The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-14

interfere with
 Rdsoa their usual bust- ness.
 That's the exception and not the rule, but the incid snt is mentioned here as wistful goodbye wave al happy, carefree days fast going glimmering. The invectives you have heard against business men trying to carry on their business as-uSual are mild to what will soon be heard abroad in the land. So far there have been only gentle admo- nitions from the chiefs of defenese Now they're ready to tell you how business Is not going to be as usual.
 Douglas c. MacKeachie, dollar-a- year deputy of the Division Of Pur- ,chases in the Office of Production Management, recently outlined for the business advisory conference Of the Department of Commerce some of the specific ways in which busi- ness is not going to be as usual. It was & broad, undecided treatment, but in general MacKeachie brought out the idea that tho days of busi- ness based on economic surpluses were over, and the days Of economic scarcity are ahead.
 COMES
 THE DAWN
 If all this sounds scary, the plea will have to be "Guilty," for the purpose is simply to help the home town people, not in touch with the Washington razzle-dazzle, realize how this defense effort Is going to move into every mill, store and household in the land and settle down as 8 ilon-paying star boarder for the emergency.
 The parade of witnesses before the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee protesting a. ainst the proposed taxes on musi- cal instruments, sporting goods. chewing gum, candy, cigars and cigaretS, moving pictures, booze and cabarcts is perhaps the last gasp of the business as-tsual advocates. All these gentlemen are estimable citi- zens, presidents of companies and trade associations. But their pleas for low taxes on 1uxurieS seem futile.
 This, however, is only . minor part of the program. When Secre- tary of Commerce Jesse Jones blandly stated that the national debt might have to 60 to 800 bil- lion, from the present $65 billion statutory limit, he wasn't kidding.
 Full realization of what this thing Is going to cost Is just beginning to dawn in Washington, and as sure as the sun rises in the east, it's still midnight in the rest of the country, if 1t isn't still yesterday or the day before. The concept you are asked to believe in all this darkness Is that Germany Is winning the war be- cause she has spent and Is spending more on war than anyone else on earth. And If you believe that money Is everything, the only an- swer Is that the United States must spend more than Germany If 1t Is to defeat Hitler, or even just help Britain defeat Hitler
 THAT BIG
 30 PER CENT
 To accomplish this will mean even more than sacrifices through the paymen3 of extra heavy taxes or the priority of defense needs over civil ian needs It can mean a complete in the economic life of the country, a Sacrific of things that, once gone. might never be regained.
 Now resting on the Presidents desk are supposed to be, among oth- CT things, proposals for organiza- tions of economic warfare, civilian defense, and control over prodaic- ton and distribution of civilian con- sumerS' goods This last is the one that will hit busdness-as-usual the hardest. It is based on the theory that 90 per cent of the sales of any come from 20 per cent of the merchandise. Tn other words, staples sell best, and the 30 per cent of the goods that sell least are the fancy groceries, the ultra-Styles, the de luxe models that are window dressing. If production of window can be eliminated and ef- fort concentrated on the standard ized lines, the country's productive establishment can, it is estimated. be raised 30 per cent Thirty per cent more guns-planes-tanks- ammunition may be just what 1t takes to get this thing over with.