Show Spending Today I Not to Destroy But to Achieve By BRUCE CATTON CATrON CATrONA A nation that Is going Into debt in one year certainly is going somewhere at a n prodigious rate Some of ot the people at Washington think we are heading straight for recovery recovery recovery re re- re- re covery and others think that we are plunging down a a steep sleep pl place ce Into the sea Before the rest of t us give way either to enco encouragement or to fright It t would pay us s to stop end and figure just what the implications of ot t this Ls titanic spending pendIng may beThe be bc The first thing one thinks of is the World war We spent at a greater rate than this during the war and we kept it up longer and we came out of oft it t wit without ut crocking crackIng under the strain Furthermore there is not Dot the slight slightest est doubt that if it we were at war today today today to to- day sums of this size would be voted without any misgivings at all That being so why not compare I our present situation to a wartime crisis The comparison is a perfectly proper one What Is Worth While What Is at stale stake in a war var National existence itself may be at stoke stoke stoke- though hough that was not the case with us in n the World war nor In the war with Spain Money national honor national Influence influence In- In fluence luence certain intangible considerations ions Hons that bulk large or or small depending depending de- de pending on how you look at them them- these hese were the t things that went into the he balance balanco when we got i into to our last war What is at stake slake now Well a lot of ot things our faith falth in our form orra of government and our social structure our belief belie in ourselves our dream of ot democracy and our vision of destiny the happiness and comfort of many millions of people a total far greater than anything we risked by going to war with the German em em- pire If It It was proper to spend at an unheard un un- heard leard of rate to beat beal the kaiser is it not infinitely more proper to spend at an equal rate today to save the things which all Americans hold most dear Spending to Build There is still another angle to it The money we spent in 1917 and 1918 was spent for purposes of de de- de- de When we g got t through w we had md nothing to show for ILA it IL itA A shell that has exploded a ship that hat has gone to the bottom a man who has been turned into a corpse corpse corpse- these are not in any economy dividend dividend divi divi- producing items They are what our billions bought in the World war Today Todar we are spending to build things We are building highways and bridges and dams dorns and towns and homes ve we are spending to strengthen banks anks and railroads and farms and factories we are ore spending to make men and women and children strong and healthy and courageous We shall shan have all these things after the spending Is over Can any American doubt that these possessions will make simpler the task of paying back what we are borrowing borrowing bor bor- rowing |