The Press., 1918-08-29

dollars each because they never spend more for clothes than they absolutely must. But on the other hand $1O is 8 much smaller. amount than the aver age man or woman spends for a 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 L1b- 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 say | 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 half-cot- ton and that the value of the raw ma teriaI constituted. only 50 per cent of the price paid by the ultimate consum- CT. that would, at the present price Of 60 cents per pound for wool and 30 cents per. pound for cotton respective ly. represent 2O8, ,334 tons of wool and 416.667 tons of cotton. Can you imag- inc how much freight space would be | required on water and on land, in mOV- ing this mass of raw material? Do YOU realize that if these bales were put into freight cars, assuming load ing capacity of 16 tons per car for wool and 13 cents per car for cotton, this would represent 1S,O21 box cars loaded with wool and 32,O56 box cars loaded with cotton? Assuming 75 cars Der 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 approx1- mately cover the distance from Balt1- 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- CT that more coal. more labor and more transportation are required in distrbut ng the cloth and again moro labor and more material in converting it iI.t0 clothes. and again more labor and transportation in retailing the fin iShe, product tC 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 tn clagg:ng of the wheels of transport tat:on 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 to our allies, the supplies they need; means increased losses and a longer duration of the war. My 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 mat ter of common agreement thIt this limited 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 governme-l 1t, resulting in fatal delay and end ess in- crease in prices.
 The loaf of bread available for our selves and for our allies is not large I ,' 1f to eat more than Is abs0llte'T rr eS- sary for our maintenance II '* yer /. body's duty. therefore at tn $ t'me to "tighton his belt" and to make :. :-enI- inc effort to live on as th.n q s..~P Gt the loaf as he can. Unless that De done we must buy additional food in neutral countries, thereby using ton mage that should be kept available for our military operations and increasing our dificulties in adjusting our trade balances with neutral countries.
 hurts Uncle Sam In Many Wave,
 To return to our story of the suit of clothes: During last year the United States had to import 421,0OO. 900 pounds of wool representing q value of about $172, 100000. About half of this came from Argentina. Our suits of clothes called for a substantial portion of this wool and therefore to that ex- tent robbed Uncle Sam of the use of his ships. Moreover. our factories be- ing busy in producing the things re- quired for the prosecution of the war and our home consumption still pro- ceeding at almost top speed, the quan- tity of goods available for shipment to Argentina in payment for the wool tor for that matter to Chile for nitrates. to Peru for copper. and so On), is insufi- cient As a consequence the United States had to pay for more goods in .E South. America than South America has had to pay for goods bought in the I United States: therObyE causing a: ds<