The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-04-17

| Il
Concerning the necessity of thrift
during and after the war, the Y. Nj.
c. A. thrift committee makes the
following statement
The Strain OF This Crisis.
| ut is probably that the great
| European war will result in more
thrift in the United States nationally
and individually: There are several
reasons for this belief. Every citi
zen In America will feel the strain OF
this crisis, and most of us will be dis
posed to retrench and to intrench our
selves by putting more money in.o
the bank as reserve fund and for
investment purposes.
For many years after this war all
the savings of the people Of Europe
probably will go into the securities
of their governments, which will need
to do some tremendous borrowing 20
pay the costs of the vast struggle, 80
that little capital from Europe can
| be expected for q long time to help
American development as 1t has in
the past We must finance ourselves.
Undoubtedly also there will be
great after-the-war immigration to
America from the European coun-
tries. This influx will contain many
who, both from training and nece5
sity, are thrifty and. in the main.
they will be a desirable element i'll
| our population Quite possible we
can learn some valuable lessons from
| them.
"AIl great empires have been
| thrifty. The Roman empire was
founded upon thrift. When extrav-
agance took the place of thrift among
the Romans. that empire crumbled
and fell.
Prussia is another example of ma
| tional thrift. This idea was nurtured
| by the father OF Frederick the Great,
who stored up vast treasure and
built up a great army through the
strictest economy. This was the
forerunner of the German empire Of
| today, and the Germans are still
noted for their thrift, even when
| transplanted to this country where
| the temptations to spend money con-
stantly are so great.
Ten Commandments.
| During the present war, boys a.
tending Berlin schools are learning
! these ten commandments of thrift
81. Everybody must save, for only
| If everybody save will Germany's
| supplies hold out.
20. Waste no food, not even the
most unimportant.
"3. Take time for eating and chew
| thoroughly.
a. Avoid all eating between meals.
20. Eat rye instead Of wheat bread,
and be economical with breal.
&c. Be economical with butter,
and eat cheese, fruit sauces, ana
marmalade instead Of butter.
81. Eat abundantly of fresh veg
etables so as to save meat, fats, and
bread.
"s. At table call for potatoes in
| the skins.
80. Buy chocolate and sweets, anu
| send to the soldiers at the front--we
can gladly dispense with these things.
40. In all that you do, remember
that you can contribute your modest
share toward helping create the new
fatherland that We are all hoping
for Practice self-sacrifice and work.
THE French people have been re.
ferred to so frequently in this con-
nection that the illustration is rath-
er trite one, but nevertheless that
nation is wonderful model to the
world In the matter of thrift. 1t was
the small savings of her citizens that
enabled France, at the end of the
Franco-Prussian war, to pay, at
once, in cash, the billion dollar
indemnity imposed, thus saving her
self from bankruptcy. Knowing this
French thrift, Russia In her time OF
need, turned to that country to Dor
row billions. French thrift is pro-
verbal, and France is land of hap
ply homes. Japan is another thrifty
~ ic IN
There is no reason why we in
America should not save money. We
are able to earn it, we have excel.
lent repositories for our savings, and
the savings banks reward our thrift
by paying us liberal interest
The Increased Cost Of Living.
Assuming that you are thrifty and
are saving money for the proverbia!
rainy day. you undoubtedly know just
how much you have laid aside for
that purpose. But do you know what
it is really worth?
"As a matter of fact, if you have
been building up a savings bank az
count for number of years and now
have, say. $500 in it, are you aware
of the fact that the money is worth
good deal less than the same
amount ten or fifteen years ago?
"The increased cost of living has
created an increased need for saving
to meet the actual expenses Of every
day life, the bills of the butcher, bak-
er, and the candlestick maker. and be.
cause the buying power of the dollar
has decreased to such an extent that
one must save more than formerly
in order to accomplish as much In
the way Of accommodating compel
ence.
ut is true that in the past decade
and a half the cost Of practically
everything the average family uses
has gone up at least one-half. Of
course, wages and salaries have like
wise increased to some extent, but
not in proportion to the higher cost
of living.
so if you saved 5000 annually ten