Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-10-10


Released by Western Newspaper union.)
IT TAKES A LONG TINE
TO SPEND SEVEN BILLION
HOW LONG WOULD it take you
to spend $1,000, OO0, 900 il you could
call upon Johnny Bull and John Chi
naman as assistants, and with all
the mass production facilities OF
American factories and the produc-
tiveness of American and Canadian
farms from which to buy?
Under those conditions, our Uncle
Sam, up to August 81, had worked
six months on such job and had
succeeded in actually spending
$50, AT $40. That is a little less
than per cent of the seven billion.
II that represents his top spending
speed, which il does not, it would
mean something more than Is years
to spend all the seven billion con-
gress gave him last winter.
That sum represented what I'm
Gle Sam had actually delivered to
/ England and other war-torn democ-
racies in the first six-months pc
Rod. During that time he had Ell
Their delivered or had ION order"
war materials, ships and food rep
resenting total of So, SIS, 585 1895 and
! had decided what he would buy, as
rapidly as he can get it, up to 4
total of Sc ,281 PIT ,421.
In the way of quick deliveries.
the farms did better job than the
factories. During the six-month pc
riod, food represented a total OF
S1l8, 074, 538, with only So, 373, 1872
from the factories and the ship
yards. OF the total purchases I'm
Gle Sam has made, ordered or de
cided upon, S975, 008, 578 will come
from American and Canadian
farms.
The old gentleman is stepping on
the gas and the next six months
should show a much greater spend
ing speed than he displayed during
the first six months, but we cannot
expect him to get through all that
seven billion in less than two years.
MEETING UNCLE SANS
HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES
BACK IN THE GOOD old days of
1913, which does not seem so very
long ago to many of US, our Uncle
Samuel picked the pockets of some
Americans - especially those with
plenty to pick from, of the COM
paratively small amount of 1868 ,000,-
1 d. ,,,l inn
for World War l, he was taking from
more of us s., 487 ,000, 900. BY 1882 he
had eased off to only l,788, 900, 900.
In 1910 he "nicked' us for 1885,
1000. Now he comes along with
a new demand for sl3, O00, 900, 900,
and has so fixed it that none will
escape contributing a share, for we
will pay either directly, indirectly,
or both-and in practically all cases
it will be both.
Uncle Sam will charge you IS
year for the privilege of driving an
automobile. That 10 cent movie will
now cost you II cents. You will
pay 5l2 cents on each 1000 of the
wooden matches you use, or you can
get away with two cents on each
1000 paper matches. If you have a
telephone, you will pay six per cent
of your monthly bill If you go
places by rail, air, boat or bus, per
cent of the price of your ticket will
be added for your Uncle Samuel.
Such are but few of the many
items we will pay for directly and
know we are paying. Indirectly we
will pay on everything we buy.
Even with all of this we will not
pay enough to meet Uncle SamueIs
housekeeping expenses by several
billion dollars. Our children and
our grandchildren will have to pay
the remainder of the bill through
many years.
If our Uncle Samuel's bill we're
the only one that is skyrocketing, it
would not be so bad. Our state
and local expenditures have also
reached the stratosphere altitude.
In 1918 the total of state tax collec-
tons amounted to S300,000,000 By
1910 they had jumped to S3,028, 000,-
900. In 1913 the municipal taxes Of
all cities, villages and towns
amounted to only Sl,2l9, 000,0 900. but
by 1910 that had increased to 81, $685.
600, 900.
For 1871 we Americans will pay
in taxes an average of $l59 per in
dividual, or S795 per average family
of FIVE. And we will pay it whether
or not we know it. The tax collec-
tors will get it either directly or in
directly, or both.
TAKEN FOR GRANTED
THE ONE INSTITUTION which
does most for its community Is the
newspaper. 1t promotes the town
as market place. 1t preserves and
advances the town as q social and
cultural center. 1t serves week AFT
er week, year after year. and Ne
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