The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1917-08-28
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF
THE LIBERTY LOAN

The argument has been advanced
that the wealth and resources OF the
United States are impaired to the ex-
tent of all the money spent by the
government for war purposes. The
argument is very unsound. There is
a sharp contrast between cost to the
government and cost to the people of
the country, says a treasury depart
ment bulletin.
The United States has sold two bill
lion dollars worth of Liberty Loan
Bonds to the people of the United
States and therefore owes two billion
dollars more than it did few months
ago. When the money for the bonds
has been collected in full and been
expended in full the matter will stand
in this shape:
The people of the United States will
have loaned to their government two
billion dollars in return for which
they will have received two billion
dollars worth of Liberty Loan Bonds
which is as valuable security as the
world affords. Moreover they will
have in their pockets or their banks
the two billion dollars which they
loaned their government. The gov
eminent will have expended part of
this money itself and those European
nations engaged in war with Ger
many, whose obligations our govern
ment has purchased with part of the
money realized from the sale of Lib
erty Loan Bonds, will have expended
the other part, and all of it will have
been spent in America for American
products and in payment of Ameri-
can wages.
The resources of the nation, its
capital stock so to speak, will not
have been impaired at all. Our farms,
our mines, our factories, in fact all
of our fixed property and industries
will remain intact. Our people will
simply have sold some of the annual
of it's farms, the products of its mines
and products of its factories.
Thus the government will have val
ne received for the money it borrow
ed from the people and the people will
have value received for the money
! they loaned the government and the
products they sold their government
and the European nations engaged in
war with Germany. AS Secretary Nc
Adoo has expressed it-"All of this
financing is largely merely a matter
of shifting credits. All of the money
will remain in this country and will
not involve loss of gold or any loss
of values"
OF course the United States is goini
to pay these bonds at maturity and il
going to pay interest on them in tn,
meanwhile. 1t is going to pay par
with the money it will later collec
from our debtor European govern
ments engaged in war with Germany
it is going TO pay part with none,
raised by taxation. 1t is not gOinj
to pay them out of the capital of tn
United States or out of the capital o
the people of the United States. TIL
money is to come from the annua
income and production of tie coun
try which now amounts to fifty bill
lion. The yearly agricultural pro
duction of the United tates is NOR
than ten billion dollars and the min
eral production three billion. TIL
profits of converting raw material in
to finished products amounts annual
ly to ten billion dollars. These ar
just some of our main sources of ar
nual income.
The raising of money by the sal
Of bonds and the expenditure of ths
/ money LOT purposes OF war are NJ
going to injure or destroy the produ,
tive capacity of our fields, factorie
or mines. There is waste in war, an
a great deal of waste, but war Is M
| all waste. The actual waste in tn
war may be more than made up /
r the speeding up of our industries III
der the stimulus of the war.
There is going to be loss by reaso
= of this war-wealth shot away in ba
( tie and wealth sunk at sea- And thel
is going to be loss of some of Amer
cas- bravest sons. But the price
[ one that America is willing to pa
{ that her fighting men and her Peep
k are willing to pay. for maintenan,
of our rights and our national homo
the cause of democracy. the presev
o ton of liberty and civilization al
# humanity. The loss caused by w
will be small, indeed, compared
the worth of these things, to Amer
= ca and to the world.-Weekly Lettt
n Treasury Department.