There is a great deal of discussion these days as to whether we should stop spending and hoard our money or whether whe should go ahead with our everyday life as usual.
Narrowing the matter right down to our individual selves is the best way to come to a clear decision on the subject.
Saving for Hard Times Brings Hard Times
Perhaps you have thought that you could cut down the amount of money you spend for food, for clothes, for amusement. But remember that if you spend less money for food and clothes and amusement, the groceries, the markets, the dry-goods and clothing stores are going to lose just that much income, and if every other man and woman in your community cuts down also, the income of the other business men who will drop to such an extent that hard times will become prevalent in your community.
Multiply your neighbors and your community by the millions of people and the thousands of communities in the United States, an you will see what a serious condition can be brought about by false ideas of what constitutes real economy.
The business of your community and of the country, the normal buying and selling, should go on as it has been going on during the past two or three prosperous years. Then there will be no real depression, no hard times.
With large crops to be harvested during the coming year, and with the tremendous increases that are about to be made in our Army and our Navy, those of us in other lines of business must work harder than ever to make up for the unusual demand.
But if the people get a wrong idea of economy, start to save more than a sensible proportion of their income and become panic-stricken, then we are going to have hard times that will result in hundreds of thousands of men being thrown out of work, a sudden halting of production, and a general stagnation of the country's business.
Stopping Waste Is Real Economy
The only real economy at the present time is the avoidance of waste. Don't buy a big steak in order that you may use the good end and throw away the poor. Be sure that every ounce is properly used. If you can afford such extravagance yourself, there are hundreds near you who will be glad to get what you have been in the habit of throwing away.
Avoid waste, but don't make the mistake of contributing to a stoppage of business. If, for instance, a man's house needs a coat of paint and its owner does not paint it, wastefulness and not economy influences him. To let a house go without paint is to insure its decay.
This will apply to every line of business. Do what you can to keep the wheels of business going as usual and urge your friends to do the same.
Don't Dam The Circulation
With more zeal than wisdom, certain short-sighted gentlemen and well-meaning societies have urged the hoarding of pennies, the waring of last year's clothes, the reduction of food-supplies, and the elimination of luxuries. Fortunately the far-sighted business men of the country, the bankers, the engineers, and the other leaders, who are in a position to know, have pointed out that the real economy is to avoid wastefulness-not to dam the circulation of the nation's money.
The people who have money to spend should continue to spend, business should continue to spend, business should go on as usual, production should be kept up to a high mark, so that there will be employment for all and plenty of everything for the men in the service of the nation as well as for the men in the services of private individuals.
Reprinted from The Dutch Boy Painter - A Magazine Devoted to the Interests of Good Painting - 1917
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