24 
House & Garde n 
THINKING THE WAR THROUGH 
A BULLETIN, recently issued by the Gov¬ 
ernment, contains the following salient 
phrase: ‘ In the end, thinking will probably 
win the war.” 
This about hits the nail on the head. The 
reason that Germany has had so much mili¬ 
tary success is doubtless due to the fact that 
she has been thinking about this war for forty 
years. The absence of thinking about it caught 
us almost empty handed, although we had 
three years’ warning. However, for the past 
twelve months the x\merican people have been 
doing some rapid thinking. There is still 
much to be done, and according to the measure 
of that thought and the application of its con¬ 
clusions will depend the outcome. 
First we had to think out what the war was 
for and why we were in it. No material gains 
thousands of factories working full time. 
We went into this war so that these “just 
folks” could keep on being “just folks,” so 
that they could live in peace and plenty and 
attain the place they desire. 
\ V present for the average American at home 
ii thinking the war through has been reduced 
to the problem of differentiating between false 
and true economy, between essentials and non- 
essentials. We are obliged to economize,, but 
economy that proves costly in the end will be 
disastrous. That is why, to quote one ex¬ 
ample, the Food Administration is so clear in 
its advice about eating plenty. Bread is es¬ 
sential, but pure white bread is non-essential; 
therefore Victory bread is an ample substitute. 
After all, thinking the war 
—simply an ideal was at stake, a principle that our forefathers had 
fought and died for. The general run of Americans are pretty well 
convinced by this time that no other course was open to us. We have 
taken up that “unfinished work" to which Lincoln so nobly dedicated 
this nation in his speech at Gettysburg. 
Then we had to think how we were going to conduct the war. Most 
Americans are busy on this problem just now. The country store 
boards of strategy, of course, are working till late into the night figur¬ 
ing out what Pershing should do. The rest of us are figuring out what 
we shall do to win the war. For the singular part about this combat 
is that it is everybody’s war. We are suffering the paradoxical benefit 
of a republic. In this country where each of us has a voice in the 
government and each a free hand to work out his own destiny, each is 
also obliged to contribute his and her share when the hard times come. 
And our national strength is the accumulation of these little bits. 
Saving a loaf of bread a week may seem insignificant, but that saving 
has made it possible for us to send hundreds of thousands of bushels 
of wheat to the other side. A meatless meal may appear a small con¬ 
tribution, yet the accumulation of these tiny contributions counted up 
mighty big when Mr. Hoover last made his report. A quarter here 
and a quarter there is a small sacrifice, but by March 1st the accu¬ 
mulated quarters of the nation invested in War Saving Stamps amounted 
to something over $70,000,000. 
Now all these things are indications that the American people are 
thinking the war through. They are beginning to buckle down to the 
task. For every American life lost, a hundred lives will be dedi¬ 
cated to service in one fashion or another that punishment may be 
visited on the malefactor and the world made a safe place for peaceful, 
decent, home-loving people to live in. 
through comes 
down to the very simple matter of spending money and energy wisely. 
And that is a problem for each man and woman to settle according to 
their own fashion. 
'Fhe American people are going to be richer in wisdom when this 
war is over. They will have regained an appreciation of thrift, and 
thrift, remember, was what made these “just folks” possible, made 
them worthy citizens, gave them a solid foundation for the future. 
B ETWEEN that future of peace and renewed prosperity and this 
dark present of casualty lists and wrecked homes, lies the leper 
land of war. We all have to cross it and those who reach the other 
side will only do so because they have kept a cool head. 
For months this magazine has been preaching the wisdom of wise 
spending, and it preaches it again. Spending wisely is the wav vou 
can think this war through. 
We in America who cannot bear arms hold a trench that is just as 
important as that which snakes its way across Lorraine. Our bovs 
are there; our men and women are here. If this defense at home fails, 
our boys might just as well throw down their arms. The English boys 
have maintained confidence through three bitter years with the idea 
that their folks were keeping the home fires burning. Are we going to 
give our boys the same confidence? 
W HEN Mr. Wilson spoke about making the world safe for democ¬ 
racy he meant that it was to be made safe for everyday people, 
and the American type is an everyday type. He is, to use the parlance 
of the Hoosier, “just folks.” 
These “just folks" people are a mighty fine, and extensive middle 
class. They work hard and save up to own their own homes. They 
plant a garden and boast about it to the neighbors on the commuters’ 
trains on the way to work in the mornings. Their women busy them¬ 
selves all day long keeping the house in order and training the children, 
and taking a part in community affairs. They like good clothes and 
sty lish clothes, they want their homes to look “nice” which is a way of 
saying “in good taste"—and they intend their children shall grow up 
to be a credit to their homes and their nation. 
Take a cross-section of an average American town and you will find 
these “just folks” predominate. They are the backbone of America. 
They earn money and spend it. They support the stores and keep the 
B Y the time this magazine reaches your hands the drive for the Third 
Liberty Loan will be on. The Government will be asking you to 
mobilize your dollars and enlist them for Uncle Sam. Doubtless you 
have already subscribed to the two previous loans. Perhaps you feel 
• that you can't afford to subscribe to this. Sit down and think it over. 
Do you want to keep on being “just folks,” living; your peaceful, worka¬ 
day life in security? Well, then, there is but one way to assure vour- 
self of it—invest in this loan. 
Every Liberty Bond means more than a promise to pay back with 
interest the original investment; it means that the Government prom¬ 
ises you peace. It means that you are investing in a peaceful future, 
securing to yourself and those you love the right thenceforth to be “just 
folks.” 
Y ou have already thought the war through to the point of conviction. 
You know that we went into it because our homes and our ideals were 
imperiled. You have seen the casualty lists grow from a few lines 
to a full column. Others are paying the price for peace. It’s up to 
you to pay your share and pay until it hurts. If peace is worth possess¬ 
ing, it’s worth paying for. You who earnestly pray for its speedy 
return can do nothing more effective toward that consummation than 
subscribing to the Third Liberty Loan. 
Thinking the war through doesn't cost a cent. But it’s a mighty 
poor American these days who is taking his patriotism out in thinks! 
Il 
