Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1918-08-14
BY PAUL NJ. WARsuRG,
Vice Governor Of the Federal Reserve
Board

4
| Board
| | am one OF one hundred and five
million OF inhabitants OF the United
States; my duties are the same as
those OF every other true American.
and those OF every other true Ameri-
can are the same as mine. Whatever
contribute to the cause OF the couD
! try, may expect to see done-sach in
his own way-by lO5.O0o.ooO people.
Let US suppose for the purpose of
| illustration that | decide that / shall
effect a saving on clothes. | might Sc
lect boots. automobiles. umbrellas. or
any other article for which regularly
spend my money. as l have no desire
TO single out any one commodity, but
| clothes lend themselves to my thought,
30 | name them. II | make up my
mind, then. at this iuncture that to
wear old clothes Is more respectable
| than TO be seen in new ones: II | de-
| eide to buy one new suit Of clothes
less than usually purchase each year.
and IL figure that suit to cost no more
than sl0--the country as whole.
| should we all pull together and act on
| the same lines would save thereby
| over one billion dollars. II is true that
| in dealing with our los, 900. 900 popula-
ton we include children and many
| poor people that could not save ten
| dollars each because they never spend
more for clothes than they absolutely
must. But on the other hand $40 Is a
| much smaller amount than the aver
age man or woman spends for new
suit OF clothes. The assumption that
| billion dollars could easily be saved
on clothes may. therefore, be accepted
as conservative.
The first thought that occurs to US
| in this connection Is. that by this saw
| ing In clothes over one billion dollars
would be freed to be invested in Lib
| erty loan bonds. That is the first i'm
| portant and most obvious result But
| there are other economic results in
volved in this saving that are OF far
| greater Importance than the mere saw
! ing OF money
Economic Results Are Vast.
| Let us consider nrst what one billion
| dollars worth OF clothes means. Sup
| pose they were half-wool and half-cot-
ton and that the value of the raw ma
terlal constituted. only so per cent OF
the price paid by the ultimate consum-
| er. that would. at the present price OF
so cents per pound for wool and 30
cents per pound for cotton respective
| ly. represent 20s.33 tons OF wool and
| 4l6s67 tons OF cotton. Can you imag
| inc how much freight space would be
| required on water and on land, in NOV
| ing this mass OF raw material? Do
| you realize that II these bales were
| put into freight cars. assuming load
| ing capacity OF Is tons per car for
! wool and 10 cents per car for cotton.
! this would represent 1901 box cars
| loaded with wool and 32.o56 box cars
| loaded with cotton? Assuming rs cars
per train. there would be about 500
| trains; the total length OF these trains
would be approximately 314 miles, and
| these trains, hauled by 500 engines,
when standing in line would approx
| mately cover the distance from Balti-
more to Pittsburgh? Can you imagine
| the amount OF coal consumed In first
| Transporting and then weaving this
raw material into cloth? Can you i'm
! agine the number OF hands employed
| in these processes? And then consid-
| er that more coal, more labor and
more transportation are required in
distributing the cloth and again more
| labor and more material in converting
It into clothes. and again more labor
| and transportation in retailing the I'm
| ished product to the final consumer.
Let US be mindful that all the time
these processes are being carried on,
| Uncle Sam is short OF the men neces-
| sary to dispatch his war work, and
furthermore that shortage of coal and
| the clogslng OF the wheels OF transpor-
tation have stopped his progress at
| most critical moments and In the pres
| ent emergency continue TO remain .
constant menace to the country.
| May Cost Your Sons Life.
My new suit of clothes means, there
fore, delay for our military operations;
delay in transporting and equipping
men. and in sending to them. and 10
our allies. the supplies they need;
means increased losses and longer
duration OF the war. Ny new suit OF
clothes may cost, therefore, the lie
of my son.
The supply of goods. Of labor and OF
transportation is limited. 1t 10 mat
ter of common agreement that this
limited supply IL not suhicient freely TO
satisfy all wants and that unrestricted
attempts on the part of each individual
to satiafy his own requirements may
lead to q Wild scramble and dsstruo-
tive competition with thu government.
resulting In fatal delay and endless In
crease In prices.
The loaf Of bread available for our
selves and for our allies 10 not large
| ~~~.1h - s~<< . rouuf" ~ wa all want