Evening star., 1945-05-15


goes with having children overseas
in uniform, the awful shock of the
news that loved ones have been
killed or manned, this has been a
very easy war in most respects. It
has been a period Of prosperity.
Business houses have done well,
farmers have paid off mortgages,
workers have received high wages,
professional men have collected ex-
cellent fees.
We haven't had all the new cars
or the gasoline we could have used.
We haven't had all the meat we
could have eaten. We haven't been
able to replace worn-out refrigera-
tors and vacuum cleaners. We've
had to save more money than we
wanted to save.
All this has been irritating, but
1t doesn't add up to national suffer-
ing. Look at the pictures in the
Grated populations dragging them
selves back to their homes-homes
they may find leveled to the ground
when they arrive. Read the off,
cial reports of mass starvation in
other lands.
1t hasn't happened here.
Should Be Thankful.
Don't listen to those who magnify
our discomforts into real suffering.
Be thankful for the vision of the
man who elected to fight our enc
mics overseas rather than wait for
their appearance on this side of the
ocean, thankful that all our homes
are intact as a consequence. Be
thankful that he found competent
men to handle the thankless prob
lens of production, distribution,
pricing and rationing, and so en-
abled us to have something close
to normal living during the years
when that was true of no other
people on earth.
This prayer to the better instincts
of the American people is offered
after reading a typical appeal to
appeal is based on the usual text of
bungling bureaucracy. President
Truman is admonished to get rid of
the Cracked machinery" bequeathed
to him by President Roosevelt and
is offered this interesting advice:
IF he does not know what to do
he might take counsel with the man
who concededly knows more about
the problem of food production, dis
tribution, pricing and rationing than
any other man-Mr. Herbert Hoover
That would be the sensible thing
to do"
Suppose we agree that Mr.. Hoover
demonstrated this ability in the last
war. Instead of making us dis
satisfied with what has been done
in the present war, it will make us
positively proud. For we find that,
although relatively few farmers were
drafted by the Army in the last war,
food production increased only 8
per cent from 1914 to 1919, whereas,
despite the drafting of some mil
lions of farmers in this war, food
production increased IS per cent be-
tween 1889 and 1914. AS for dis
tribution, pricing and rationing-
well, we've certainly eaten better
than we did during World War L.
Obscured by Clamor.
The truth may be obscured now by
the clamor of special interests, who
are doing well, but want to do better
the packers, for example, who sue
ceeded in so confusing Congress that
they were granted increased suhsi-
dies few weeks ago despite the
fact that their average wartime
profits, after paying taxes, have
been more than double their profits
in the comfortable years lmmedi-
ately preceding the war. The truth
may be obscured now, but one day
it will be understood that Marvin
Jones and the farmers have made a
proud record in food production and
that Chester Bowles and his tens of
thousands of unpaid assistants have
made proud record in distribution.
With the war in Europe at an
end the pressure is on to wreck that
record. The pressure comes from
those who put their own profits
ahead of the national interest and
from those who seem honestly to