Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1918-09-19
What 1t Means If 1O5,OOO,OOC
People Refuse to Economic
on Clothing.
NATION HURT IN MANY WAYS
One Of Numerous Cases In Point Vivid
iy illustrates the Vital Necessity
of Saving to Save the
Country" in War Time.
BY PAUL Nj. WARBURG,
Former Vice Governor of the Fedora
Reserve Bosro.

Former Vice Governor of the Fedora
Reserve Bosro.
L 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 coun-
try, | may expect to see dOne-each in
his own way-by 105,000,00O people
Let US suppose for the purpose of
Illustration that l decide that | shall
effect q saving on clothes. | might Sc
lect boots, automobiles, umbrellas, or
any other article for which | regularly
spend my money, as | have no desire
TO single out any one commodity, but
Clothes lend themselves to my thought,
so | name them. If | make up my
mind, then, at this juncture that to
wear old clothes is more respectable
than to be seen in new ones; if de-
eide to buy one new suit of clothes
less than | usually purchase each year
and If figure that suit to cost no more
than S10-the country as a whole
should we all pull together and act on
the same lines, would save thereby over
one billion dollars. 1t is true that in
dealing with our 105, 100000 population
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 average 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 conser-
vatiye
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 first what one billion
dollars worth of clothes means. Sup
pose they were half-wool and haif-cOt-
ton and that the value of the raw ma
terial constituted only so per cent Of
the price paid by the ultimate consum-
er, that would, at the present price of
60 cents per pound for wool and 80
cents per pound for cotton respectively,
represent POS, ,334 tons of wool and 416,-
667 tons of cotton. Can you imagi
how much freight space would be re-
qufred on water and on land, in NOV
ing this mass of raw material? Do
you realize that if these bales were
put into freight cars, assuming q load
Ing capacity Of 16 tons per car for
wool and 13 tons per car for cotton
this would represent 1902 box cars
loaded with wool and 32,056 box cars
loaded with cotton? Assuming Is cars
per train, there would be about 600
trains; the total length Of these trains
would be approximately 314 miles, and
these trains, hauled by 600 engines,
when standing in line would apprOxi-
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
aglne the number of hands employed in
these processes? And then consider
that more coal, more labor and more
transportation are required In distrib-
uting the cloth and again more labor
and more material in converting it into
clothes, and again more labor and
transportation in retailing the finished
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 clogging 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 eguipping
men, and in sending to them, and to
our allies, the supplies they need !;
means increased losses and n longer
duration Of the war. NJ: new suit of
clothes may cost, therefore. the life
Of my son.
The supply Of goods, Of labor and Of
transportation is limited. It is a mat
ter of common agreement that this linn
tied supply is not sufficient freely to
satisfy all wants and that unrestricted
attempts on the part of each individual
to satisfy his own requirements may
lead to a wild scramble and destruc-
tive competition with the government,
resulting in fatal delay and endless In
crease IN prices.
The loaf of bread available for our
selves and for our allies is not large
enough to "gO around" IL we all want
to eat more than is absolutely neces-
sary for our maintenance. It Is every.