The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1942-07-10
DULL FLICKER OF ALADDIN'S
LAMP
BY ]. E. Jones

Washington, D. c., July6--Alad-
din must have thought he had the
World by the tail, but he perform
ed his miracles with an oil lamp
before there were 20 billion dol
lars in his world. The Government
of the United States had total expen-
ditures of more than $32,560, 000,-
900, of which about 26 billion dol
lars was war spending, for the fiscal
year that closed June 80. Aladdin
may have rubbed his lamp, but he
never learned abc's about Big
money.
The receipts of the U. S. Govern
ment totaled about $12,700,OO0,000
last year. Aladdin's lamp didn't
have candle power enough to light
up job like that, to say nothing
about going into the ''red" nearly
20 billion.
Anyhow your Washington cores
pondent reports the fact that this is
the tenth continuous deficit Of the
Roosevelt Administration, and that
all past deficits will be dwarfed by
the $43,223,O00 deficit forecast in
the budget message for the 1943 ifs
cal year.
AS Congress closed it's appropria-
lions budget on the night of June
80 many members of the two Hous-
es of Congress expressed deep con-
Germ over the huge appropriations
that they had helped to pass, espec-
tally the 48 billion dollar war appro-
priation bill, which would bring to
nearly 202 billion dollars the wal
and defense commitments since
June, 1910. Aladdin didn't have
worries like that.
In act the record shows that he
didn't even know about imitation
Inasmuch as Alladin has been horn
ed-in on this story we will respect
his memory and not tax you with
indigestible particulars about how
all the money that is scheduled to
be raised.
War Comes To The American Pantry
1t may seem a far cry from the
battlefields of Bataan, Midway and
Tobruk to the pantry shelf of the
average American housewife. And
yet, it is through the medium of the
pantry shelf that many hundreds
of thousands of Americans are be-
ginning to understand, for the first
time, the enormous scope of this
war. 1t is even possible to go far
Their than that, and to suggest with
out exaggeration that part of the
war itself is now being waged in
every American kitchen.
Food and drink constitute a COM
mon denominator of mankind, and
any event that upsets the normal
distribution of these commodities
becomes matter of vital individual
concern. The first actual reflection
of the war on the pantry shelf was
the rationing of sugar. And now
there are reported shortages devol-
oping in tea, coffee, bananas, fish
and pork.
A typical example of a shortage
that has brought home the realiza.
ton of the wars scope to the great.
est number of people is that of tea
long the worlds most popular and
economical beverage and consumed
in eight out of ten homes in Amer
lea. Most of our tea formerly came
from the black tea growing coun.
tries in Java, Sumatra, Ceylon-.
themselves threatened with invasion
Not yet rationed, tea is stocked
sufficiently in this country to last
eight to nine months more under
elusive of possible additional i'm
orts. And housewives throughout
the country are being urged by the
Consumer Division of the Once OF
Price Administration to cooperate
in conservation by avoiding waste,
making no more tea than is going
to be drunk and by measuring
carefully the stadard level teaspoon
OF tea--the minimum amount required
for each cup.
This and other food conservation
measures urged by. the Government
may not appear as exciting and as
glamorous as action on the front
line. Nevertheless, tea conservation
is an example of a definite contri-
button to the national war effort,
because it helps to maintain the ma
tional economy by conserving for as
long as possible the most economi-
cal drink mankind has ever known,
with the single exception of water.
1859
Yes, We Have No Oil Today
Most OF the gas stations in the
rationed areas along the entire At
lantic Coast have been closed on
Sundays. and during recent weeks
the majority of stations have put
up mo Gas" signs on Saturdays.
They aren't open at night.