The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-25

'y war. People are being urged and shown
 Il how to save their money. Many work
 men are making high wages these days
 and with the influx of women into in-
 dustry the earnings of families have be-
 come vastly augmented. This newfound | prosperity has not, in many cases, proved | a good thing. It has led to individual | extrava gance. The working classes in- I duge in theatres and cinemas more than | ever before. The piano industry in Eng land is thriving in time, because the I work people find it possible with their I war earnings to buy pianos. Before the I war it would have been impossible for l them to do so The cheap jewelry manu- T lecturers furnish another example of the prosperity of the working classes. This l more less ruthless expenditure of 1 money must be stopped in the interests | of the national welfare. The people must | save, not only for their own sakes and l that they may have some of the benefits l of present prosperity during that after l the-war depression that is so likely, but | also that the national excheauer may 1 benefit.
 1 With the object of training the wealthy | lower classes to put their money into the l treasury the economy campaign has been l started. In a word the people are being 1 educated to save their money and shown how to do it. Hitherto the small in- vestor, the man who earned enough to
 put into war loans only a pound or two semi occasionally has had outlet Under the various schemes that have now been adopted, the small investor ha every chance of profitable investment He | doesn't have to go looking. it Is thrust | upon him from every side. Nowadays a man with siXpence can buy stamp at a postoffice. When he gets 31 stamps he , has 15 shillings and siXpence and he can buy war savings certificate. This with
 interest at per cent compounded yearly, Will bring him back a pound in five years | In the meantime he can cash his war certificate any time he likes The country has been divided into 235 sections. In each section all officialdom IS engaging in the economy campaign. Lord lieutenants, mayors, sheriffs nlen- bers of Parliament and prominent citi- zens are taking the lead. War savings associations are being formed These are organizations the object of which is cooperative and joint saving. In a great factory, for instance, an association is formed Each member agrees to contrib ute shilling week It may be ar ranged that this is deducted from his weekly pay. In any case every member of the association makes his contribution and the association invests the proceeds |
 in war loans. With thousands upon thou sands Of these associations going the results will be enormous. The national war savings committee, an official organ l lzatlon with headquarters in London. 1 issues vast quantities of literature which
 explain the various savings schemes and they send agents into the country to | organize associations. TWO CLASSES OF LOANS There are two classes of loans for the small investor. One is the 15 shilling and | slxpence war savings certificate, bought | through the postoffice by the purchase of i stamps Anyone wanting to try this scheme may go to the postoffice and | obtain a card with blank places for the 9l stamps. He buys one at time or more if he can afford it, and gets a cer- tl1lcate when he has 31 stamps The other form of investment is in excheuuerl bonds. issued in denominations of 5 2O and 90 pounds. These prove attractive to the war savings associat tions No indi | vidual with an income of over $500 a year (about Sl5OoD may invest in these for they are free of the heavy income tax and IT purchasable by the rich would be bought in huge quantities with resulting
 loss to the national income. The au- thorities are well pleased by the results which have already been obtained and
 are enthusiastic about the future During
 the last week in April, for instance, | which was a holiday week. when the
 poorer people Were supposed to be spend-
 ing their money and when the postoffices
 were closed a part of the time, there were
 ooiu Wdi ceTtilicdteS 10 an equivalent Of
 about S6oOO00 and during the same week
 exchequer bonds were sold. 22.0O0 of them
 in all, to the extent of s, ,500 GOO. And this With the national organization by mol
 means complete Through the peration or this scheme the school children of one
 London district, guided by the school au- thorities, saved and invested s75O0 in a1
 few weeks
 It, is the first time that the small in-
 vestor has had an opportunity of getting
 as good rates of interest as the big fel-
 lows. Now he does. and even better
 terms. Apparently he is taking advantage
 of the situation. England is not going |
 to finance the war by the operation of 1
 this scheme. but the money return will |
 be of great help. It will relieve taxation
 and it will make it less necessary to goI
 abroad for money
 Still another benefit coming from peo-
 pie saving their money instead of spend-l
 ing it is as is being pointed out to the |
 workers of the nation. the fact that the l
 more they spend the more people must be |
 employed to make the stuff they buy A |
 reduction in purchases consequently l
 means releasing men for the army It | likewise means less importation of prod 1 ucts which makes more shipping avail ! able for things that are really needed | The people of the nation are not now being asked to undergo hardships or to | refrain from buying the food and other necessaries of life that are needed Oni the contrary they are being told to pur- l chase everything they need in order to | keep up a high standard of health and | efficiency, but to go no further. PartI of the campaign of economy is to teach l what this standard of efficiency is to |
 impress upon the people what they need ,, and what they can do without.
 One of the official pamphlets of the
 war savings committee says:
 fsFyerv household should hold couu-