OCR Text |
Show Kathleen Norris Says: In Time of War Prepare for Peace . Bell Syndicate. WNU Features. alise had a family conference. We know this isn't going to last, and we face the fact, too, that one or more of our three beloved sailors may come home invalided, and that all three will like us belter, when employment problems come, if we can be a help rather than burden to them" WARTIME THRIFT BRINGS PEACETIME SECURITY We must not be extravagant merely because wartime conditions con-ditions have made it possible for many of us to earn more money than ever before. We must be thrifty despite added income and plan for old age as well as the period of readjustment read-justment which will follow the war. Also, whenever possible, those at home should prepare to help our fighters when they return. That is Kathleen Norris' Nor-ris' message this week. She includes in-cludes a letter from a woman whose family is pooling its efforts so that when three sailor sail-or sons return they will have three farms as a homecoming present. By KATHLEEN NORRIS GET your affairs in order this year, it you can, and be able to look forward for-ward with perfect confidence to the years ahead. That's the thing we all want. To feel sure of the future. fu-ture. The man or woman who can say, "Well, whatever what-ever comes, I'm fixed," is the man or woman to be envied. No matter whether his or her ambitions run to a modest little farm where a few apple trees, two dozen chickens and a cow will help to pay expenses, ex-penses, or to solid investments in bonds and stocks that will bring in a comfortable $200 a month, or annuities, an-nuities, or rents, or whatever other form thrift and farsightedness suggest sug-gest there is no sensation in life more desirable than the one that insures in-sures a self-respecting, independent, comfortable old age. But old age comes on fast. There aren't many years in which plans for it may be made. It has a way of arriving with shocking unexpectedness, unexpect-edness, and to many, many men and women the moment of its arrival ar-rival is going to coincide with the conclusion of this war. When that time comes thousands of young men are going to come home to the America they have risked their lives to save, and we have solemnly promised each and every one of them a good job. That means that thousands of women, now earning big money, and thousands of older men, who have perhaps abandoned their old familiar jobs to jump into war work, are going go-ing to be dropped from the payrolls. pay-rolls. There is no other way. 1 . Money Floods in Now. Today Bill Brown may be making $65 a week, instead of the old steady $30 he made for so many years. Mother Brown is earning almost that, and Sally and Jane are being paid every week what they used to earn every month. Bob, Jane's husband, hus-band, sends home fifty a month it sums up to about a thousand dollars dol-lars every 30 days wealth that the Browns never anticipated in their wildest dreams. And isn't it fun to spend money royally and recklessly when at last you have it to spend! But also nobody knows better than those of us who remember the last war, that terrific and far-reaching changes follow a war. Inflation is an Inevitable part of wars, and when things are sufficiently inflated they burst. War inflations burst when peace comes in sudden collapses of everything. Factories haven't started start-ed up yet; building is at a standstill; stand-still; big salaries stop; unemployment unemploy-ment grows and grows. Elderly women, now complacently making their hundreds a month, will be replaced re-placed everywhere by youth. These things are inevitable, to some extent ex-tent Preparedness Will Soften Change. Inevitable. But" only to the extent ex-tent we choose to permit them. If each and every one of us does her share to get ready for that time by sensible action now, we can minimize min-imize the effects of the change from all-out war to all-time peace, survive sur-vive it with very little confusion and discomfort, and go on triumphantly into America's future the brightest, bright-est, the securest future any country has ever known in this world. Nothing Noth-ing can keep us from a position of tremendous power after this time of war, and as we have always used that power for good for peace, for the prosperity of all our people instead in-stead of a few, for democracy and equality, we may believe that civi lization will take a long step forward. for-ward. Kate Marvin is one of the few women who sees this now. Every woman will see it In a year or two, but Kate is ahead of the rest. Here is a part of her letter: "We didn't get into debt any more than most people, before the war," writes Kate, "but we did run niggling nig-gling little bills; doctor and dentist were never caught up, grocery and milk bills accumulated. But we had three sons who seemed likely to help out some day and Dad and I rather spoiled our boys and our girl, and lived up fully to every cent of our income. "Then came the war; all three boys into uniform long before Pearl Harbor, and Sister into uniform, too, as a riveter. Dad's pay was upped from about $300 a month to some months $900, and I took a part-time part-time job that netted $125. "Well, then we had a family conference. con-ference. We know this isn't going to last, and we face the fact, too, that one or more of our three beloved sailors may come home invalided, and that all three of them will like us better, when employment problems prob-lems come, if we can be a help rather rath-er than a burden to them. So we deeded the house to Sister, and Sister Sis-ter puts $100 a month into the debt on the house. The debt is owed to the government, which sent architects archi-tects to us, and helped us turn our 14 big rooms into three apartments. They submitted plans, authorized the work, and they carry the loan. You see, we live in a coast town whose population has increased more than a hundred per cent since the war began, and living space is at a premium. Buy Farms for Sons. "Then Dad and I picked out three small farms that were going cheap because of labor shortage, and when our boys come home each one will be presented with an income-earning piece of property. These farms cost us an average of $12,000 apiece; all three are somewhat rundown now, but in good farm neighborhoods neighbor-hoods and capable of real productiveness. produc-tiveness. Our payments on them come to a little more than $3,600 a year they are already half cleared. "This means that we live simply and cheaply. But we love it; the crampedness and dullness, the sacrificing and self-deniaL We're living liv-ing for the time when the boys come home, to take possession of their farms. We're living for the time when we can tell them that with two good tenants upstairs, and with our own earnings and savings, we needn't ever turn to them for help. They can marry, raise children, enjoy en-joy for long years the peace and freedom that they've helped win for uj all. |