The Kadoka press and Kadoka reporter. [volume] (Kadoka, S.D.) 1910-1923, 1918-08-23
Millions OF Dollars Thrown AWay
for TrifIes That Ought to
Set Nation Thinking.
SOME WAYS MONEY GOES
Postcard and Cheap Souvenirs Take
Big Sum Every Year-BiIIions
Spent for Needless Telephone
Calls and kilograms.
BY EDWARD MOTT WooLLEY.


rich and wonderful land of ours ii
should be necessary to conduct mighty
selling and advertising campaigns in
order 10 raise money to crush our enc
mies-cruel and dangerous enemies
who are bent on throttIing the very lib
erty on which our country has been
built If we really felt the impulse,
we could raise six or eight billion dol
lars spontaneously and without the
bIare of SaleSmanship and publicity ;
and we would do it so easily that Ger
many and her allies would stand
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 n mil
lion or more OF our 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 even his life. 1t takes no
argument to "Sell" TO him the need of
courage. He gets ii from within. The
fighting impulse dominates his every
instinct What we most need in
America today is fighting impulse.
Once we get ii the doom of Germany,
as a menace to ourselves and TO the
world. will be sealed. If we had this
yalorous, undaunted determination we
could raise. this coming year, not mere
~ six or eight billion, but rs many bill
lion as our country might need. Let
us search our hearts, therefore, and
discover why it is that brass-band
methods are needed to sell us Liberty
bonds. 1t seems all the more incredi-
the money VIC are asked to contribute
is merely money saved for ourselves.
Indeed, we could put through this
fourth Liberty loan without even feel
ing it directly. I am not talking here
about great sacrifices. With merely trv-
ial and passing inhibition we can make
this fourth loan Il glorious manifesta-
tiOn Of AmeriCanism.
Never was there such q nation of
Fpenders-we literally throw money to
he winds. Cash runs out of our pock-
atS into a hundred channels of eXtraV-
agance. Tempted at every turn by
something that appeals to our pleasure
saturated instincts, we hand out the
dimes, quarters and dollars. We work
hard, 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
tendencies and our vanity in many OF
The things that enter into our daily
Ives.
Let us consider here merely the mil
ions that go for trivial things that do
not count as permanent investments
either for utility or luxury
Millions Spent for Cards.
mania. This habit, which perhaps we
would not criticize in times of peace,
Is almost universal. A dealer est-
mates that 50,000,0OO people spend an
average of dollar a year on the
cheaper kinds Of cards, and an addi-
tional sum Of hundred million dol
lars on postage. But on the fancy cards
and more expensive sets, sold largely
to tourists, the estimate is 5000. 700,
In addition to the postage Including the
cards that are kept by the purchasers,
II IS probable that the total is half a
billion dollars. Many men have made
fortunes in this business | know of
enc former valentine manufacturer
who retired with lot of money.
II IS certainly inconsistent that this
great sum should go for such a
trivial purpose when the nation is in
volved in this mighty war that calls
for cash everastingly. Here is one
expenditure that could be eliminated
'lncSt wholly until the war is over.
BESIDES this amount put into Liberty
honds might mean something worth
while 10 the people themselves.
Then there IS another class of SOU
scnrs that masquerade as merchan-
liso and absorb an astonishing amount
of money. Travellers ami tourists es-
occially waste their cash upon these
things, and immense quantities are
sold 10 the people everywhere. The
bulk of this stuff is useless iunk-at
'east in war time, when conservation
Is the hi@h need. Why spend our money
these days for fancy baskets, card
rays wooden claptrap articles, knlck-
in0cks, trinkets, ropguns, stuff ana
yhim WhamS? The souvenir stores in 4
Atlantic City ASbury Park. Coney IS
and, Revere Beach near Boston. Ven
ce near Los Angeles, and similar cS-
take more than a hundred
million dollars out of our pockets
every summer. One small town CON
'ern in Atlantic City sells hundred
thousand dollars worth, on which the
net profit IS over fifty thousand. There
lre factories that turn out this sort +