Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-12-11

sells widows gold bricks and worth
less oil stocks.
This newcomer is the man who
makes up and sells phoney gift
boxes for those at home to send to
men in the service.
He Is operating all over the coun-
try. What he does is to put in false
bottoms in his boxes and containers
and then, as if that weren't enough,
he fills up the meager space with an
assortment of gifts that couldn't
pass the Pure Food and Drugs Act
with letter Of introduction.
For 81 he will gladly sell you a
package that costs him every bit of
IS cents to get together and II you
care to pay more and get less, he'll
happily sell you IS, 81, or even a
$40 box to send to some boy who Is
fighting for his country.
This Is a racket that makes all
other rackets look nice in COMPARE
son. To start with. it takes advan-
tage of the Christmas spirit, and
then goes on to profit on such emo
tons as love and charity. Can you
imagine some soldier on one of our
ar-fung battlefronts having to open
a Christmas package which those
who love him have sent, and finding
it filled with junk that not even a
reputable ten-cent store would sell
at fire sale?
I don't know what the penalty Is
for such fraud, but whatever it
is, it isn't enough. A 10-year stretch,
all done hanging by the thumbs,
is too good for any one who would
cheat those who have pledged their
Lives to defend their country. 7
would look pretty silly in judicial
robe, but would like to be Judge
for a day when they started bring
ing in these cheats and frauds for
hearing. I'd not only send them
to Alcatraz but I'd make them walk
| to the place, and tnen share a cor
ner room with a kidnaper. And
no running water or room service,
either.
There is another sterling type Of
patriot that needs rough handling
too
He Is the fellow who buys War
Bonds and then turns them in as
soon as the law will allow.
don't mean those Americans who,
from necessity, have to turn in
their bonds to get some cash. I
mean those show-off boys who make
q grandstand play Of buying bonds
and. while the lipstick of the stage
or screen beauty they were allowed
to kiss for buying the bonds is still
fresh on their checks, hustle down
to the bank and turn them in.
The Government might do worse
than to start making public the
bonds redeemed. Such a step would
put the old quietus on a lot Of
that purchasing of bonds simply for
show. 1t undoubtly would slow
down the sale of bonds a bit, but
after all bond that isn't bought
for the duration might as we'll not
be bought.
My guess is that the chief Of
tenders are those vino buy the big
bonds, the thousand dollar and up
ones. They turn the spotlight on
you when you buy one of the bigger
denominations. and the Treasury
Department probably would tell you
that lots of the boys who have
bought them were more moved by
the chance Of getting a little public
acclaim than by patriotism.
When you buy a bond and don't
mean to buy 1t for keeps, you are
playing q pretty low down trick on
Uncle Sam. He has a lot Of book
keeping to do to keep up with those
bonds and when you buy them in
April and cash them In July vol,
are sabotaging the Old Boy. and
no fooling.
distributed by McNausht Syndicate. 1nc,