Meade County news., 1917-07-26
Prominent Men and Women Start
Movement Whereby Every
one May Help.
70 EXTEND Community IDEA
Works Out With Great Success In
New York-PIans to Coordinate
and Direct on Nonmilltary
Side Patriotic Efforts Of
All Citizens.
BY DAYTON sToDDART.

BY DAY ON 81 OOOAni'
New York.-Prominent men and
women here have started movement
whereby every man, woman and child
In the United States may aid their gov
ernment to win the world war.
1t has been under way but u short
tine, yet assistance of great value was
given to both the Liberty loan and
Red Cross campaigns; the next goal
set is such cooperation with "HOover
of Belgium" as to make waste in the
Kitchen and ON the table a problem Of
the past.
The new. organization is called the
ceiVed by Prof. Ellery G. Stowell, ex-
pert ON international affairs and men,
her of the Columbia university faculty.
The leagues purpose is to weld the
nation together, with the community
idea extended to include the whole
people.
impossible" you may remark. ut
can't be done. Community spirit is
very fine for small place or for a
section where folks of similar inter-
ests and tastes live. But it wouldn't
work out in big place. Not bit"
"Works" in New FORK.
But it has worked out in New York
and that in section where live both
refOrmers of the purely theoretical
type and insurgent workingmen in a
board strip running across New York
which is the Nineteenth congressional
histrict. 1t includes the homes of some
of the richest and the poorest families
of the metropolis.
In New York, of all places, the COM
munity idea of nationalism has worked
out, and very successfully, too. AS
the terms community spirit" may
seem rather indefinite to some, the ex-
act significance Of what Mr.. Stowell
means when he uses the term may
best be set forth by himself.
Several months ago, when the ne
cessity of rOusing the country to the
fact that every resource of the United
States should be available for war,
Mr.. StOwell thought of the old town
meetings in New England.
"H," he asked himself, "this plan
worked to weld together a town or
village, why could not the same prin-
ciple be applied to the entire nation?'
Intensive thought on the question
confirmed his idea that it could. He
selected the congressional district as
the best geographical division for a
unit OF the league.
He chose the Nineteenth congression-
al district to try out his plans. He
had as coworkers other members of
the Columbia university faculty. and
women who volunteered their serv-
ices.
Canvas House to House.
Friends of those working directly
with Mr.. Stowell were obtained and a
committee was made up with at least
one representative from each election
district. These, in turn, canvassed
apartment houses and dwellings in
every one of the lis districts.
The surprising part about the be-
ginning of the movement was that the
pioneers found no hostility, only well
come, In the houses they visited This
I'm spite of the fact that although
they may have lived for years ada
cent to family, neither had spoken.
Ut was a means never before offered
for everybody in the district getting
to know almost everybody else.
When the district haC been can
rassed, meeting was called. Tenn
porary officers Of the small unit of the
league were chosen. All 1t was neces-
Sary to do to become a member of
the league was to pay 80 cents initia-
tiOn fec. This is the only contribution
paid to the league proper; other con-
trlbutions depend solely on the ex-
penses and aims of the organization
in each congressional district or in
each election district.
Suppose that your own meeting, aft
er it had been organized, decided that
1t would be a mighty good plan to
adopt one or more orphans across the
sea. Such a plan was actually put in
operation in one of the precincts of
the Nineteenth congressional district.
Two French orphans were adopted, a
little boy and little girl, and the
monthly cost Of 81 is being raised by
leaving tin box out at every meet
ing in which contributions may be
dropped.
In the Nineteenth district, one of the
first steps taken was the enrolment
of every woman by woman workers.
Every woman was asked what line
of work she was best fitted for and
the list was made up, election district
by election district, so that Mr.. Stow
ell, as chairman of the entire Nine
teenth district knew exactly how
many stenographers, cooks, clerical
workers, members of any calling, were
in his territory.
The actual good this does is that II
allows every chairman to know the
"home strength" of his district. He
can tell you, after consulting his lists.
Just how many cooks, nurses and other