Milford chronicle., 1921-01-21
UNCLE TED'S
BEDTIME STORIES
HARDING STARTS RIGHT WITH A
REAL EXAMPLE OF ECONOMY

people don't reallze uOW JlSAI hOHO
is these days and how careful every
one should be to try and save all the,
can and work as hard as they can un
til the country gets back on soun'
'peace basis 1 just had a letter from
a friend of mine in Washington ant
he says he didn't know that timei
were really hard"
"Well, are they?" asked Ruth.
''Not in the same way they would bC
if we had a panic, Ruth, but through
the farm districts, as I told you last
week, where the farmer has been III
against the proposition of having tC
sell his products at less than it cost
him to raise them it HAS been mighty
hard. And then, too, he couldn't bor-
row any money to help market his
crops and so, all in all, particularly
in the farm districts, things have been
hard.
"But I didn't start to talk about
that, except as it bears on the exam
pie set to the people of the country
by President-elect Harding to be econ
omical. Really what he has done is
more than an example of economy, it
is the beginning of real economy for
the people of this country by actually
saving the cOuntry's money, which af-
ter all is the money of the people, for
the Government is nothing more than
a banding together of us all, so that
we can have rules, in the form of laws
to live by and choose those who will
lead U.S."
"How has Mr.. Harding started econ
omy, when he isn't President yet?"
asked Jack.
"In just this way, jack" was his
Uncles reply. every four years when
a new President or the same one is
sworn in to serve another four years,
a great celebration has been held at
Washington. Great platforms, and
stands were built at the Capitol where
the President takes his oath of office,
and all up and down Pennsylvania
Avenue and in front of the White
House. The cadets from West Point
where our army officers are trained
were taken to Washington as were
the cadets from Annapolis, the train
ing school of our naval officers, all at
a tremendous expense to the govern
ment. Soldiers from everywhere were
taken to Washington and thousands of
dollars of government money as we'll
as thousands of dollars of money of
the people of the District of Columbia
were spent for a great parade from the
Capitol to the White House headed by
the new President.
''Now this has happened. For many
weeks a huge committee has been
working on plans to make Mr.. Hard
ing's Inauguration the biggest and
greatest of them all. Now, that is all
right and a fine tribute to great
man, but it is not in keeping with the
times when certainly an example of
economy and simplicity should come
from the National Capital.
"But government money will not be
spent with Mr. Harding's orders or by
his wishes for an elaborate inaugur-
al ceremony. He saw ,as he will see
throughout his administration, that
the Government must save just as the
individuals must save. We had enough
of gross waste and extravaganza dur
ing the war. We saw a President go
to France with a great crowd of high
paid helpers and servants and squan-
der hundreds of thousands of dollars
of the peoples money without any re-
suit, except the waste of the money.
We saw, during the war, millions
wasted by the Democrats spending
the money like water. Now a new
President comes into the White !
House, man elected by a larger
vote than ever cast before in this
country for a President. The people |
are sick and tired of waste. They may
not all practice thrift themselves, but |
they will not stand for government |
money being wasted, especially now,
owing to the conditions I have told |
you about
"Mr. Harding is going to surround |
himself with big men. He is going to
see that the government gets some
thing worth while for every dollar
spent and he is going to see that no
dollars are spent needlessly. We have
all felt sure of that but now we know
it because he has asked that the in
augural committee stop all plans for
an inaugural celebration. He wants to
start an administration that will stand
for economy in the right way and he
certainly can't do it in better man
ner than to start by cutting out all
the unnecessary expense for the inau-
guraI ceremonies"
"Oh, remember" said Jack, dad
read me what he said"
"Yes, Jack, and it is worth hearing
again. 1t was sent by Mr.. Harding in
the form of a telegram to the chair
man of the Inaugural Committee.
won't read it all but just that part
which shows you how our next Pres
ident will take care Of the money of
the government. You must realize
that it means great deal for man
who has been elected President to
stop all the great celebrations in his
honor. It means that he is thinking
of the people of the country first and
himself last. After saying, in that
telegram that he would like to have
the complete abandonment of all plans
for the inaugural celebration Mr..
Harding said:
I know full well that the govern
ment outlay is relatively small and
that the larger expenditure comes
from the generous contributions of
the District citizenship, but it is time
ly and wholesome to practice The ut
tec derial of public expenditure
where there is no real necessity, and
it will be a wholesome example of
economy and thrift if we save the
many, many thousands which the in
auguraI celebration would call from
the private purses of those attending.
"That was not all he wrote but
enough to show you how he feels"
WELL" said Jack, 'I guess he is