Of SsvingsfislVulAs Incrcaso u
Even though much of the national
; substance has gone for war and de
' fense over the last decade, the United
States has given a practical demon
stration of the dynamic effect of ris
ing productivity in the way it has con
tinued to lift the living standards of
the man in the street,
Over recent years, as (he figures
show, more Americans than ever be
fore have enjoyed rising incomes,
spent more for needs and wants, and
saved more in life insurance and in
other mediums of thrift. And it should
be noted, too, they paid more in taxes
to their Governments Federal, state
and local than in any previous time.
This genera? advance in living
standards for the .majority of the peo
ple, so much of which is the result of
expanded productivity, is apparent
even when allowance is made for the
growth in population and for the wide
rise in prices oveT the last decade.
The adjustment may make the gains
less spectacular, but they are nonethe
less substantial.
Income Shows Steady Rise
An insight into how this was achiev
ed is provided by an analysis of data
compiled by the U. S. Department of
Commerce showing the steady Upward
trend of personal incomes from the
beginning of World War II in 1939
to date, and what the people ait large
did with the increasing funds at their
disposal from year to year. The high
lights may be summarized as follows:
Total personal income has increased
in every year except one out of the
last thirteen. The exception was in
the brief recession of 1949, but even
then the decline was small. The 1952
total of personal income amounted to
more than $268 billions, as against
Jess than $73 billions in 1939, an in
crease of nearly fourfold.
Consumer spending has increased
in every year since 1939. There have,
of course, been variations from year
to year, reflecting such factors as
the scarcity or abundance of goods,
and tiie impact of changing domestic
and international conditions on public
psychology and individual buying im
pulses. Over all, however, the-up
ward trend in personal spending has
been uninterrupted from 1939 to date.
Goods and services bought by the peo
ple in 1952 exceeded S216 billions,
more than triple the pre-World War
II figure.
It is significant to. note, in this con
nection, that spending on hard goods
has shown a greater rate' of gain since
the end of the last war than consumer
spending as a whole. This continued
to be true even after wartime short
ages had been satisfied. Wide owner
ship of cars, television sets, home la
bor-saving devices, and other durables
standards. .
The Trend of Savings
Personal saving has pursued a more
zigzag course than either total income
or consumer spending. It reached
abnormally high levels during the last
war, fell' for a few years thereafter
as goods came into supply, and then
moved steadily upward in the last five
years. Last year's total of personal
savings, as compiled by-the Depart
ment of Commerce, aggregated $18
billions, some six and one-half times
the 1939 savings figure. .
Savings have not only risen greatly
in dollar amounts but in distribution
of ownership as well. For example.
there are 24 million more owners of
life insurance today than there were
at the beginning of the last war. and
the total of insurance in force is about
two and one-half times as great. This
trend in life insurance, which is paral
leled in other savings, indicates the
extent that the people have built up
their personal protection and "nest
eggs" in general to keep pace with
their rising living Standards.
On the employment front, more
than 9 million persons, or over a
sixth of the civilian working popu
lation, were jobless in 1939. By con
trast, the nation has had full employ
ment in recent years.
As for taxes, they have shown the
biggest increase of all. Personal tax
es in 1952 added up to a' record high
of $34 billions, half as high again
as the World IWar II peak and four
teen times greater than the 1939 to
tal.
Price and Population Factors
It must be recognized, of course,
that the cost y of livirf has nearly
doubled in the last thirteen years, and
also that the population has increased
by approximately one-fif-u However,
the sain in average living standards
is impressive even when these chang
es are taken into account. -
Taking as an example the trend of
consumer spending adjusted to dol
lars of 1939 buying power, the figures
show that total consumer spending in
1952 was more than half again as
high as in the pre-iWorld IWar II year.
Making a further adjustment for the
population increase, , consumer ex
penditures in 1952 figure out to about
$700 for every man, woman and child
in the country, last year as against
$915 per capita in 1939. . '
Thus the real standard of living of
the American people has risen by more
than a third in the thirteen years from
the beginning of World War II to
date. .
CLASS MEETS
(Left Over From !Last Week)
The Mattae Macon Sunday School
Class of Bethel Baptist Church met
April 1, at 7:30 at .the community
house with the president, Mrs. Ernest
Long, presiding.
The meeting opened with the hymn
"The Old Rugged Cross." , Miss Eun
ice Long gave the devotional and of
!At the close of prayer a duet "Liv
ing For Jesus" was sung by Mrs. Er
nest Long and Miss Blanche Good-1
Win.
Poem by Mrs. Irvin Long. (Roll call
ed and minutes were read and business
dicussed by the class,
fered prayer. ?
Mrs. Claude Long and Mrs. Wilma
Miss Eunice tong ana ura. A. imra
Tarkington winning the prizes. ..
The meeting closed with hymn "Sav
iour Like . Shepherd Lead Us." ; Mrs.
Joe White offered prayer. , The hos
tesses, Mrs. Wilma Brabble, Misses
Eunice- Long and Blanche- .Goodwin,
served refreshments to the following:
Mesdames Claude Long, Ernest (Long,
Thomas Fleetwood, Irvin Long, Ber
nard Proctor, William Tarkington, El
mer Tarkington, Joe. White,' Chas,
Ward, John Corprew, Jr, and Miss
Ruth Mansfield. , f -1 '
BETHEL CLUB MEETS
i The1 Bethel Home -Demonstration
Club Jheld its regular meeting at the
Community House on Friday, lApril
10, with Mrs. E. J. Proctor and Mrs.
W. P. Long as hostesses. ,v -.).:,.;
- Mrs. Long gave the devotional after
which the Lord's Prayer was repeated.
'New and old business were discuss
ed, with Miss Perry making announce
ments about the county citizenship
skit, the Potato Festival and the coun
ty tour on May 7. , . i,;'
It was decided to change the time
of meeting to 3:00, Mrs. Charles
Ward gave a book report, a :
. Miss Kimsey 'Perry, Home vAgent,
gave a most helpful demonstration on
"Today's Fabrics," showing samples of
different fabrics and their. care, and
new fabrics on the market today. ,
Mrs. Dallas Wilkerson conducted an
interesting contest with Mrs. , 'Rue-
ben 'Stallings winning the prize.
The Club Collect was repeated and
the meeting adjourned. '
Others present were: Mesdames E
L. Goodwin, J, C. Hobbs, W. D. Per
ry, C. T. Phillips, J. P. Ward, Emmett
Brabble conducted the -contest with Long and Miss Blanche IGoodwin. '
I J He bssej All Kilt 1
In the University of Wisconsin, stu
dents undergoing an examination in
EnglisJr were asked: . ' .
'Write, out examples of the indica
tive, the subjunctive, the potential,
ana w .-exclamatory moods."
To which one struggling pupil com
plied with the following: -, .
"I am endeavoring to pass an En
glish examination. If 1 answer 20
questions, I shall pass. If I answer
12 questions I may pass. God help
;-vi
4 "i
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