The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1943-07-29
Let's Do Something
About 1t Now!
GAN EDITORIAL)


peared before the legal panel of tht
local Ration Board on charges Of
violating the pleasure driving ban
were acquitted. Seventeen citizen;
had to take time off from their work
lin some instances time off from
vital war wOrk-just because they
happened to live near the Fair
grounds, where the race meet was
recently held.
Out-of-town inspectors for the
OPA came to- Hagerstown during
the race meet and took down the
license numbers of all cars parked
anywhere near the Fairgrounds and
turned them in on charges of viO-
Iating the pleasure driving ban.
They made no inquiries; never
bothered to knock on door and ask
whether the car parked in front of
the house belonged to the occupant;
in fact they seemed to work as if,
the more numbers they turned in,
the more they got paid!
No blame attaches to the local Ra-
ton Board. AS a matter of fact,
that already OverwOrked force is
getting nothing but more work and
more headaches out of the whole
sorry mess. The OPA regulations
force the local board to refer all
cases reported to- it to the legal
panel, except in cases where it is
obvious that mistake has been
made.
We cite the case of these IL mo-
florists simply to show that the
OPA's attempt to tell the motorists
of the Eastern SeabOard how they
shall use the gasoline, after it has
been allotted to them, is not only
unavoidable, but paIpabIy unfair.
The majority of American men
and women will gladly make any
sacrifice necessary to win the War
and none of us will seriously object
if we are bluntly told that only
enough gasoline is available for CT
william use to supply those to whom
motor transportation is vital and for
that reason all A coupons have been
cancelled till further notice.
But no redbloOded American is
going to stand idly by and watch his
neighbOr, who, because he is lucky
enough to own or rent summer,
place a couple of hundred miles
away, gets permit to drive there
for a vacation, while he stands
good chance of being arrested if he
uses his gallon and half to take his
kids down to the old swimming hole,
ten miles away.
When you go to your bank to bor-
row money, the banker investigates
your case and having satisfied him
self that you need the money and
are good risk, gives you what you
need. BUT AFTER HE GIVES 1T
TO YOU HE DOESN'T SEND SOME
SNOOPER OUT AFTER YOU To
SEE WHAT YOU DO WITH 1T.
And by the same theory, as long
as the OPA, having investigated
your gasoline needs, gives you cou-
pons to get that gas with, whether
they are A coupons or C coupons,
it has no right to send shoppers out
to see what you do with it. The only
real right that the OPA has, after it
gives out coupons, is to regulate the
amount of gasoline those coupons
can buy, according to the supply
available.
For weeks Washington has blown
hot and cold on this pleasure driv-
ing mess and it looks as if a decision
is long way off yet. But the whole
thing can be settled and should be
settled, so LET'S DO SOMETHING
ABOUT 1T NOW!
Write, or better still wire, your
President and your Congressman
Representative and Senator) and
demand that either all A coupons be
revoked or that the present restric-
tions on their use be removed i'm !
mediateIy.
The foundation of our Constitu-
ton is Equal Justice For ALL Let