WAR EFFORT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 January 1940, Page 3

WAR EFFORT

HOW SAVING CAN HELP.

"I should like everyone to understand that if al this time he spends unnecessarily on himself, he is making it more difficult to carry on the war." said the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sir John Simon, in a recent broadcast. "If he saves all he can and lends it to the Government, he is not only making a useful provision for himself, but he is himself helping to fight the war and is hastening the day of victory. There is another reason why. at a time like this, all oC us should limit our spending, and. instead, save all that we can. The reason is this. The Government is bound to spend vast sums on supplies for carrying on the war. and there cannot be at the same time the same plentiful supplies for the people to spend their money on as in peacetime. Productive power which would in peacetime be supplying our ordinary needs has to be diverted to war production. In wartime our imports from abroad have to be cut down. There is inevitably a reduction in the supplies of some things to which wc have become accustomed. There is, therefore, a special need for restraint in outlay, for if supplies arc restricted and at the same time the public, instead of saving, tries to buy as much as or more than in peacetime—why, all this helps to raise prices unnecessarily. It is literally true that if the citizen strictly limits his purchases, he is helping to keep prices down. A general resolve all over the country to save what one can and’ to avoid all unnecessary spending would have a great effect. It is the saver, and not the spender, who really gains. Wartime is not in any case a favourable time to spend, and the man who restricts his spending finds himself, at the end of the ordeal, with resources in hand, while his spendthrift neighbour has none."