The Watertown news. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1917-1919, 1917-06-01
ADDRESS TO WORKNEN ABOUT THE LIBERTY LOAN

Men we have to face very serious con-
dition. The Nation is at war. 1 doubt if very
many OF you realize how serious this is
l, myself did not realize it until very recently
and doubt If any Of us begin to grasp the fact
that we certainly headed for the same kind
Of national crisis, in business affairs, if not
actually in the loss Of lives, that England and
France have before them today and have been
enduring for long time past,
War always wrecks many lives, and it al
ways wrecks many business lives also, among
men who do not go to the front but who stay
at home working hard as they can. We
have two duties to perform. One-to help
equip the nen of this Nation who do not go to
the front that they will have OF their dis
posal every known aid in the way of modern
arms, modern cannOnS and all the wonderful
mechanical equipment which is part of war
today AS we all know, our army is not
equipped with anything like the modern war
appliances which the Allies have developed
during this war. No nation, not even Germany
was equipped with them before the war. The
business of war has been learned by fighting
and some OF the most valuable methods OF pre-
serving human life has been discovered since
this war began.
1T is sheer murder to send our men abroad
without perfect equipment and just remember
that a great many men from this community
are going to go before this war is done. Some
of them may be right here in this room now.
And great many who are not here, but who
are brothers and sons and other relatives of
those who are here, are going to have their
lives thrown away when they might have been
preserved, unless the entire Nation meets the
first duty, whic l. to supply the money to give
those boys every chance there is. The better
equipped our men are the quicker they are
equipped, the quicker they learn to use their
equipment. the quicker this war will end. The
Nation has given us, all our lives, that COM
freedom
administration of just and fair laws which has
enabled us to be>a happy people and prosper
GUS people and the envy of every other nation
in the world The Nation has done its full duty
by us. Now it is our turn to do full duty by
the Nation
"In order tos upply arms for soldiers and
the full equipment necessary to bring victory
and to safe guard their lives in doing so, to
provide food for our men and for our Allies, the
Nation has authorized the sale of bonds which
must be sold to produce the money necessary
The fsrt installment, 81 100000, of these
bonds is offered for sale now This is called
The Liberty Loan of 1917. There are several
sizes of bonds. One size is $4,000 in denomina-
ton. That is the bond. that $4,000 bond, which
we have to consider today We have got to
buy those bonds. Every employer in the Nation
has got to call together his employees and
explain to them why these bonds must be
bought very largely by them. Meetings, such as
this One are going on all over the Nation today
and men just like yourselves are helping to
buy these bonds and provide the money the
country must have.
Il have told you something about the need
for equipment. Of course our patriotic duty
comes first We must help arm eur men and
preserve their lives as far as we can
But there is second duty, the duty, to our
families and that is less important than
the first This, some people would call selfish
motive but l do not feel that it is selfish and l
know you will not feel so either 1t is no
selfish for a man to want to safeguard the
interests of his own family and to insure the
fact that he will continue to earn wages so he
can support his wife and children That is one
of the great problems of war. 1t always has
and always will be. And it is one of the things
that we must consider very seriously in this
war. 1t is the duty of each of us from the
standpoint OF protecting his own wages and his
own family to do what he can in this crisis. In
order to keep the business of the nation gone
just as it is today in order to keep this con-
Germ that you work for going just as it is to-
day, in order to keep the country buying the
things that are produced in this town and so
keep the money coming into this town which
supports the town and which circulates among
the storekeepers and all of us here, we have
got to all put shoulders to the wheel ev-
eryone of us. We have got to do our part just
as the men at the other meetings all over the
country today have got to do their part
1.-TWO billion dollars is lot of money It is
only recently that any of us have begun to
realize what tremendous lot of money it is
IL lue DdukS SnOulO Duy tneSe DOndS and put
them In their vaults the money in the country
would be tied up very quickly and business
would stop The only way that manufacturers
and merchants all over the Nation can trans
act business is to borrow money from the
banks when they have to buy large stocks of
material, when they undertake large orders
which have to be filled, when they have to do
any one OF a hundred and one things which
constantly arise and which call for more mon
ey than the working capital of these concerns
iC 1lCf yof{ o11;,
what credit is. This ability to borrow money
from the banks in time of need is credit If the
banks had all their money or a very large Dor
ton OF it, put into these bonds credit would be
at an end. And if credit were at an end the
business of the country would shut I'D shon
over night and there would be signs outside
the factories and the stores, closed till further
notice In other words, the business of this