Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 123, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 June 1917 — Hysterical Economy May Be a National Menace. [ARTICLE]

Hysterical Economy May Be a National Menace.

\ There is a tendency toward hysterical economy on the part of many Ami'”, ms iv « dev* >.:.l by thinking persons as a national menace, continued industrial prosperity depends upon normal coftditions, and these can be preserved by the continued patronage and encouragement of all classes of business and all kinds of employment. Those iridustries in which a vast numlber of working women find a means of livelihood are a vital part of the great economic machine that makes for prosperity. In New York City there are fifty thousand garment workers who are likely at any moment to be thrown out of employment as a result of a few well-meaning persons, who are advising men and women of wealth as well as thouse of comfortaib’e circumstances, to practice the most rigid economy in the purchase of clothing of every description. The same is true of women employed in every line of trade in all the large cities of the United States. If the manufacturer or merchant believes that there is going to be no demand for goods, he is going to be governed accordingly in the production and purchaes of his stock. The nrodoction of Mitait; mwms tha-dia*. missal of thousands of women employes. The manufacturer or merchant is not the greatest sufferer in this event. But the hundreds of thousands of women thrown into the streets will face starvation. The experience of Great Britain, in the early months of the war, is a lesson in this particular. At the outbreak of the war the English women signed pledges and made organized efforts to curtail expenditures in the matter of clothing and personal adornment. The result was that the streets of London were overrun with outcasts. The authorities were confronted with, an appalling problem. Girls who were thrown out of work became public charges. 'Hie Hon. Howard Coffin, of the Council of National Defense, said in a recent interview: “Unemployment and closed factories brought about through fitful and ill-advised campaigns for economy, will prove a veritable quicksand for the serious work we have at hdnd. There is a real danger in hysteria. Indiscriminate economy will be ruinous. Now is the time to open the throttle.’’ In the matter of foodstuffs thegovernment is giving good advice. Tnere sbould be no waste and each individual should pnaotaoe economy. But no man or woman is patriotic who lends himself to a campaign or propaganda, which, if it becomes widespread, will create the greatest industrial panic we have ever known. Bicycle tires, all new stock. Phone 218. Jim Clark.