New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-08-23
AMERICAN People
GREAT SPENDERS
Millions Of Dollars Thrown Away
for Trifles That Ought to
Set Nation Thinking.
SOME WAYS MONEY GOES
eesteard and Cheap Souvenirs Take
zig Sum Every Year-eiiions
Spent for Needless Telephone
Calls and TeIesrams.
by EDWARD MOTT wooLLEY.

by EDWARD MOTT WooLLEY.
1t seems incongruous that in this
rich and wonderful land of ours II
should be necessary to conduct mighty
selling and advertising campaigns In
order to raise money to crush our enc
mies-cruel and dangerous enemies
who are bent on throttling the very lib
erty on which Jul country has been
built. II we really felt the impulse,
we could raise six Or eight billion dol
lars spontaneously and without the
blare Of craftsmanship and publicity
and we would do it so easily that Ger
many and her allies would stand
aghast at u overwhelming resources
and purpose.
The trouble Is that even yet we do
not realize the tragedy that Is over
Us. The war has not sunk into the
American consciousness. With a mil
lion or more Of u boys In France, and
the casualty lists coming home every
day, we still lack the %pulsating fervor
of intrepid courage-the courage that
wells within one and stirs the soul.
Fighting Impulse Needed.
The one unQuestionable evidence of
courage Is the willingness to sacrifice.
A man who sees his child in deadly
peril Is instantly ready to sacrifice
everything, ever his life. 1t takes no
argument to "sell" to him the need of
courage. He gets 1t from within. The
fighting impulse dominates his every
instinct. What we most need In
America today Is fighting impulse.
Once we get 1t the doom of Germany.
as a menace to ourselves and to the
world, will be sealed. II we had this
valorous. undaunted determination we
could raise, this coming year, not mere
ly six or eight billion, but as many bill
lion as our country might need. Let
us search our hearts, therefore, and
discover why 1t is that Grassland
methods are needed to sell us Liberty
bonds. 1t seems all the more incredI-
BILE that such should be the case when
the money we are asked to contribute
is merely money saved for ourselves.
Indeed. we could put through this
fourth Liberty loan without even feel.
Ing 1t directly. l am not talking here
about great sacrifices. With merely trlv-
lal and passing inhibition we can make
this fourth loan a glorious manifesto
ton of A~mericanism.
Never was there such a nation Of
spenders-we literally throw money to
the winds. Cash runs out of our pock-
cts into a hundred channels of extrav.
Tempted at every turn by
something that appeals to u pleasure
saturated instincts. we hand out the
lines. quarters and dollars. We work
most Of US, and we play hard.
Many Of us play with an amazing
abandon that scarcely reckons the cost.
And we crafty ourselves not only at
plays. but we satisfy our luxury-loving
and our vanity In many Of
he things that enter into our daily
ives.
Let us consider here merely the mil
ions that 60 for trivial things that do
count as permanent investments
for utility or luxury.
Millions Spent for Cards.
For instance, take our post card
mania. This habit. which perhaps we
would not criticize In times of peace,
almost universal. A dealer esti-
Mates that 100000 people spend an
lverage of a dollar a year on the
heaper kinds Of cards, and an addi- |
lonal sum Of a hundred million dol /
ars on postage. But on the fancy cards |
nd more expensive sets, sold largely
o tourists, the estimate Is 5000, 600, 900,
q addition to the postage. Including the
ards that are kept by the purchasers,
Is probable that the total is half a
illion dollars. Many men have made
ortunes in this business. I know of
ne former valentine manufacturer
Tho retired with a lot Of money.
It is certainly inconsistent that this
reat sum should go for such a
rival purpose when the nation is in
in this mighty war that calls
cash everlastingly. Here is one
Expenditure that could be eliminated
lmost wholly until the war is over.
esides this amount put into Liberty
onds might mean something worth
lille to the people themselves.
Then there Is another class Of sou.
that masquerade ms merchan-
|se and absorb an astonishing amount
money. Travellers and tourists es-
ecially waste their cash upon these
lings. and Immense quantities are
I'D to the people everywhere. The
Xix Of this stuff Is useless junk-at
asst In war time. when conservation
the high need. Why spend our money
lese days for fancy baskets, card
avs, wooden claptrap articles, knick.
lacks, trinkets. popguns, stuff and
him whams? The souvenir stores in
tlantic City, Asbury Park, Coney Is
nd, Revere Beach neal Boston, Ven
e near Los Angeles. and similar es-
blishments take more than a hundred
Lllion dollars out of our pockets
cry summer. One small town con-
IN In Atlantic City sells a hundred
ousand dollars worth, on which the ,
profit Is over fifty thousand. There
. factories that turn out this sort a.,
product In vast quantities, and much