Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-06-02
Everything's
Saved but
White. Paper
What U. S. Really Needs
Is Good Rewrite Men
By DAMON RITNYON

They explain clearly the reasons
why certain materials must be
saved. Ask me something about
rubber. Ask me something
about sugar. Ask me something
about anything but paper.
1 would not know about paper.
I find nothing in the bulletins
on that subject, but / have
heard that some conservation OF
this material is necessary.
am therefore somewhat per-
turbed by what appears to be a
little slackness on the part of
the division Of information OF
the Office for Emergency Man.
agement.
Some of the bulletins are
typed on both sides of sheets
of paper the size of ordinary
letter heads, which / think dis
plays a most commendable
spirit of economy, though it is
a little trying on the muscles
because OF the effort involved
i'm turning the sheets over.
However, other bulletins COM
prising Just a few words are
written on one side of the paper
and right in the middle thereof,
leaving vast margins of unused
space all the way around.
Each sheet of this paper takes
about AGO words. or twice that
when both sides are used and
the lines closely spaced, as in
the case with many of the bull
letins. But there are only 30
or 40 words in some of the bull
letins that are favored with'all
the acreage I have mentioned.
and am wondering il this is
in keeping with the true phil
osophy of conservation.
I ADMIT that the bulletins
Il that get the big space are
stirring gems of thought and
expression and I suppose the
idea Of displaying them in a
sort of frame of white margin
is to cause them to attract
greater attention from readers
less about the DEM than my
self.
Personally, / would find the
bulletins though they were hid
den under mountains of other
words. But / think perhaps the
DEM can save a little paper
here.
I think il could have a little
more by inducing other depart
ments Of the government 10 cut
down on the reams of pulp
product covered with words that
are clogging the mails.
The amount of white paper
that is being used up for propa-
ganda that nobody reads and
for speeches by congressman
and other government purposes
that serve no good end must be
positively staggering.
Every newspaper in the
United States gets big basket
of this junk every day.
Very little of il is suitable
for publication. very little of il
is seen by the general public, so
ii represents waste.
Waste of paper. waste of eff
fort. A large. number of men
and women are working like
jolly little beavers in Washing
ton and elsewhere preparing
the waste.
I THINK If, instead of sending
Il out heavy bundles of dope
TO the newspapers at intervals,
the DEM had one lively story
prepared each day covering
some one point 1t wished to
drive home TO the people and
perhaps attributed to some big
name" fellow, it would be better
off as far as getting in the
papers is concerned.
. II should be a wire story ex-
pertly handled, not too long, and
with human interest slant if
possible.
In the DEM and other depart.
mental bulletins at hand thi s
very minute 1 find numerous bits
of material any one of which
could be taken by a good rewrite
man and turned into first page
stuff.
AS a matter of fact, think
they may have been written by
experts. but when you shovel a
barrel of that sort of thing into
a newspaper office all at once.
no one has time to sort out the
valuable pieces.
What the department OF in
formation of the office for
Emergency Management needs
is a slicker on the order of Steve
flanagan. who knows how to
plant the excellent seed at the
disposal of the department in
soil where each flower will
bloom in the news columns of
the public prints individually
but beautifully.
Copyright, 1857. by King Features
Distributed by international News Service
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