The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1943-08-14
THE WORLDS BEST BUY"

letter in The Citizen about the buying of
War Bonds, but there were couple Of
points he overlooked. He was right in won
dering If those editors and radio common
tatOrs who write and blare interminably
about buying bonds. are themselves adher-
ing TO The advice they so freely give. The
answer : yes and no. AT least we know some
editors who are sticking away" their ex-
cess earnings in bOndSapossibly other edi-
tors are buying few bonds and still Others
are not buying any at all.
Some Americans are like super-pa-
triots-that type that will denOunce you if
you don't stand up when the national an
them i played. or if you fail to salute the
flag when the occasion calls for a salute.
but when a showdown comes that type Is
of little use to the country The man who
smiles the most is not necessarily the best
natured man: neither is the man who wears
his patriotism on his sleeve the best citizen
of the United States.
But Mr.. DAZZLE or anybody else, when
he bugs United States bonds, need not en-
terrain any qualms about their eventual
payment. And here we come TO one thing
that Mr.. DAZZLE overlooked: at the begin
ming % the first World War the first issue
of Liberty Bonds bore three percent and
toward the end of the war the interest went
mp to four and one-quarter per cent. Al
present, if we take into consideration the
short term certificates, some of them bear
ing interest at only one-half of one per cent.
that banks buy. the interest rate the govern
ment 5 paying on bonds issued during this
war is only slightly more than two percent.
Let us assume now that the cOuntryS
Indebtedness reaches $500, 000, 0O0, 900.
Two per cent on that amount is Only So
interest. at the end of the war. averages two
and one-half per cent. The yearly payment
would he only 81 500, 00O, 900. and if the in
terest went up To- three on an average by
the time the war is over. the amount of in
terest would be $4,000, 900, 900.
You recall. Mr.. Dahle, how Andrew
Mellon cut down the country's debt after
the first World War. despite the fact that
none OF the countries. with the exception
of Finland. to which it had loaned billions,
paid their debts as they had promised to
pay And So when normal times come again,
il is fai, to conclude h the government
will systematically cut down its debt as 1t
has done after every other war in which i
has participated.
Mr. DAZZLE is not exactly right when h
says that his War Bond is as good the
dollar in your pocket. because the bond is
better than the dollar. for ere draws inter-
est and the other doesn't Viewed in anoth-
er light. that Is. the security behind the
bond. ne is altogether right. for. should the
bond become valueleSs. the dollar would
be valuelesS also The dollar Is behind the
bond. with the difference that one doesn't
draw interest and the other does
The prices of bonds. with one excep-
ton. tlLctuatcS After the last war some
Liberties fell off 10 the low eighties. ami.
possible. the same thing may happen after
this war with that single exception. That
exception is what was called the United
States Savings Bond before the war. and is
now known "a Series f. Its value continues to
increase for It's life vi 10 years. and should
you want to cash il II any time. you get its
full value. including the interest 1t is the
one bond that can't fluctuate: il is the one
bond that is the best investment i'm the
world today. with its two and nine-tenthS
accumulative interest if it is kept till ma
turity