Evening star., 1955-09-18

But with all this. there is the
ironic note that it wouldn't be
politically Z wise for the money
powers to check things too much.
They. don't want to slow down
automobile buying. for example. to
the point where there would be
unemployment in the factories and
"a swelling Of the ranks Of jobless
voters.
Apparently the people like little
imitation If it means good times,
and If good times continue through
1856 the Republicans aren't likely
to suffer from 1t at the polls. The
trick is to keep the boom going
without letting 1t get out Of hand.
Thus, the administration is NOV
ing cautiously and taking no dras-
tic actions while anxiously checking
the Nations economic pulse.
In this tightrope act. what about
the Jim Delaneys and their neigh
bors-the people who are doing the
credit buying? Aren't they worried
about the future? How are they
managing their debts?
Meet the DeIoneys
Let's stop in the house where
Jim and Helen Delaney. both 80,
live with their two sons, 5-year-old
Joey and 5-month-old David. They
were married nine years ago, soon
after Jim was discharged from the
Navy as a signalman. third class.
Jim earns $72.25 a week. which is
close to the average pay earned by
American workers. He drives his
car into the nearby city i've days
a week to work In the office of
large firm where he supervises
stocks and equipment and generally
makes himself useful.
The Delaney home is an asbestos
shingle house which real estate
people call Cape Cod type" Jim
bought 1t last year on GI loan.
Helen, pretty brunette. is one
of those neat-as-a-pin. housekeep-
ers with a flair for making a room
look warm and attractive. She
studied home economics in high
school and makes most OF the
clothes for herself and the children.
She turned out the curtains and
drapes on her own sewing machine,
for which Jim paid $144 on time.
The Delaney car is 1852 sedan
$500 down and SGT month-and
it's paid for because Helen worked
for five months to help with the
payments). They also have a COM
bination radio and phonograph
(retail $300--sale price $170: a
teievision set with 17-inch screen
(sale price $l39, marked down from
s229): gas range and electric re-
frigerator (these were included in
the purchase of the house,; a 20
cubic foot food freezer marked
down from SAC to $319 because Of a
dent in the lid; a window fan to
cool the house, house full Of care
fully chosen furnishings, and new
living room rug.
Cushion in the Bonk
jim carries 5000 worth Of life
insurance on himself. A $1,000
policy on Helen and each of the
two children will be paid up in Is
years. He has $3.50 in the bank, but
he won't touch 1t unless there's an
emergency such as an illness.
Each Friday night the Delaneys
put the children into the car and
go to a nearby chain grocery. They
pile cart high with food and they
figure it averages out to $40 week.
not including milk. 1--WE buy any,
thing we think we viii like" Helen
says.
The big debt hanging over the
Delaneys now is the $3.50 they bor-
rowed from the bank to consolidate
a few small bills and to buy the
freezer. Jim never has trouble get
ting money from the bank because
he has made three previous loans
and always repaid them ahead of
schedule. His credit rating is good
at the department stores. too, be-
cause he has paid his bills promptly.
Shooting the Angles
How do the Delaneys manage on
these wages to buy a home, an
automobile, and all the labor-sav-
ing devices and luXurieS they have?
"You have to be an angle
shooter" jim explained. I'VE
watch the sales. We don't buy
anything unless we get it at a good
price. We buy one thing at a
time and when we pay for it--then
we buy something else.
I'VE don't drink and run around
at night. About all we do is 60 to
a movie occasionally and have the
neighbors in to play cards"
Jim knows he's skating on thin
financial ice and that a serious ILL
ness or a run of bad luck would be
a catastrophe. But he figures he
always can make enough to hold
onto the house and to buy enough
to eat.
His biggest worry right now is
how to persuade the boss to give
him a pay raise. Jim said: If I
can just get up to 500 a week. I'll
have it made"
tBy the Associated Press)