The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-07-19
Millions. Billions,
 TriIIions
By FREDERICK c. oTHSfAN

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 United Press Staff Correspondent
 Washington, July 19. (UP)-Blow up your zeros into millions, billions. -,$ trillions (with dollar sign in fronD and they begin to fizz, like a buhble-bath.
 Let us then dive with the senate into an ocean of these zeroe, like this: $1,000, ,0o0, 900, 900. Or, if you happen to be an Englishman, like this:
 $l.ooo, ,ooo, 900, ,0oo, ,ooo, 900.
 There isn't that much money. There never was, there never will be, and it Is here that the zeros turn into bubbles, which tickle, as I am prepared to prove"
 The boys were blowing through the $6,000 900 900 that the Breton Woods monetary agreement de- mands from the U. s. A. Sen. Rob- ert A. Taft of Ohio said they were tossing the zeros around too freely to suit him. Sen. Alben Barkley of Kentucky, discussed gold, conver- Sions, dollars, pounds, taxes, sur- pluses, defaults and debts. Things were going along about as expected when Sen. Chapman Revercomb of West Virginia. harumphed.
 Did anybody know, he wondered, when $1 ,00o, ,000, 900 becomes $l,000,- GOO. .000, 900 900 900? or, the Senator said when is $1.00o. 900. 900 not $1,Oo0, 900. 900?
 That stopped the experts. Bubbles q mean zeroS) were floating all over $hA v>lana ay,A Avxa1n<liv,e, r,H kI,a oa;J ing. You could hear 'em as the gentleman from West Virginia said he was perturbed. Nobody, not even Webster's New International Dis tionary, he said, could define the word, billion.
 I'd better spell out the figures. He said that billion in America means q thousand millions. Go over to England. he added (and I checked the dictionary on him), and a bil- ion means a million millions.
 You should have seen those bub- bles then. What million millions is I don't exactly know. Sen. Rever- comb came down to cases:
 Did you gentlemen who wrote the agreement define the word, bil- hon?" he asked.
 Oops.
 Sen. Robert H. Wagner of New York, who helped write 1t, said he didn't think Sep. Revercomb need worry, because the document never mentioned billion; 1t used million, exclusively.
 Those zeroes were piling up in drifts. The law makers were shout ing and Sen. Charles w. Tobey. of New Hampshire, shouted the loud- est. I don't think I'm nisquoting him in reporting that he suggested Sen. Revercomb could split an in- finitive as easily as he did $1,000,- 100000. (or maybe 1t was $1 .000, 0,0o0.- 100 .000. 900. .000.)
 So ended that phase Of the pro- Deedings. but the zeroes kept cona- ng, gold and silver -colored.
 Sen. Elmer Thomas of Oklahoma, aid the debts of the world amount ,d now to s1,oo0. 900 ,o00, 900. mean. Ing one trillion. He said three hadn't been that much gold and silver mined in all history.
 Print that much paper money, he continued, and you probably couldn't even buy lollypop, raspberry flaw or. Only solution he said, is keep the gold standard, mi, 1t with sil- yer, and incidentally issue . new soin. to be called the gold ounce.
 ''It will be- he said. about the hze of this"
 He held up 5 cent piece.
 If you want to know any more about money. you better see sem Ator. I'm too busy. I've got to go out and buy some bubble-hath pow der for my bride.