The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1917-12-22
WAR SAVINGS

The following is from speech of |
Frank A. Vanderlip:
| believe that the philosophy that
| is back of the war-savings movement
warrants one in characterizing it as
one of the most promising attempts
to bring home to every individual his
personal responsibility to society for
careful living and prudent expendi-
ture.
The president of the United States
has well said that one of the great
by-products of the war which will do
much towards recompensing US for
its awful cost will be the permanent
impress which this war-savings cam
paign will make on our national
character.
To teach thrift merely as desir-
able feature is extremely difficult. We
have an opportunity now for making
in a most obvious way a connection
between the principles of thrift and
the discharge of our patriotic duty as
citizens, and we have, therefore unex.
ampled opportunity of getting the at
tention of almost the entire popula-
ton of this country on this subject
a subject which is made up of per-
sonal habits of considering small ex
penditures, habits that lead to per-
sonal sacrifice of desires in exchange
for future opportunities of far great
er value. However long the war may
last, and however great may be its
cost, every dollar of that cost can be
recompensed if these lessons of thrift
can be taught thoroughly to all of us.
/ We hope to raise $2,000,0 900
this way, sum so huge that it has
no counterpart in our financial his
tory before the first Liberty Loan, a
sum so small that we have got to in
some other way raise endless more
billions before we are through with
this task.
Now, raising money by borrowing,
by making sacrifices, by economy, by
foregoing the things that we have
been used to having is painful task.
We are going to weary, some of US,
at times of that method. have
hardly day go by that in my mail
there does not come the suggestion
usually the man who makes it thinks
he has got an original thought-of
some way of financing this war not
by sacrifice, not by saving, not by
recognizing that the war must be
fought by current effort, but by
financing it with the printing press
some form of paper money. Now
it is not the medium of exchange
that the government wants. It is not
the means of making payments that
the government wants. 1t wants la
Dor, it wants materials, it wants that
coordination of industry that wilt
Il produce the things that it needs. All
history shows the disaster that fol-
lows in the train of paper money is
sues, but believe all history has no
example of what would follow in the
way of disaster and unredeemable
paper issues today.
This war-savings campaign is, as
l have said, something that will, /
believe, make great impress on the
character of the country, by teaching
the lesson of thrift. 1t is campaign
where it can be brought to every
> mind that there is an individual OPP
portunity to help win the war, that
every time man saves dollar from
lgoing into an expenditure for nom
essential, every time that he refrains
from consuming material and en-
ploying labor unnecessarily, he has
released material and labor for the
uses of the government and has made
his direct individual contribution to
winning the war.
If all that is true, then this is a
campaign that you all ought to be
willing to help to the full extent of
your ability. You have rendered Won
derful service in aid of the govern
ment in the Liberty Loan campaigns.
Here is a continuous campaign; it is
going to run for a year. Personally,
believe the theory of it is good that
it will run for many years, but Con-
gress has authorized but single is
sue of $1,000, OCT, 600, and we cannot
: predict what may occur beyond that.
1t is the duty of every person, that
the message of this war-savings
i campaign may have the widest pos
! sible publicity, to inform himself or
herself of all phases of it and explain
to uniformed friends as frequently
as the opportunity presents itself.
They should inform themselves not
, only as TO what war-savings certi-
ficate is, how it is to be purchased,
how it increases in value, how it is so
unique a security that it cannot de-
cline-the government guarantees
that every mont hit shall be worth
more than it was the last month
! how the smallest contributions can
be collected, first through the thrift
stamps that are to be converted later
into war-savings stamps, but to car
] ny the much larger message of what
this means in winning the war.