The sun., 1918-11-21
Stop the War Squander!

Stop the War Squander!
Our Government knew how tc
spend for the war. 1t spent prodi
gally, recklessly, desperately. This
extravaganza, this squander of hun.
dreds Of millions, of billions of dol.
lars, was justified. The thing to dc
was to win the war. The way to win
it was to break the back of the
enemy by hurting against him unlim'
tied troops,S unlimited munitions, un.
limited treasure. That very thing
was done, ut whatever cost; and Sc
the war was ended.
But when the colossal fighting is
all over, does our Government know
how to stop the war spending? If II
does not 20 at the war expenditures
with n broad axe the Government
does not know how to stop the war
spending, for there is no other way to
stop it.
There is no justification for spend.
ing In war channels q single penny
that can be cut off; there can be NO
classification. 1t will not do to say
that factories geared up to war pro-
duction, working on war supplies
night and day, operating under war
contracts of hundreds of millions of
dollars, cannot be thrown into an
other gear all at once. 1t will not do
to say that hundreds Of thousands of
workers employed in those munition
factories and other war Plants can
not be cut off their pay rolls all at
once. All these things can be done,
and IL this Government expects to
face the American people these things
must be done.
In the first place. 1t will be cheaper
for the Government as well as better
for the American people to close
down the war work Of every one of
those war plants and recompense
them for their losses. 1t will be
cheaper because the economic waste
Of material will be stopped. This
material can so into something use
full instead Of being manufactured for
absolutely nothing. You might as
well dump steel into the bottom of
the Atlantic Ocean now as to make
it into shells and great guns. You
might as well make a bonfire Of raw
material as to put It into war sup
plies that no longer can be used.
AS for the workers in those war
plants, there are thousands of peace
Industries In this country that have
been short Of labor for the last year
and half that are begging for labor
to-day, as they have been all through
the war. There is a job waiting for
every man that walks out of a powder
mill or a gun foundry or a munition
factory. And the only thing this
country needs, but the thing 1t must
have If 1t Is going to meet the stu
alton, is that those war materials be
diverted into articles Of normal pro-
ductlon and that those war workers
so back to normal producing.
That is the only trouble today
lack of normal production. To keep
war plants running, to keep war
workers on the pay rolls Of those war
plants, the Government may go on
sinking billions more of money, but It
will not help to solve the problem one
bit The problem is not to keep men
on war work pay rolls. 1t Is to let
them hoe more potatoes, mine more
coal, do the nations bread and but
ter work.
The people cannot eat steel shells
The prices of food and clothing will
not come down for American consum-
ers until men enough are put back on
the production of those articles of
consumption. The prices of machin-
cry, tools and other things needed for
the production, manufacture and dis
tribution Of the necessaries of life will
not come down for American consum-
ers until men enough are put back on
the production Of such articles.
This country isn't going to be eco
nom.caliy straight again. any more
than Europe is, until ali the war use
OF labor and Of material for abso-
lutely nothing stops dead short, until
1t all goes back to It's proper field and
Its proper Job Of working to supply
the deficiencies Of shelter over tha