The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-08-19
BUDGET SYSTEM IS URGED FOR
 ALL FAMILIES War Thrift Stamps Sales men Will Push
 Move. > WILL HELP TO
 CUT LIVING COST Connecticut Director Calls on All Workers To Do
 Their Part.

Representatives of the Treasury Department throughout Connecticut
 who are engaged in promoting the
 sales of Thrift and War Savings 1 Stamps, Treasury Certificates and ! other government securities, have ' been requested by Mrs. Richard M. | Bissell, Director of Savings for Con- necticut, to cooperate as far as pos i sible with the organizations of the State Food Administrators who have been called back to their posts by l Attorney General Palmer, to meet | the national crisis brought about by | the increase in the cost of living. The Connecticut War Savings or ganization will continue to carry out | the policy laid down by the Treasury | Department, interpreting it's duties as | being broader in scope than the mere
 selling of government securities. The i organiZat ton is interested primarily i of course, in promoting sales of Thrift and War Savings Stamps, | Treasury Certificates and all other | government securities Nevertheless, fthe government hopes ultimately to reap the best results for the people
 of the nation by extending it's thrift
 movement into all phases of economic
 life, and in this way permanently to
 restrict the cost of living and turn | the waste into capital on which the l people may prosper and industries
 may grow
 The program includes even the es- l tablishment of a budget system in | every family on the theory that ex- 1 travagance is one of the great evils | of our national life As a matter of | fact, Americans cannot presume to | teach thrift to foreigners because in most cases the foreigners can do the | teaching It is a native born Ameri-
 can who does not count his pennies;
 who buys recklessly without consid-
 ering the cost or the value received;
 who throws away food which could
 be utilized; who spends his entire in
 come without laying aside something
 for rainy day As a rule, the man
 who comes here from the foreign 1 country knows better All that the I War Savings organization hopes to 1 teach him is not to save his money 1 in bureau drawers or stockings, but l to put 1t where it will bring him a ! safe and profitable return But those | who were born in this country must l be taught the virtues of their fellow | citizens from abroad and wh n they | learn to buy wisely, and to Sd ye sys- | tematically the demand for goods, | especially the 1uxuries, will be reduc- | ed, and consequently prices must be | lowered.
 It all comes back to the old eco l homie law of supply and demand. i There seems to be no doubt that a | considerable responsibility for the
 present high prices belongs to un- 1 scrupulous profteers but the fact re- | mains that nf +a American people themselves The
 profiteer would not dare to go to such lengths for his own advantage | if he did not know that the American people are reckless with their money If the proffteers were all put in jail ! tomorrow and the other causes of the 1 high prices removed food and cloth | ing would still cost more than they should until the people learned how 1 to economize and thus reduce the l demand
 Mrs BisselTs appeal to the local directors followed a New England conference in Boston this week at which an address was made by Will fam Mather Lewis the new director of the Savings Division of the Treas
 ury Department
 MT Lewis secuted the idea that the CIlu Ol lIlc Wal COuIu JuSll1y any re- taxation in such activities as the 1 thrift movement
 we must not forget" he said, ! that after the Civil War it took 10 years to get this country back to a
 firm financial basis As far as the economic life of the country is con- cerned, the war is not yet over. and will not be over for some time. For i a number of years, we shall be on | trying and artificial basis. The chief 1 causes of the high cost of living at | the present time are the imitation of i the currency, less production than was needed during the war, and great demand for goods. You cannot | legislate the law of supply and de- | mand out of existence. Prices must go up still higher unless production ! is increased, and the demand lessen | ed. The people of New England can not render a greater service to the | government at the present time than ! by exercising the most rigid economy I in buying and in investing whatever 1 they can, or whatever they save on | their purchases, in government secur- | ities. The country needs horse sense and the country needs capital. I say
 in all seriousness that the mission of ! the War Savings organization is more vitally important to the future of this l country today than 1t was during the
 war, because the dangers to the na- i ton arising from high prices and | disturbed economic conditions are greater than any we faced during the | war"
 DEFINITE.