part of all can save the world from bankruptcy.
 The governments first borrowed all
 they could; but realizing that they would
 soon exhaust their borrowing powers turned their attention to taxation and to
 thrift. This process has been sobering and herolc and measures are now being taken everywhere in Europe to meet the
 rising cost of war by thrift plans These
 methods involve sacrifice, huge taxes,
 and willingness to do without, and in
 volve far reaching economic changes. Having adjusted itself to thriftess con- ditions, the world cannot suddenly de-
 part on new thrift idea without doing considerable damage. For instance, if everybody should stop going to the mo- vies 1t would save a lot of money but disrupt and bankrupt thousands of firms and cut down the income of other thou sands relying on this industry. We could do without many things, but the SdCItllC6 WOulO D0 cOSIiy 10 someone. With no surplus income, as a people, the millions of Europe cannot begin to save without destroying more than they save. They cannot strictly speaking, save at all. They can only stop spending except for necessities and spend for war; but that is merely conversion of wealth. Germany has been limiting the consump- tion of luxuries. Great Britain has d thrift campaign on, and all unnecessary imports will be curtailed. But habits are not changed in a day and the efforts of spend thrifty nations to be thrifty are pa thetic.
 In contrast with the plight of Europe, the United States is the only lending na- ton on earth, now having surplus capi- tai. It is the only country that can really save-whose thrift is not forced. Not only because of our unique position, but be- cause If cultivated now, thrift will make us the biggest money factor in the world. Thrift was never fashionab ble, but ought to be always. Europes loss must be our gain. and our gain will be lasting only as we make the habit lasting. Europe must learn how to be poor again, while we must learn how to be rich. But we can not afford to be too rich. losing our heads for riches while Europe's poverty pays the bill. Every dollar you save now helps along in the good work America s star of thrift is nearing it's zenith.