Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-06-25
WAR STAMPS, SAVINGS AND MONEY

Inc government proposes to sell to the people OF
the country two billion dollars worth of War Savings
Stamps. pledges for the purchases to be made now, and
delivery to be made between now and the end of the
year. The Immediate purpose Of tho sale is. Of course.
to obtain money for the financing Of war operations.
Tho two billion dollars will be in addition to the sums
received from the sale OF Liberty bonds and other sums
collected in taxes.
The War Savings stamp is a government pledge
which will be worth five dollars on the first Of January.
1928. 1t costs today SALT, and the price will advance
one cent. each month. The person who buys one Of these
stamps now lends the government SALT, which will be
repaid in a little less than five years with 4 per cent in
tereat compounded quarterly.
If a person should buy a five dollar bill and keep
ii for four or five years he would be making no sacrifice
20 far as his principal is concerned. He would simply
he keeping that much money out Of use, and would lose
whatever interest the money might have earned for him
in the meantime. The Savings stamp is an investment
Of q different character. The individual buys from tho
government what is equivalent to a five dollar bill, pays
SALT for it, and gets his five dollars at the end of some
months.
In the various speculations on matters Of public
finance it may occur to some to wonder why the govern
nnent should go through the form of izsuing these stamps
at all, and why, on the contrary. it should not print two
billion dollars worth Of new five dollar bills. pay is
obligations with them, and let it 90 at that. The people
would then be relieved of the necessity for buying
stamps, and they could go on as If nothing had hap
paned. -
1t is true that the government could print bills OF
any denomination in any amount. It could circulate
then, too But If it were to do SO it would be bringing
about exactly the conditions which it is trying to pre-
vent. It would promote imitation and encourage extrav-
agance. What the government is trying to do is to pre-
want imitation and induce the people to save.
Just as the war cannot be won without hard fight
Ing, so it cannot be financed without the making of nm.
ancial sacrifices. In the long run every dollar Of all the
billions that the war costs must be paid in hard cash,
and the cash must be derived from taxation. In tho
sale of bonds and other evidences Of Indebtedness the
government IS postponing to a later date the collection
az a part Of the war cost in taxes. But postponement
Is III. When the bonds fall due they must be paid with
money collected in taxes. When the Savings Stamps
fall due they will be retired with tax money. And the
purpose Of the government is so to encourage the habit
Of thrift among the people that they will accustom them
selves easily to the saving Of money which they would
Otherwise spend in order that II may not be necessary
Tor them to go through a sudden transition from lavish
sxravagance to close economy in order that the tax bur-
A(ns which must ultimately be borne may be not too
xauch of a load!
&GtE5UGA