Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1943-08-13

lin, and later Toxic, if it is not
entirely inundated by the Pacific
before next June.
To be sure, there will be cele-
bration with a capital "C'. Yes,
and you and l will take part
in meeting our loved ones as
they return, and all of us will
exchange stories and listen ex-
citedly as we hear of narrow
escapes, breathless moments,
and heroic exploits. Then we
will settle down to the business
of living under normal peace
time conditions.
After the guilty parties are
punished, and the liberated peo-
pies taught the principles Of
Democracy, it is expected that
our Nation will turn, perhaps
in collaboration with others, to
the more humane task of elimi-
mating disease, poverty, and the
other evils which have plagued
us from time immemorial.
And in this respect we call to
mind the fact that only a few
years ago, the bonus marchers
were told in public print that to
pay them part of what they
justly deserved would jeopardize
the national economy. They
were also told bit more harsh
ly by way of having the hose
turned on them, that they should
disperse their "unruly mob" and
go home to a we'll nigh relief
less community. But We won't
talk about that!
PLAN FOR FUTURE
Instead, let's forget the past,
and plan for a brighter future,
with pessimism taboo. And let's
skip all the bunk about the ma
tional debt, which has more than
doubled since the day when to
give the unemployed decent re-
lief would have endangered"
the financial status of the Ma
ton.
When this present conflict is
ended, why shouldn't we start
waging a new war-one which
would harm no one and benefit
everybody? For instance, why
not spend a few million dollars
in fighting such enemies as
germ carrying pests, such as
rats, mosquitoes, and the common
fly. And compared to the bill
lions spent in sending tons of
explosives to the bottom of the
ocean, wouldn't it be worth
while to launch an extensive
campaign against the potato
bug and the corn borer, which
destroy millions of dollars worth
of nourishment for our people?
Why not multiply our efforts
in curing infantile paralysis,
and not merely with yearly do
nations from the populace? And
wouldn't it be money well spent
for our government to undertake
an extensive program of CON-
batting the dreaded disease,
tuberculosis?
During the last war one per-
son out ften suffered from a
veneral disease. Syphilis can be
cured easily if caught in its
earliest stages. Aren't we a bit
guilty if we, by our nonchalance,
let it eat into the bodies of mil
lions of our fellow citizens?
Let's establish clinics, partic-
ularly in the South, where this
can be discovered, cured, and
stamped out completely. 1t can
be done.
Pollen from the giant rag
weed and from other plants
causes considerable suffering to
one person out of twenty. Hay
fever is the result, and eighty
five percent of hay fever suf-
ferrers eventually are afflicted
with chronic asthma, which
makes them pitiable victims Of
this allergy from the fifteenth
of August until the first frost
of each year. There is positively
no reason under the sun why
ragweed cannot be exterminat-
ed from our Country within two
years, if anyone concerned them
selves with the job of doing it
on a nationwide scale.
ECONOMIC CURE
What about the economic con-
dition of the southern people?
Aren't they Americans too?
Millions of them earn less than
five hundred dollars year, and
live is squalor. Couldn't the
Government finance a program
of rehabilitation for these peo-
pie, colored and white?
When this war is over, let's
make the United States of
America really something to
write home about! Forget the
propaganda and ballyhoo of
pseudo-philanthropic organiza-
tions. Let's not talk about
things, but let's do them instead.
Compared to the money spent in
! the present war, the finances re-
quired for the undertaking of
the program, part of which is
outlined above, would be infinit-
esimal.