Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1917-06-06
PROSPEROUS
PANs,91IsM
Public Safety, Public Welfx De.
mands That We Keep Busi&
NOruiM and Furnace
Fires Burning.
AND DO n FOR.
OUR COUNTRY's SAKE

Pr0spefity ID Needed for Our Mills
Our Factories and Our Work
men IN Wartime.
We need prosperity for our mills,
for our factories, for our workmen
in war time even more than when we
are ut peace. Business depressions
are always bad, but doubly so when
we have fight on our hands. The
declaration OF war can have no real
evil effect on business unless we fool
tshly make it so. We need more
business now, not less. There is real
danger Of hysteria. I1discriminate
economy will be ruinous. Now Is
the time to keep business going at
full speed ahead. says NJ. l. Parker
in q recent editorial.
We must keep the mills busy and
the furnace fires burning. We must
keep wSskmen busy in every trade
and calling. everywhere at good
wages. We must produce all the
provisions we can. We must avoid
waste as q patriotic duty. These are
the things that will enlarge the
commercial activities of the nation.
The proclamation of President
Wilson lays a solemn obligation. up
on every true American, every
American business man to make
business more prolific, to eliminate
waste and develop greater efficiency.
with our country. unprosperous,
with business hating, money hoard
ed through fear. or false economy,
we will he hard pressed to keep food
on the table and clothing on our
backs.
The Rotary Club OF New York at
1eSrsssuf -SBo11 11lns - shss6les
can Keep Business Normal" The
Club issued a statement whicn read
in part: Those who propose rigid
closing down on normal purchases
to the line Of bare necessity are pro-
posing a course which will choke
the flow Of trade down to the lowest
Iivable minimum. II the women of
the United States stop buying
clothes in order to give money to any
one Of a hundred worthy war caus-
es, we shall very shortly have ser
les OF failures among American mer-
chants dealing in women's ready-to-
wear garments"
The statement continues: "Busi-
nee Is q great chain Of interlocking
Enterprises. II the grocers fail. or
the hpusefurnishers. or the dealers
IL any other commodity, their failure
brings something of disaster into ev-
cry other field of commerce
Sa"The reasonable prospect. there
fore, Of the cries aow being sound
ed for restrictions beyond the stop
page OF waste u q general distur-
bance Of business conditions which
win threaten the whole nation with
calamity"
Great Britain adopted slogan at
the outset of the war which Ameri-
can business mea will do we'll to
make their own at this stage Of our
participation in the same war. 1t
was Business as Usual" II the
country can continue it's general
business substantially as usual it can
meet the new war taxes and sub
scribe to the new war causes some
where nearly in accordance with its
means" "But if there is a panic,
the return from the taxes and the
subscriptions to the relief move
ments will both suffer heavily"
John Wanamaker says: Patriotic
economy means the elimination of
waste and extravaganza. 1t means
the conservation Of our food pro-
ducts, our natural wealth, our
health, our energies. our labor, our
very lives. It means putting more
efficiency into everything we do SO
that each unit of money, energy and
intelligence may accomplish the ut
most"
He also says: Patriotic economy
does not mean the lowering Of Amer
ica's standard of living which would
make VI. less efficient physically and
mentally. nationally and individu-
ally, and would kill the spirit and
the win to do the truly self-sacrific-
ing things to be DONE"
"Cities and communities must go
ON with their civic improvements.
Road building and public works
must proceed. Railroads must re-
new their equipment. Factories
must be kept going to their full CO.
pacity. Labor must be employed.
Homes must be kept up. Mwchan-
fContinued on Pare 81