The Benson signal., 1918-08-24
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-Billions
Spent for Needless Telephone
Calls and kilograms.
BY EDWARD MOTT WooLLEY.


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 our country has been
built. If we really felt the impulse,
we could raise six or eight billion dol
lars spontaneously and without the
blare of salesmanship and publicity;
and we would do it so easily that Ger
many and her allies would stand
aghast at our 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
zion or more of our boys in France, and
The casualty lists coming home every
day, we still lack the pulsating fervOr
af 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 secs 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 it from within. The
fighting impulse dominates his every
instinct. What we most need in
America today is fighting impulse.
Once we get it 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
ly six or eight billion, but as many bill
lion as our country might need. Let
us search our hearts, therefore, and
discover why it 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 it directly. 1 am not talking here
about great sacrifices. With merely triv-
ial and passing inhibition we can make
this fourth loan a glorious manifesto
ton of Americanism.
Never was there such a nation of
spenders-we literally throw money to
the winds. Cash runs out Of our pock-
cts into 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
lives
Let us consider here merely the mill
lions that go for trivial things that do
not count as permanent investments
either 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,
is almost universal A dealer esti
mates that 5O,O0O,OOO people spend an
average Of a 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 100000 900,
in addition to the postage. Including the
cards that are kept by the purchasers,
it is probable that the total is half a
billion dollars. Many men have made
fortunes in this business. / know Of
one former valentine manufacturer
who retired with lot of money.
1t is certainly inconsistent that this
great sum should go for such
trivial purpose when the nation is in
volved in this mighty war that calls
for cash everlastingly. Here is one
expenditure that could be eliminated
almost wholly until the war is over.
Besides this amount put into Liberty
! bonds might mean something worth
while to the people themselves.
Then there Is another class Of SOU
venrs thai masquerade as merchan-
disc and absorb an astonishing amount
of money. Travellers and tourists es-
pecially waste their cash upon these
things, and immense quantities are
sold to the people everywhere. The
bulk of this stuff is useless junk-at
least in war time, when conservation
is the high need. Why spend our money
these days for fancy baskets, card
trays, wooden claptrap articles, knck-
knacks, trinkets, pOpguns, stuff and
whim whams? The souvenir stores in
Atlantic City, Asbury Park, Coney Is
land, Revere Beach near Boston, Ven
ice near Los Angeles, and similar es-
Establishments take more than a hundred
million dollars: out of our r~>kets
every summer. One small town con-
Germ in Atlantic City sells a hundred
thousand dollars worth, on which the
net profit Is over fifty thousand. There
; are factories that turn out this sort
Of product In vast quantities. and much