The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1943-03-26

invoked the deep spirit Of patriotism. We
feel that 1t will be laboratory test. We
are sure that scolding and charges OF com
placency are not the answer.
Needless to say this BONDbard-
ment Day in that Montana town, as
in many others throughout the coun-
try, was tremendous success. And
it is significant that as the result OF
a new spirit which swept the coun-
try, aided by the efforts of hun
dreds of country editors, soon there
after they were no longer called
defense bonds" but "war bonds"
or Victory bonds"
Nor has the work of the country
press in behalf of the sale Of war
bonds through it's editorial, news and
advertising columns been the only
contribution it has made to the war
effort in the realm of tangible things.
There was the scrap metal cam
paign carried on to salvage from
the farms of the nation the thou
sands of tons of metal so urgently
needed by the steel mills to make
battleships, guns and other weapons
of war. A Florida weekly drama
tized the effort to "get in the scrap"
by capitalizing upon the reputation
of scrappy American fghter-Gen.
Douglas Macarthur. So that COM
nunity set aside a day for bringing
in all kinds of scrap material and
called it "Gen. Macarthur Day."
The event was an overwhelming suc-
cess.
He Sets an Example.
Nor does the average country edi-
tor merely urge the people OF his
community to do their patriotic du-
| ty. Frequently he sets them an ex-
ample by going out and doing it
himself. There was the editor of a
New York weekly who has made
his office the center of a 24-hour
service as communications head
quarters in case Of enemy air raids.
There was the editor in little Kan
sas town who not only managed the
salvage yard in his town but who
personally collected and shipped
some 60 tons of scrap iron. More
than that he personally did all the
work of cutting up the iron with an
acetylene torch and supervised the
loading and sorting of the entire lot
all this in addition to his regular
duties as editor, publisher, advertis-
ing solicitor and printer of his news
paper. And finally there was one OF
the leading country publishers in
California who did something about
the manpower shortage besides writ
ing editorials about it. When trained
sawmill workers in his town began
leaving because they feared they
would be 'frozen" in their jobs, he
signed up for work as a lumberjack
in a sawmill on the night shift
from p. m. to / a. m. He sleeps
the rest of the night, then puts in a
full day at his publishing duties.
Such are only a few of the high.
lights in the story of what the coun.
try press of America has done and
is doing since it "went to war;" De.
spite the loss of revenue from de.
creased advertising Image and in
creased production costs, despite the
shortages of materials essential to
the printing business and despite
the loss of manpower when its news.
writers and advertising men and
printers went into the armed forces,
it is carrying on valiantly in the
fight for freedom and it is doubtful
if any other class of patriotic Amer
leans, either as group or as in,
dividuals, are contributing more in
more different ways to the victory
that will eventually be ours.