Evening star., 1942-12-07
Rationing Will Grow
More Severe Durinu
Second Year Of War
US. Public Has Shown
By Sacrifices Of AZ
Thot 1t Is Ready
By the Associated Press.


John Doe, home front American
took a couple of bitches in his bel
in the first year after Pearl Harbol
and today prepared to pull in a
much more slack as victory may de
mand.
His gasoline, coffee and sugar al
ready rationed, he faced simila
limitation of meat, for sure, and pos
sibly milk, butter, clothing ant
transportation among other things
Leon Henderson, administrator o
prices and rationing, while dis
couraging specific speculation, pu
1t in these words: 1T is safe Il
say that we can look for an eXten
sion Of rationing in 1943.'.
John Doe also gave up, or agreed
through his Government to give III
in the next year, wage raises, til
cookie boxes and a big part of hi
income earmarked for taxes ant
war bonds. He pledged many hour
a week to blackout and other civil
ian defense duties; he debated +;
system which might force him ou
of normal occupations into war work
He surrendered part of his freedom
to limited censorship. So that de.
partment stores might save rubber
John carried home many package!
himself and accepted slower delivery
on the others.
Wages at Peak.
Compensation-aside from thu
satisfaction of backing up the armed
forces-came from the highest EN-.
ployment rate and wage level II
American history, generally stabil'
. lied prices and other programs de-
signed to hold down the cost of liv'
ing, and efforts to assure fail
I distribution of available civilian sup
plies.
Nazi U-boats, firing torpedoes into
! ships that formerly supplied Johr
4Doe, caused much Of the rationine
I'm the first year after Pearl Harbor
They accounted for a shortage OF
fcoffee-now rationed at one pound
.per adult for five weeks-which has
fto be brought from South and Cen
stral America. They accounted for
gasoline and fuel oil shortages in the
East, which used to get its petro-
.leum in tankers that sailed around
from the Gulf.
The Japs cut off Johns rubber
from Malaysia and the East Indies
accounting for tire rationing
throughout the United States and
mileage rationing" of gasoline in
the West. The war against Nippon
also cut off the Filipino and ham
pered the Hawaiian sugar supply.
Other rationing came from Johns
willingness to divert men, machines
and materials to manufacturing
weapons of victory instead of gad-
gets of comfort. The new auto
mobiles and typeWriters on hand
we're ra ationed because their factories
we're converted to war production.
Meat Supply Divided
Meat rationing-now voluntary,
but to be mandatory soen-ex-
emplified another type of shortage.
There's plenty of meat, but John
Doe Is divvying up the supply with
he armed forces and our Allies
abroad. Tight situations appeared
N milk and butter for the same
reason.
Now accepted as a democratic
method of giving everybody his fair
share, rationing came as a surprise
snd a shock to many Americans.
Before Pearl Harbor lot of people
had an idea 1t was an arbitrary
thing that only dictators enforced.
American thought on the subject
switched so abruptly that some Off
-ials advocated rationing every
thing, scarce or not, but the ad-
ministration stood today for avoid
ance Of rationing when possible.
John Doe got nodding acquaint-
snce this year with another "for-
tign" word-inflation. Before Pearl
Iarbor he recognized imitation as a
financial disease which once made
bread worth s1,00o,000,OO0 loaf in
Germany.
BY spring OF 1912 President
Roosevelt told John and Congress
that it could happen here, and de-
nlanded preventive steps. The pro-
gram developed by fall into a major
Governmental effort, with an office
IN the White House and a director,
James F. Byrnes, plucked from the
Supreme Court.
National Income Scars.
The official opinion was preached
that more and more people we're
earning more and more money at a
time when there were fewer and
fewer goods to buy. Unemployment
the bugaboo of a depression decade
dropped in year from over 4,OOO,-
COO to considerably less than 2,OOO,-
COO. National income scared from
$40, 1000 100000 year to around
Sis 5,000, ,000, 900. At the same time.
war production occupied about IS
per cent Of the country's factory ca
pacity.
The economists warned that only
drastic action could prevent a tragic
increase in the cost of living. In six
months after Pearl Harbor the cost
OF food, shelter and other necessities
jumped 1877 per cent in confirma-
yion.
The Governments antidote was
freezing and fixing of prices of
nearly all civilian articles-some-
times over serious opposition. as in
the case of farm products: restric-
tion OF installment and charge ac-
count credit; freezing of salaries and
wages for most people and a s25 900
ceiling for the top rank; subsidies of
few commodities; intensified War
bond selling, which is scheduled for
a 81 900 900 ,000-a month pace next
year; more taxes, over 5000, 900 900
more next year than this year:
freezing of rent charges: simplifica-
ton of goods and services.
Articles disappear"
The second year after Pearl Har-
Dor was to see too, invisible ra-
tioning-the disappearance from
stores of such common things as
garbage pals, corkscrews, zoot suits
and whipping cream. Even razor
blades are in danger.
Steel, copper and other metals