El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-07-02
BUYING STAMPS
TEACHES Thrift 7
What One Learns to Do
Without Helps as Much
as Money to Win War.
By FREDERIC ]. HAsKIN.

Washington, d. c.. July There
are now more than 100000 War Saw
ing societies in the United States.
comprising more than five million
men. women and children, according
to Maurice Wertheim, who is the ma
Z tional director of these societies.
They are now being organized at the
rate Of more than a thousand a day
a special magazine, The War
Saver is published for their benefit
: They also receive a special bulletin
service from Washington. designed to
spread the gospel of economy
These societies are based upon a
such as schools, churches, lodges,
clubs and industrial concerns. Al
{ though the only qualification for
membership is the willingness to save
and to buy War Saving Stamps. the
societies are far more than purchas-
ing organizations.
They are primarily educational in
. intent Their purpose is to teach
and practice the idea that the war
can be won only by the economical
use Of all the materials Of living.
Teaches How to save.
The total issue Of War Savings
Stamps by congress was but $1,000
100000, which is only a small fraction
Of the revenue needed to carry on the
war. The value Of the War Savings
Stamps campaign lies not primarily
in the amount which it viii bring to
the treasury, but in the lesson Of
saving which IL teaches.
1t cannot be repeated too often that
the war cannot be won with money
alone If the treasury were filled
TO the roof with gold. the situation
would scarcely be improved.
True, some Of this money could be
used for the purchase Of goods from
other nations, but since nearly all
other nations are drawing upon US
for goods, we cannot rely upon i'm
ports
When You buy a $500 War Savings
Stamp. the fact that you place $500
in gold in the treasury for war use Is
the least important phase of the
transaction Far more important IS
the fact that $500 worth Of material
has been saved. assuming that IL
you had not bought War Savings
$500 for something else-perhaps for
a new pair Of shoes. BY having the
old pair half soled, you save Just so
much leather. which is needed 10
make shoes for soldiers
Demands Are Growing
The annual value Of manufactures
in this country has been about S54,-
600, 100000. Some Of this was export
ed, but there are also some Imports,
so that the $4,000, 100000 may be
taken as fair measure Of the
amount we have been accustomed TO
spend for manufactured goods.
Now the government is calling Tor
about S2O.OO0.0O0,000 a year Of manu-
featured products to conduct the var.
That means that the government IS
going TO need about half OF the ma
teriai and labor which is going into
our manufactured Eoods-half OF the
supplies Of shoes and clothes. tools
rrnndu General which the
American people heretofore had for
their own use
Mediate that fact awhile and you
viii begin TO get an idea OF the mag
nitude Of this business OF financing
the war. Il means that on an aver
age each Of US must get along on just
half as much as he did before the
war. OF course. this is Impossible
for many persons Of small income
Those Of large income viii have 70
rerench by a great deal more than
half.
But the war can be financed only
II every citizen realizes his duty, not
merely to buy Liberty Bonds and War
Savings Stamps with his surplus cash,
which he would otherwise have put
in a savings account, bus TO do with
out goods which he would have
bought in peace time. and TO register
that actual economy Of material in
the purchase Of government obllga-
tions-War Savings Stamps OF LID
erty Bonds.
Pledges to EeonomIEe.
Every member Of War savings
society signs a pledge that he viii
practice systematic saving. that ne
viii refrain from unnecessary eNpen-
diture and the purchase Of nOn-essen-
tials. and that he viii encourage
others in his community TO practice
these essentials Of thrift
HHaHa n1snf ms
means millions OF men to feed and
clothe, who are not producing any
thing; millions Of tons OF steel ana
food sent TO the bottom OF the sea by
submarines; millions Of gallons OF
gasoline burned in military autos and
planes-cOnsumptio on an enormous
scale over and above peace time con-
sumption.
And they must also learn that their
country is no longer a sparsely popu-
lated one with resources that cannon
be measured: but a country, which.
although rich in both resources and
accumulated wealth, is nevertheless
rapidly approaching the stage OF
.'saturation" in which consumption
and production almost balance And
for all that we can produce above
our wants, our allies and the ueutrals
have desperate need
Lesson Is Easily Learned.
This lesson OF economy is one that
will be hard for America to learn
The European belligerents could not
have stood the strain Of war this long
except for the fact that they have
long been crowded countries, and
have had to learn the lessons OF
economy. What an American would
stigmatize as stinginess has long
been a necessity in Europe
Houses heated just enough to pre-
vent illness. food cooked in quantities
lust sufficient for a meal. clothes
made 90 serve as long as the fabric
would hold together-such economies
have been usual even among the
well-to-dO in Europe.
Meanwhile America has been evolV-
ing the opposite ideal OF wastetul eN-
'.You are no sport" unless you are
willing to spend more than you can
afford. unless you despise patched
clothes ana half-soled sh0es-and
every American aspires 10 be good
sport. One Of the first things nc
learns is TO lie about his income and
live up to the lie.
But America can no longer AFFORD
to be a sport among nations. She
has come into new and grave respon-
sIbilities. for one thing, and her days
OF prOdigal wealth are over for an
other. There vas a time in the early
mining days Of the west when men
would throw away change for dol
lar as too small to be worth carry
inG.
When the fur trade was at the
height Of its glory, trappers at Taos
~ ~, would pitch dollars into the
street to watch the urchins scramble
for them The great oil gushers OF
the west brought into being another