THE «
NEWS »
INTERPRETED 3
of mercy to bow before the golden calf.
But the people have seen what comes of
paying tribute to the idol in the market
place. They watch with horror the march
of the Philistines. No more than the
materialist can they see God, but in blood
and death they can feel His presence; in
agony they find that faith which 1s the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen.
“So we are not reading so many frivo-
lous novels and we are buying more Holy
Bibles. We are turning back to the white
spires.’
If the present world conflict makes
these changes permanent, then the blood-
shed, suffering, and sacrifice of earth’s teem-
ing millions will not all have been in vain.
More Bibles
B85 ROMOTED by the American Bible So-
3 pth! ciety, endorsed by the President of
foil the United States and the governors
of the various states, December 14 is
designated Universal Bible Sunday
throughout the nation. It will remind the
American people that it is their respon-
sibility in this dark hour to see that the
Bible 1s kept circulating in the world.
In this year 1941, which marks the one
hundred fiftieth anniversary of the signing
of the Bill of Rights, the American people
will do well to recall that it was the teach-
ing of the Bible which led our forefathers
to contend for the rights of the individual,
which 1s the basis of our democracy. In
this time, when the very existence of
democracy as we have always known 1t 1s
being threatened, we should not forget the
important role which the Bible has al-
ways played in our civilization. Calvin
Coolidge once said, ‘The foundations.
AAA
of our government rest so much on the
teachings of the Bible that it would be
difficult to support them if faith in these
teachings should cease to be practically
universal in our country.”
The American Bible Society, which has
for years sponsored this annual observance,
says that last year over 25,000,000 copies
of the Sacred Scriptures were distributed
in the world. Refugees in internment
camps, war prisoners, and other victims of
the wars are crying out for this book that
brings hope and courage to men in what-
ever language they read.
Has every enlisted man that has gone
from your community into one of the na-
tion’s services in these past months been
supplied with a Bible? The Bible has al-
ways been popular with American soldiers
and sailors. What an appropriate way to
celebrate Universal Bible Sunday—to sup-
ply the lads from your church, your street,
your community with their own copies of
the word of God.
Reducing Living Costs
E53 RESIDENT ROOSEVELT has been asked
2 = to restrict the manufacture of hard
Hota liquor and beer for the duration of
the national emergency, thus to release the
millions of bushels of grains and other in-
gredients now being used by those indus-
tries to be processed by the food industry.
The appeal was made in an open letter
sent by Henry M. Johnson of Louisville,
Kentucky, President of the American
Business Men's Research Foundation.
Mr. Johnson's letter called attention to
the fact that housewives are finding 1t in-
creasingly difficult to feed families whole-
some meals in the face of increasing food
prices, and sald that turning the millions
of bushels of grains now consumed by the
ZZ.
srry
ANY
¥ Somewhere in Russia. Bodies are taut as the German soldiers warily advance toward this tank
after it was stopped by the first salvo. Notice the soldier in the center holds a hand grenade which
he is about to hurl at a vulnerable section of the Russian tank to continue the work of demolition,
INTERNATIONAL NEWS FHT
JANUARY, 1942
liquor industries into wholesome food
products will go a long way toward reliev-
ing this situation. Since the distilleries
have a reported 500,000,000 gallons of
whisky in storage, the equivalent of a five
years’ supply, curtailment at the present
time would not involve any loss of taxable
revenue, Mr. Johnson insisted.
Explaining the reason for the letter, Mr.
Johnson said: “Since food 1s just as es-
sential in national defense and in helping
our Allies in their life-and-death struggle
as guns and munitions of war, the Founda-
tion feels that the President would be aet-
ing wisely and in the best interest of the
people of the United States to restrict and
place under priority regulation consump-
tion of grains and other ingredients by these
non-essential [liquor] industries.”
Mr. Johnson’s Foundation insists that
“every dollar of the $50,000,000,000 (fifty
billion dollars) spent for relief and defense
during the past eight years, could have
been paid without appropriating a single
cent from Federal or State treasuries if the
money spent for alcoholic beverages and
paid out to meet the cost of liquor-bred
crime, accidents, disease, and premature
death in the United States during the same
period had been contributed directly by
the people to the government for these
purposes.”’
Liquor’s 101 months’ “return” to the
people of the United States in taxes,
licenses, wages, costs of raw materials,
transportation, and upkeep is estimated
at approximately $20,008,150,636.
Subtracting liquor’s “return” to the
government, from the gross cost of aleo-
holic beverages (legal and illegal), the
Foundation finds that the net cost of the
aleoholic beverage trade to the people of
the United States 1s $30,367,017,969.77.
If the people of the United States had
followed the findings of science, national
prohibition during the past eight years
would have proved one of the greatest
boons to American industry that legitimate
business could ever experience.
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