The Washington times., 1936-08-15

~ AAAS PVN&ASSs
Then, with
One.third in Edwin c. Hill
his pocket, if the house burns
down, he can say: I have in my
pocket enough to start another
business
Such is the lesson of thrift and
frugality, great virtues in the
United States. With it might we'll
go Benjamin Franklin's admoni.
ton "a penny saved is a penny
earned" The United States was
built on frugality and thrift. The
Yankee realization Of the value Of
dollar came to be proverbial.
The founders of the fortunes of the
Astors, the Carnegies and the
Rockefellers were thrifty men. The
builders of the West were COM
PEELED by circumstances to be
thrifty.
Our postwar generation, for
getting the lesson of its fathers,
has paid heavily for its prodi-
gality. The signs today, and they
are good signs, indicate that the
prodigal sons are coming back to
the fold.
DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN
America has had its spending
spree and has been sobered by the
depression that followed so close
upon it. Business men from all
parts of the country tell me that
the trend is to thrift. They point
to increased savings banks deposits
and to the attention which the in
dividual is paying to his buying.
Political observers tell me the
same thing, pointing out that the
trend is shown in their field by the
attention the average man is pay
ing to taxes and to Government,
State and municipal spending.
Some shrewd observers insist that
the issue of thrift will be as i'm
portant as any other in the cam
paign, on a level for instance,
with such issues as the tariff, the
system as against an alien system
of government.
Even in the rock-ribbed South,
old-line Democrats are loud and
vehement in their attacks on Gov
eminent spending and the enor-
nous debt which has been piled up.
One canvaSSer of public opinion,
who has been out through 20
States asking the average man
what he thinks of the campaign,
reports that the public debt is his
main concern, the thing which he
is thinking most about and the
thing which will decide which way
his vote shall go.
ECONOMY A VIRTUE
If such reports are true, and
they seem most reasonable, it
will not be the first time that
the question of thrift was a para
mount one in an American cleo
ton. AS far back as Thomas
Jefferson's time, the sage of Mon
ticello wrote to a friend in this
fashion:
'If there be anything amiSs
in the present state of our
affairs, as the formidable def
icit lately unfolded to us indi-
Gates, L ascribe it to the mat
tentiOn Of Congress to their
duties, to their unwiSe diSsipa-
ton and waste of the public
contributions"
They seemed, some little willis
ago, to be at a loss for objects
wherein to throw away the sup
posed fathomleSs funds of the
Treasury.
II am aware that in one Of
their most ruinOus vagaries the
people were themselves betrayed
into the same frenzy with their
representatives. The deficit pro-
duced and = heavy tax to sup
ply it, will. / trust, bring both
to their sober senses"
And after jefferson, Grover
Cleveland was to say:
every thoughtful American
must realize the importance of
checking at its beginning the
tendency in public or in private
station to regard frugality and
economy as virtues which we
safely OutgrOw. The liberation
Of this idea results in the
waste of the peoples money
by their chosen servants and
encourages prOdigality and. ex-
travagance in the home life Of
our COuntrymen. 1t is equally
clear that frugaIity among the
people is the best guaranty OF
a contented and strong support
of free institutions"
Copyright. ] a2s, by King Features
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