The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-12
Fair Enough

Editors note.-The Star and the News
accept no responsibility for the personal
views of Mr.. Pegler, and often disagree
with them as much as many of his read
ers. His articles serve the good purpose
of making people think9
By WEsTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1885, by King Features syndicate.)
General Charles DeGaulle,
La Belle France.
Mon Cher General
You and your people seem to think your
troubles should come first with U.S. but let me
tell you something.
The party is over and France is off the cuff
and the best thing you can do for yourselves
is pull down that trained thumb of yours and
Quit standing by the road always waiting for
a hitch.
We have an awful lot of our own people,
maybe more than million, living in trailers
on parking lots, and I wouldn't even try to
guess how many others living in shacks and
barracks who are likely to kick up row if
we don't pull up our socks and somehow slap
together some fairly habitable houses when
this war is over It is so confused that we don't
exactly know ourselves where they all came
from or how far from their old homes they
find themselves today and you might say that
lot of them haven't had their stakes down
y
except just where they happen to be. Living
in trailer is like being a turtle. You tote
your home along with you and when 1t be-
gan people thought it was kind OF cute, but
that was just for a short vacation and 1t is
very different thing for steady. Even two
people in one of those things get into each
others way and on each others nerves, but
when there is child or two it is just awful.
You know, no privacy, no sitting room, no
bathroom, no room.
It is worse than the old frontier days be-
cause there are many OF them and they
don't know anything about prospecting or MIN
ing and most of them are strangers and sur
plus temporary population in the war plant
towns where they are now. Then, IN many
of our big cities, the permanent housing situa-
ton is very bad, what with dlapldatlon and
no repairs or repla since about 194O,
and in some neighborhoods the beds never
get cold with the people sleeping IN relays.
So if you think your troubles rate top priority
with us, well, brother you had better take
another peek at your hand.
To hear you people, fellow would think
we didn't have a care in the world. You would
think that if fellow just had the money in
this country he could walk in and buy what
ever he wants for himself.
Why, nowadays, you walk into a store and
you see rows of empty shelves and all they
can give you mostly is the hopes. Any cigar
cites? Nope.
Sugar? Nope.
Can you sell me baseball for my kid?
Nope
Steak? Nope. Bacon? Nope Chewing gum?
Nope. Babies underwear? Nope. Black pepper?
Nope Sheets? Well maybe next week,
That wonderful standard of living that we
used to boast so much about is way down
around the Bulgarian level, if you ask me,
and those cars that the American workman
used to rattle around in so regardless, with
new one every year or two, are now any
where from three to ten or twelve years old
and most of them are five years on the road
And the gas is closely rationed and lots of
times even if you have the coupons and the
money the guy just gives you the same old
nope because he can't get any himself.
This has been a very tough winter, too
general, and right in the midst Of it comes
up a fuel shortage, maybe not as bad as
yours, but pretty bad and things might not
have been as bad if you people had scuffled
little harder. Anyway, be that as it may,
we have got our own headaches and when
there is little more of anything are going
to have plenty of takers right here among
ourselves.
The troubles goes back, know, and it was
mostly our fault that you got to thinking OF us
as your rich uncle. We tossed our money
around when we went tripping and your prices
were cheap and the franc was down so
tore up dough just to show how extravagant
we were. But now even though wages are
up here at home, well, the prices have hop
ped too and the soldiers who fought across
France have been on parity with your people
SO when they come home they won't have
any of those fond recollections of stuffing a
lot OF duck and goose liver with champagne,
too, for maybe two bucks eighty.
You people better make your plans to get
to work and take care of your own needs
and not count on us for much. The way it
looks around here we will have market for
all those millions of cars and washing
chimes and refrigerators within our bor
ders for years and years and lot OF our
cities are going to need rebuilding almost as
badly some of those that were bombed
in Europe and then there will have to be new
roads and railroad equipment and we are not
going to stay rationing and the hopes in
definitely just to feed France. Our people come
first and frankly yours haven't exactly over
whelmed us with gratitude for past favors.
Would you care to discuss trading Martinique
to us to get that burr out from beneath our
shirt so that if France should go Bolshevil6 we
wouldn't have to keep covered with warships
and planes, as we did after 1910? Well, then
maybe the USA will have to do as Russia
did about protecting her western frontier and
judging by 1910 that wouldn't be too hard
Anyway, general, haul down that thumb be-
cause we have an awful lot to do for our
selves before we even pull up level with our
normal standard of life.