The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-04-26
ARMY OF INVESTORS
COUNTRY'S BIG NEED

Now that we are. actually In the
war. the tremendous task of financing
our share. and Of aiding the Allies to
tho full extent Of our resources 10 be-
fore us. The greater part OF the bur
des1tusaHo fall eventually not on the
largo financial interests OF the country
but on the people themselves
II IL entirely logical that the people
should be given an opportunity TO
helm finance not only the undertak-
inrs Of the federal government, but
also OF their own state. county ana
city governments. Any movement IN
this direction Is an encouragement OF
good eitizssRpshiR an sa souvna Investment
81 particular interest, therefore, is
tho following editorial appearing IN
the April issue of "The Worlds Work"
on the subject of small bonds:
::No small part Of the wonderful
showing France has made in this war
has been due to the fact that back OF
+he army in the field has been a much
larger army Of trained investors sup
plying the silver bullets. For Wnen
the French peasant gets 100 francs
ahead he becomes an investor, and MS
first purchase is generally govern
rnent bond, or a "rente" as 1t IS calleo
in France. Thies means that ne puys
an interest return, and he thus De-
comes an investor In the truest sense
of the word. He win likely hold the
security till death. 1t has been the
holders of these 8 per cent. rentes
(saia Ao nnrherr more than 4.5OO,O0o
wfysaS the war started3 who have ap-
preciated the attractiveness OF o
per cent. French government obhga-
ton and have backed their patriotism
with their investment training. In no
other nation is so large q percentage
Of the people holders Of government
bonds and thus directly financially In
terested in the outcome OF the war.
1.-THE ! movement to spread the
Thrift idea in this country, started
by bankers q year or more ago, has
met with slow response. as was ex-
pected, but there is evidence that 1t
has made progress. It should be con-
tinued vigorously as measure or pre-
paredness for peace as well as war,
and should have the hearty support OF
every American,
zone Of the most important devel-
opments In this thrift campaign has
been the recent organization Of the
National Thrift Bond Corporation by
reputable banking and business inter-
ests for the sale Of small denomination
certificates backed by municipal.
county, state and national bonds.
These Thrift Bonds In denominations
as Low ~ SO. will be put on sale in
department stores, cigar stores, drug
stores, etc. as well as In banks and
express offlces. The tax-secured bonds
on which they are based will be depos-
tied with tho Equitable Trust Com
pany of New York. and, as further Sc
curity q safety reserve fund win be
established. The corporation will be
under the supervision Of the New
York State Banking Department.
SAFETY and per cent! will be its
motto. That there Is reason to be-
neve people with small savings will
inevst at per cent. interest is the
conclusion that must be drawn from
the fact that more than $100,000,000
has already been deposited under the
government postal savings system,
where 1t earns only per cent. The
progress of this plan to popularize
safe bonds will be watched with In
terest"