Sioux County pioneer., 1918-09-05
FINANCE PROBLEM
IN EASY Terms
Government Must Have Twenty
four Billions in a Year.
WILL BE RAISED BY SAVING
sixteen Cents From Each Dollar Each
Ono Earns, and the Rest by Sell
ina Liberty Bonds to Patriotic
citizens. .
BY LAnERT ST. CLAIR.

cittzens. .
BY LABERT ST. CLAIR. n
The problem of government finances
ID just as complicated as we choose
to make 1t. . Approached from differ
ent angles. it can be made as battling
as Chinese puzzle or as simple as
the operation. ct an old-fashioned
dasher churn.
If one attempts to delve into the
ramifications of the expansion of cur
arency, and all that sort Of thing, he
is very likely to develop stiff neck
from craning up and down columns
Of figures and wind up by declaring
that figures lie horribly.
On the other hand, II he faces the
situation in broad, concrete way
and compares It with the problem Of
financing his home, or some similar
everyday expenditure, he can grasp
and master it as he would the handle
Of the family pump.
Here Is the governments immediate
financial problem in nutshell In
the next twelve months $24,O00, ,O00,-
600 probably will be required by the
United States government to meet war
expenses. The total income df every
person in this country is only about
S50, ,O00, 100000 a year. Therefore, If
the cost of the war for the next year
were to be assessed pro rata, every
persons share would be forty-eight
cents on every dollar that he or she
earns.
Needed to Beat OF Murderers.
Now let us bring the proposition a
little nearer home. Suppose that a
band Of murderers, In blood-smeared
uniforms of gray, having slaughtered
their way through the helpless waves
Of. women and children in nearby
cities just as the Hun has done in
France and Belgium, established
themselves in the woods at the edge
Of our. town with the fixed purpose Of
waging slaughter in our midst. Then,
II it were announced by the authori-
ties that it would cost forty-eight
cents Of every dollar that every earn
Or in our town made in the next
twelve months to conduct a defense
against the murderer, that would be
clear, wouldn't it,, And If the authori-
ties were to 60 further and say that
they would assess sixteen cents Of
this forty-eight on persons who could
afford to pay 1t and accent the other
thirty-two from persons who, out of
their zeal to aid in the defense of
their homes and their loved ones,
would take the promise of the local
government to repay it. that would be
plain, too.
There isn't bit Of difference be-
tween the local case have described
and the present case of United States
government. The Hun is in the offing,
the government needs an average Of
4s-one hundredths Of everyone's earn
ing in the next year to conduct its de-
fense, and it plans to raise this money
on one-third tax and two-thirds bond
or stamp sale plan. Within the next
year approximately S,O0O,OO0,OOO will
be raised by taxes and $4,000, 600, 600
by the sale Of government securities
Must De Raised by Economy.
There is the situation, and the ques.
ton now arises: How in the land Of
Goshen are we ever going to raise
such sum as $24,OOO 100000? The
answer is: Save as we never have
before.
It will not be pleasant to skimp our.
selves. for we have not been used tt
skimping, but we simply shall have tt
do 1t. That old $4,000 OOO, 900 re
Quirement is going to stick to us like
Z burr to pair Of mittens, and We
simply must raise it. .,s
| We must practice the same economy
to raise the money with the Hun s.
900 miles away that we would IL hi
were in the grove out at the edge o1
town. He may be. 5000 miles away II
person, but at every beat his lustfu
heart spans that gap between youl
daughter and mine and his fngeri
have a virulent 5000 mile itch fol
your money and your farms.
The question of what each Of III
must economic on can be settled only
In our individual minds and at oul
own hresides. II the Hun were in tn,
grove literally, would any Of us asl
eur neighbors what we should sacri
Zee in order to help raise our respec
tive shares Of the forty-eight cent
on the dollar? think not.
My notion is that the question ever,
patriotic American should ask himsel
is What must L have? The query
j What can get along Without Is no
searching enough.
Heber Grlm's Story Apropos.
Every time the idea Of saving oc
ours to me think of old Heber Grim
q character out in my western indiana
town who. had q perennial habit o
Il joining church. Just as regularly q
revival meeting time rolled around
Heber would get himself all het vi
over his sins and, along In the las
days of the meeting, he would com
1 rearing and snorting down the aisl
and Join up.
Somehow, though, Heber never 60
around to making any sacrifices 4