Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1918-02-16
filters AT FRONT
MUST HAVE LINEN
FOR THEIR WINGS
BY Frank A. Vanderlip.

by FRANK "A. Fandeflip.
Hardly day passes but there is
some fresh Illustration of the in
ability on the part OF the govern
ments to buy with money something
essential for war preparation, We
are now discovering that there is not
linen enough in the world to cover
the areoplanes that the allies are
producing. The English govern
ment has just decided that at least
10000 acres OF English soil must be
devoted to the production of fax, in
stead OF food. That government is
making terms with the farmers
which will lead to the planting of
that crop.
The illustrations are endless of the
fact that there are not labor and
materials enough to produce the
things that the people want and the
things that the government wants.
There are two ways of helping solve
the problem. One is to speed I'D
production and industry. The other
is to cut down unnecessary consump-
tlon. BY the latter method every
one can put himself in an affective
way in the front trench. Every one
can make sacrifices that will be re-
hected in quicker and better equip
ment OF armies. The progress that
can be made by speeding up produc-
ton can be exceeded many fold by
the effect which can be produced by |
whole nation making I'D its mind |
really to help win the war. The |
difficulties OF equipping the army |
would be easily cut in half IL every |
individual in this country would rec
ognize his responsibility in helping
TO equip the army, his responsibility
to get on without demanding new
things he can get on without. and
by 80 doing leave greater amount
OF labor and material to produce the
things the government must have.
Every yard of linen that is bought
from to-day on puts the buyer in
direct competition with the Areo-
plane Board in equipping the fleet of
areoplanes which we hope to put over
the German lines. That should be
very plain to every one when 1t is
known that the need of linen for
areoplane production exceeds the
total stock there is in the world.
But the same rule applies in almost
every direction that we turn.
There can be only two reasons
why men should not see in their per-
sonal expenditure their individual
responsibility for equipping the army.
One Is belief that fully equipped
American army is not going to be
necessary; that the war either will
be won by our allies, or it has already
been won by the exhaustion of our
enemies. There is little in the stu
alton upon which to base such be-
lief. The other reason must be that
people believe that there are labor
and materials enough to produce
everything that they want for their
individual uses and everything that
the government must have. Abso-
lutte blindness to what the total is
when you add two and two is the
only excuse there can be for believ-
ing there are labor and materials
enough for the individual comforts
and military needs Of the country.
The man who is not prepared to
economize to-day either believes
there is no necessity for military pre-
paredness or he will not look in the
face Of the plainest facts in regard
to industrial capacity. The govern
ment has provided the easiest pos
sible road for the individual to turn
his personal sacrifice into patriotic
and buy War Savings
Stamps.