" D.W.L"
NOTlong ago, in America, I came across a young housewife of a peculiarly thrifty turn of mind. The child of wealthy parents, she had married very young, as the custom is in that most charming and bewildering of countries, and had chosen a lad of her own age, the son of a millionaire. With the extraordinary foresight and wisdom which, coupled with passionate family affection, make of Americans the best parents in the world, it had been decided that the young couple would benefit most by "making good" by their own efforts, as their parents themselves had done. Therefore the tiny household was a very straitened one, and the child-bride, for all her inherited sound common-sense, found that her chief difficulty lay in curbing her fixed habit of purchasing forthwith everything that seemed appropriate and desirable for her house and person. . . . So to her elaborate and minute accounts she added another, with the heading " D.W.I." Curiosity led me to ask, and her to explain, that the mysterious letters stood for "Do Without It." Under this head she scrupulously enumerated most of the "little things" which, day after day, a woman appears to need every time she walks along the pavements. These "little things" run away with a good deal of money, and each time the " need " cropped up it was severely scrutinized and mercilessly handled, so that, in an astonishingly large number of cases, that particular requirement could be triumphantly met by a little home management, or resolutely put aside : the pot of pink azaleas so ardently desired, the trip to New York with shopping intentions, that " cunning " but costly chintz which would have so adorned the porch rockers. The cushion covers must be washed instead of renewed ; that muslin collar, even, could be produced with an hour's stitching, instead of costing a dollar and a half. Even the " extra " library books at five cents a time were struck off and proudly entered up under " D.W.L," which at the end of a month totalled up to a most respectable credit balance of money unspent.
Such a campaign is now incumbent on every one of us—not only in our wardrobes, but on the larder and storeroom shelves ; indeed, in every life path trodden by each of us. What can we write up under " D.W.I." ? Numberless luxuries have already gone—things we ate and drank simply because they were there, and which, now, we do not miss at all. But there are still, in every life, I venture to say, certain outlays which could be pared away, to the end of con- serving money and food for the nation. I suppose that very few women still indulge themselves with "early tea "—nine o'clock office precludes that for moat; but if there are any, they will surely let it go, and enter it up, noticing gladly, as they cast this dear indulgence, the milk saved for some weakly child, at the end of a month.
Tobacco has to get to England in ships ; the fashioning of it into cigarettes uses hands that might be employed on national work; and were it not for the smokers, the inconvenient shortage of matches might be greatly relieved.
What about five o'clock tea ? It can be done without ; as a routine meal it is unknown in America, and its indulgence there is far more a concession to custom, especially English custom, than a recognized need of daily life. Still, we have weighty evidence that it has a high value for working girls, and for working men too. Show me the offioe mantelpiece that has not an empty cup on it about five-thirty p.m. ! They lunch early and lightly, and quite recently it was definitely stated by a trustworthy firm that formerly almost all the errors in the day's work had occurred between the hours of five and seven, and that this work weariness and staleness had latterly been entirely avoided by a cup of tea all round. There- fore let the tea remain—but for workers only.
What about beer ? The ground is almost too sacred to tip-toe on ; there is some mysterious supernatural uplift about beer, which makes the subject too holy for ordinary handling. Oxygen is a mere wayside adjunct, no more powerful than the scent of honeysuckle, compared with the life-giving and life-sustaining properties of beer. After all, it makes our Working Han What He Is . . . there is no more to say. Still, there are limits, even to elixirs, and if the third or fourth glass could be resolutely put under " D.W.I." there would be quite a fat parcel of bread and sugar saved for the children.
What about pet dogs ? Of course, we would all share our last crust with a faithful and beloved dog, and the lady with seventeen small dogs and amazing quantities of milk and meat to feed them on will become historical, and bring gaiety into our grandchildren's schoolrooms, on which account we will forgive her ; but there can be no substantial reason for the present-day breeding of lapdogs, whose diet has to be more carefully considered than that of the working woman's baby. Obviously, they are being deliberately bred ; there is hardly a women's paper which does not advertise numbers of highly priced puppies, only a few weeks or months old, and there are several shop-windows in London full of these luxuries, purposely brought into being with the object of coaxing out of women's pockets money sorely needed for the nation.
What about gorgeous hand-made silken cushions, splendid ribbons at two and three pounds a yard, and expensive soaps, scents, and powders ? Heaven forbid that we should walk with shiny noses and untended persons because we are at war, but the most highly priced things are by no means, intrinsically, the best, and the perfumes at fifteen shillings a bottle and soaps at four shillings a cake ought to find their way under " D.W.L" That they still find ready purchasers is quite certain ; a few momenta spent by the buy counters is con- vineing proof. • Let Everywoman, when she enters the great department shops, mentally clutch her " D.W.L" account, and, for her soul's comfort, jot down every unnecessary purchase resisted ; before long she will find herself the possessor of more than one " D.W.L" War Bond !
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