Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1944-12-01
Whats
New!
WHY NOT?

WHY NOT?
Do hillbillies need bath
tubs? Is a textile worker en-
titled to have telephone in
his home? Should an auto
mobile worker be able to a.
ford to buy the automobile he
builds? Are professional en-
ployees and white collar work.
ers worth a decent living
wage? Should the families of
coal miners be able to afford
beefsteak now and then?
The answer to these ques-
tions is not just "Why not"
but "Of course" Yes, and
as Henry Wallace believes,
even Hottentots are people
human beings whose bodies
require vitamins and minerals
just as we do.
Today production workers
of the United States are being
shoWered with praise from
military and governmental au-
thorities, and deservedly so,
for their efforts here given the
Allied Armies an advantage
which Hitler and TOTO recog-
nized long time ago as being
terrific.
WHAT ABOUT PEACE?
We have produced for war,
but what about peacetime pro-
duction? There were eleven
million unemployed a few
years ago, and today there are
more than eleven million
young men and women who'
have been removed from the
production front. SO the war
boom has succeeded in tenn
porarily postponing, but not
solving, our national interior
economic problem.
When peacetime production
absorbs all of the potential
manpower of this country, in
cluding the returning service
men, an d guarantees the
workers of America an annual
living wage, without lot of
ifs, and's, or butts, then we
will have accomplished some
thing!
When we produce enough of
the things like automobiles,
new homes, electrical appli-
ances, food and clothing for
our entire population (not for
just a part of it,, and assure
those millions of people that
pay checks will continue to
roll in week after week,
month after month, and year
after year, our problem will
have been solved.
Give the comman man Job
a promise of continued and
uninterrupted income, and
just watch him go to town.
After he pays for the necessi-
ties of life, he'll keep the
wheels of production turning
keeping up with his pur-
chases of such things as type
writers, luggage, sportswear,
fishing and hunting equip
ment, golf clubs, and all of
the things he would like to
have but can't afford.
EAGER TO BUY
Yes, the average worker
could list dozens of items he'd
be eager to buy If he had the
money TO spend He doesn't
want to borrow the money or
charge the items. He wants
to work eleven months out of
the year and earn enough
money, without becoming
bundle of nerves, with which
to purchase these things.
War is destructive. OF nee
eSsity we are producing imple-
ments for destruction of those
who threaten our free way of
life. When this production has
ended, will we, with equal
gusto, produce for peace those
things which bring JOY and
happiness to everyone they
reach, and which if properly
used, harm no one? Or will
we have unemployment be-
cause people have no money
with which to buy the things,
they would like to buy?
If production for use" be-
comes the prime motive in
America, superceding produc-
ton for profit, we shall enjoy
p o S twar prosperity There
must be sensible planning and
regulation.
If we return TO the "free
enterprise" do-as-you- please
system of prewar days, we can
forget about not only bath
tubs for hillbillies, but a lot of
other things for ouselves.
TAKE YOUR PICK