0OKING
AHEAD
5E0RGE S. BENSON
ColUgt
8**np,JrkaHS4u
WE OWE US
There is a five-year-old epi
gram that runs like this: ‘‘Who
cares about the national debt?
' We only owe it to ourselves.”
It implies that we will be very
easy with ourselves on collection
day, but a lot depends on wheth
er we can afford to be lenient.
We owe ourselves a lot of mon
ey and we never will be able to
collect the interest on it unless
we work hard and pay our tax
, es.
The debts we owe ourselves
are genuine debts and bigger than
most of us realize. I know some
people who owe themselves new
cars, or new tires for their old
cars. Since they can’t buy these
items, they are spending their
money for other things . .
things to enjoy now. Have you
heard about the errand boy who
needed shoes but had no stamp,
so he spent $6 for theatre tic_
kets?
TINKLING CYMBALS
Easy money that rattles in our
pockets because there is nothing
to buy, is not prosperity. Actual
ly it is bogus money. We must
j never forget that prosperity is
born of work. If higher income
can’t help me live better, my
' improved income is . phoney,
j America * is bleeding in war and
! suffering in want this very day.
i Our needs are no less real be
cause certain items are off the
market.
National income figures for
the United States Illustrate the
point perfectly. On paper, na
tional income was 135 billion
dollars in 1943, breaking all rec
ords, but most of the money our
people receive was “stage mon
ey.” It couldn’t spend. Actually
we Americans received 20 bil
lion dollars less take-home mon
ey in 1943 than we did in 1929,
call it 150 m/illion dollars a day
less. Add nine 0’s to each of the
figures in the following table,
making them billion::
(Figures in billons)
1929 1943 Short
National Income $81 $135
Government
Deficit . None 56
Federal Taxes . 3 21
Net .,..$78 $58 $20
The average 1944 wage is more
cents per hour; the average
salary is more dollars per month;
our national income is more bil
lons per year than in any prev
ious boom, but we are in debt.
It is plain from the figures that
when the debt is subtracted from
what we call our national income
it is by no means large. Th€ debt
must be paid in money that rep
resents constructive work, doing
and making useful things for
better living.
A HOMELY STORY
On the morning of November
12, 1918, so the story goes, a dus_
ky soldier in a U. S. labor bat
talion overslept two or three
bugl§ calls and was waked at
last by his sergeant gruffly or
dering him to rise.
‘‘Y’all kan’t boss me roun’ no
mo,” he said, half asleep. ‘‘Dis
wah am over. I jes sign up fer
de duration.”
“How right you is, boy!” the
sergeant replied. “De wah am
ovah, sho ’nuff, but de duration
... it have jes begin.”
Official accounts of military
gains, one after another, can’t
help but build hopes for years
to come. The foregoing anecdote
is offered to suggest this: When
the fighting stops, it will not be
a signal for everybody to com
mence sleeping late and tn |
to subsist on income from war
time earnings. Unless we are
ready to tighten our belts a d
our part to meet our national
obligation, tbe duration will haj/e
just begun.
(GROWING WITH ALASKA
Wien Alaska Airlines, inc.j j;
Now Offers ! ;;
f Modern, Comfortable & Convenient
Z Transportation with
I Boeing Transports
Thrice - Weekly Between Nome and Fairbanks
NOME FAIRBANKS ; ’
Main 46 Office, Harvard 573 11
| Black 153 Hangar, Harvard 115 I!
4»4»«fr*«fr«fr«fr4>*fr«fr4»4>4»4>4t4Mi»4t4t4>4»*M»4Mft«l»4»4Mfr4Mi,4»4»4»4»4»4»4>4»4»4t4,4>4»4,4,4»4»4
HOMER HOOPEE
>:/ l Ok/CCO Or MY KA'JJOV-CIO
: VMO A*.‘I Y'Ofi rr^
TO A£V. A CXi£*fSON v*/|%
r '—IMtH
fj
SCORCHY SMITH
J WE COULD HAVE EVACUATED
THOSE POOR GUYS, IP IT WAS W
POSSIBLE TO LAND A C-53 Ml
IN THERE — BUT NOW IT WILL
LIKELY TAKE WEEKS TO GET JM
THEM, BECAUSE...
i pnsH i f3)
OH, DIANA!_
' ' * . i
WHAT ON EARTH OOPS / : 1
DO VOO SUPPOSE I HERE
IT IS ?? ' COMES
—\i— MIZ it
" * GOTT
mXL
'•'IP
HERE’S YOLK HAT
/ ONLY A FRiSMD C'.; VAF.
/ c i:FY.MAH9 WOULD DOuCT )
V TAG WCP.O OF AM --—^
\ . -i/rovt / )
Req U S Rot Off
AP Feafure%
m 1 - — ■ ■■»■ — •
yoO'RE NO I
a FRIEND OF MINE/
^%SOOD DAY, SIR ij J
HE DID IT BEFORE, SO
f ACCORDING TO PlNTO-.-AND
OUR MAP, THEV'RE HOLED UP
IN THIS MOUNTAIN PASS -
COMMUNICATION CUT, AND
PlGHTING IT OUT WITH
39
9
T>C
-n ‘
9 (9
Q •
= ?
M
o
•R
- •
'HMM..JUST A MINUTE ...yOU^fe'
MEAN HERE ?...HEY' l WAS ig
FORCED DOWN ONCE, IN THAT
PASS...THERE'S A LEDGE... Jf
DOC, / COULD DO ^ '
x5 A&A,N/ \
UGH-NO-DEAR""
REALLY CAWN’T STAY,
I JUST CAME OVER TO
INQUIRE AFTER YOUR
MOTHER/,
* ' '
••
\
LEFT OVER
GOODY// ANOTHER Qj
EASTER EGG I DIDN'T B
FIND LAST