The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-09-20
Washington Report
BY HELEN ESSARY

BY HELEN ESSARY
WASHINGTON.-Heave knows I'm no thrift
ty soul. I'm no frugal patient Griselda who
saves her pennies and stands with broomstick
in hand waiting to keep the wolf from the
door. I don't believe in wolves.
Nor am / a worthy female who hides her
money in stocking under the mattress or
behind grandpa's clock But it does worry me
to see how money is being spent by the United
States government by the state governments,
by the people next door. By everybody! By
you and me-if we get down to personal cases.
Money is being spent as if it were nothing at
all. AS if it were blown in on the breezes like
dandelon floss. AS if it were as valueless
thistledown.
Nobody likes to squander money more than
do. When I'm in the mental dumps 1 love
to go out and buy something I don't need.
Something Anything. bright red dress that
won't match up with the red dresses of other
moods Or piece of junk jewelry that doesn't
belong Fiji islanders topknot Nor on my
own pompadour that never quite makes the
brushup grade.
When charge accounts were perennial legal
tender, l sometimes went on charging sprees
and ran up fat bill at an expensive shop.
Of course, I had to pay the bill. But it was
fun while the running up lasted, before that
evil day of check writing came Other peo-
pie had this charge account mania. But even
such jamborees were mild compared with the
burning up of today's easy money.
Millions of people now have more money to
spend than they ever had before. Look at the
trains and buses. 1t isn't only the service
men and their families who are travelling and
spending. 1t is the restless noney-rich Ameri-
can public When you come back from a
jaunt anywhere you ache in every muscle and
nerve from the physical effort of pushing
through the crowd.
During the past summer. resorts in the east
at least have been as crowded as Coney Island
on the Fourth of July. Hotel prices have been
high Few people have minded this. For ex-
ample there was my lght-hearted friend who,
expecting to pay S24 day for a room at At
lantic City, purchased S25 hat before she
started to the beach She said she afraid
she wouldn't have much money left after her
holiday so she'd better shop first.
In spite of rationing, shops crowded
with eager customers. A small town merchant
tells me he likes good customers as well as
anybody, but it makes him worry about the
hard times he knows are ahead when fellows
who used to be on relief couple of years
ago plunk hundred dollar bills down on his
counter.
l didn't intend this to be Sunday sermon.
But really the butterflies of today ought to
be lodging the chill winds of tomorrow. We've
got to put away some cash. somehow War
Bonds are the answer to the squanderlng
menace. Let's buy few.
l used to think that war could be prevented.
Now I've given up such hope. Why? Simply
because war is so much fun Oh yes it is
Men who are being shot at, who are falling
through the air in flames or trying TO keep
alive on sinking RATS aren't having much fun.
Nor the mothers, wives and the best girls Of
these poor fellows.
The rest of US are whipped up into frenzy
of excitement War is thousandring circus
The acts change every minute. Big head
! lines and loud speakers shout the news. Every
| day, every hour brings a new throb. And L
who used to try to be pacifist am wondering
where l belong in the new mob scene.
AS an example of my lack of harmony with
the present it makes unhappy to see things
happening to the once beautiful serene Wash
ington. Washington was never serene under
meath. Not with the governmental golngs on
and the political plottings that fermented while
administrations licked away.
However, the place looked serene on the out
side There were magnificent distances
wherever you turned. Broad avenues, big
trees, parks, leisurely looking people. No
body seemed in a hurry. The outside country
groaned about the waste of time in Washing
/ ton.
Machine guns in the dels where clover and
plantain grew so happily together also make
me uneasy Chemical warfare exhibits of
flame throwing and poison gas spouting dis
| turD me Wnen see Ile1l Wlleie 1l1SS CHICKEN
and hard-boiled egg picnic groups used to
gather for Sunday night suppers. Undoubtedly
the Back the Attack War Bond show is
superb and useful. But do 1 have to enjoy
hearing guns shot off in the meadows where
service bands used to toot 20 Sole Mo- on
sultry afternoons? Must I be happy at the
sight of bare-legged little boys climbing over
captured German bombers Ind scrambling
over great Liberators where not so long ago it
was little daring to look at dancers in Wisps
of cheesecloth tiptoeng to the tinkle of Grieg?
But pay no attention to these whimpers l
don't really mean them. I'm merely appalled,
! by the might and power of the United States
of America once it gets into action. Nobody
can stand up against us. I'm a little fright
ened But am I proud? I'll say am!
Whether recognize it or not, the peace.
time effect Of government control over tho
terms and conditions of labor would inevYa
bly, be to regulate out of existence the whole
purpose Of labor unions.-Gov. Thomas u
} Dewey OF New York
Civilians must learn not to talk. No an,o,,.,4
of remorse over careless words thouoht1oo1l.
uttered can restore single life lost heo.,,1Ss
the enemy was tipped off-Maj. Albert sto..,e
Of Army's military intelligence sect;. o''"e