Henderson daily dispatch., 1940-07-06
The Count Is Ten

! ask OF Congress next week is APP
proved by that body, rs it will be,
total preparedness appropriations b.
this Congress, virtually al! Of them
given in the space Of only about Two
months, will reach the lmprecedent-
ed total of ten billions. Never before
| in peace time has INT mach money
heen authorized for like purposes III
single year, and never before. in
war or peace, has so much been
voted in the space of around sixty
lays.
That much molcy is beyond The
power eli finite man to comprehend
" terms Of cash dollars. And the
! tragedy is that ali of ii is to so into
Icvices whose only Use ana purpose
ere for destruction. What vast accom-
| pliShments for thu good o. humanity
could he realiZea /. ON the money If
diverted in that direction instead Of
where it is going.
But in 4 world .vncre maniacs ulc
20 large 4 ScgnIeat Of the total pO!@u-
lace the only alternative is to lay
ourselves open to the fate that has
come to many nations and millions
of men. women and children because
OF insanity on the rampage. No
rational person thinks that should be
clone, and so we spend and spend and
spend to protect ourselves.
Some years ago much was heard
in d presidential campaign in this
country of the phrase abolish pow
crty" It was considered then Il
Utopian dream-and for that matter
till is. But if the money and the
national resources consumed in war
and destruction in the last three
years, in all parts Of the world, could
have been utilized for constructive,
beneficial undertakings, we would
nave been by now far along Oh the
road that leads to two chickens in
every pot and two automobiles in
every garage.
While there is almost unanimity
in the United States in pushing the
defense program with the greatest
possible speed consistent with econ
omy and efficiency, it would be more
pleasing to most citizens if some idea
were given them as to the ultimate
goal in the undertaking. Scarcely
is one request for money heard and
granted than up comes another Tor
still more and yet greater sums.
When a few weeks ago Senator
Byrd casually remarked in the Sen
ate that the United States might be
called on to expend as much as
twenty billions of dollars If the
European democracies were crushed
by the Hitler war machine, it was
thought that he named the figure
more for the purpose Of emphasizing
the urgent need for economy than
anything else. Yet within less than
two months of the time he spoke the
nation is half way to the mark. And
who is there SO foolishly optimistic
as to think the end is anywhere near
at hand?
Now that the count is tenor will
in a few weeks be that-Would it
rot be in keeping with the proprle-
ties for some source with authority
to give an account of stewardship by
way of information as to how these
immense sums arc being applied and
lust what is to be gotten for them?
Spcndcrs, it would seem, should be
obliging enough to taxpayers to let
them in on the procedure before
Congress is asked to go further.
Prcparcdness-ycs, thousand
times preparedness to the utmost
rarthing Of what is needed and that
the country can sustain. But with 1t
some data on actual accomplish
mcnts.
Roughly speaking, this ten billion
dollars is about IS percent OF what
the United States spent on the World
War. exclusive, of course, Of loans
to the Allies during that period. And
the record will show, if memory IS
not tricky, that countless millions in
those days were utterly wasted in
the mad rush to achieve a goal That
should be incentive enough to in
spirc a superhuman effort now in
the direction Of economy. 1t is high
~ doubtful if much thought IS be-
inc given in responsible quarters to
that idea, however, or even that IL
will be now or later so long an easy
come, ca@y-go policy is pursued.