The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1941-10-23

done with the money we have al
ready spent. We could have crisis
crossed the continent with four and
six lane highways. We could have
adopted an Old age pension sys-
tenn that would have made the last
years Of our aged free from worry.
We could have placed a hospital
In every community of two thous-
and or over and we'd have left
over very sizeable sum in the
Treasury.
The tragedy of the whole thing,
as I see 1t, lies in the fact that
it will be unborn generations who
will be shackled with the debt
generations that were neither here
to protest or to vote.
A Minnesota friend writes me as
follows:
"A mutual friend Of ours who
has recently returned from Wash
ington made the observation the
other day that Washington is just
an insane asylum being run by the
inmates"
Government Excuses
Forbes magazine is authority for
the statement that the Army has
Communicated or purchased the
supply Of den lists emery discs in
the country, Of " hich there was
a supply large enough to take care
of the needs of an Ilrmy Of so mil
lion men. As a result dentists all
over the country are unable to pur-
chase new discs and are obliged
to use old, worn out ones on hand.
This is merely an example of the
extravagances INDUCED in by the
government which already has on
hand or ordered, supplies Of mater
ials, food, clothing and other nee
essities that will last for several
years. I recall that in the last
World War the War Department
ordered something like IL million
horse halters for 10000 horses.
Many can see little rhyme or rea-
son in much that is now being
done in the name Of national de-
Tense. Waste and extravaganza
seem to be the watch words Of the
day. Here are some glazing ex-
amples:
Purchases For The National De-
Tense Program
From the beginning to August 80,
1871.
Camps
The cost Of World War camps
and environments was $216 per man.
This was considered an outrageous
waste of money at that time. Pres
ent costs Of camps and canton
ments are:
427,113 men housed in tents at
a cost of $481 per man.
739,324 men housed in barracks
at a cost of $697 per man.
Equipment
Mosquito netting purchased, 401,-
000,0 900 yards-$8,669,000 in value.
Nearly enough to wrap around the
earth at the equator.
Cooks and bakers coats and
trousers-$1, 525, 900 worth. Nearly
enough to equip every private in
the army with cooks or bakers
uniform.
Over 600 million yards of cloth |
bought, or on order. Enough to
clothe every man, woman and child
in the United States.
In one day (September 81 the |
Quartermaster Corps bought 3d.
464, 540 yards Of khaki cotton twill
uniform cloth at a contract price
of s23,334,474. This is enough ma
terial to make over 10 million
khaki uniforms.
Blankets. In the last year, in |
addition to the blankets on hand |
and left over from the World War, |
the government spent $76,526, 900
for blankets. This means about |
IL, 100000 blankets were bought for |
an army of 100000, or approx
mately eight blankets per soldier.
Raincoats. s16,s5s,OO0 was spent
on this item of equipment. Since
the raincoats were Of various types |
and the prices ranged from slightly |
over one dollar to four dollars, this
means that at least six million
raincoats were bought.
Thermometers. The Medical
Corps spent s513,0O0 for clinical
thermometers. This ought to make |
every man and woman, who pays
taxes either have a chill or a sud
den rise in temperature. Imagine
buying a million and one half fever
thermometers for the army alone.
Horse and buggy days are with
us yet. The army spent $450,000
for new saddles and $148,000 for
81 900 new halters.
Other purchases included:
$1,8S0,000 for flags and bunting.
100000 pair of shoes for $685.
5000.
S,720000 pair of cotton drawers
in one day.
$2,250,0O0 for aluminium pots,
pans and pitchers.
S10,000000 for mattresses.
S12,500000 worth of gloves and
mittens
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