New-York tribune., 1918-09-30
France s Gigantic
Financial Task

In financing her war expenditures
France faced q situation where her
people were constantly loaded almost
to the limit Of the average family with
bond holdings. Every man or woman
who could find the money to do it had
been accustomed for years to put his
savings into some form of government
securities either Of France or of state
whose bonds had been approved by the
Finance Ministry as a medium of in
vestmcnt for the French people. Fur
thermore, like the other of the Euro
pean conscript countries, almost every
man with earning capacity was called
immc cdately to the colors. His normal
income was gone and his remuneration
for army service was almost negligible
In the third place, by the enc of the
first month all the northern provinces
among the richest Of the nation
were in the hands of the enemy. The
remainder of the country would have
to absorb the proposition Of bond is
sues which in other circum stances
would have been taken by these prov
inces.
The war is so close to France that
at first, it seemed there would be little
need tc. urge financial support Of the
military programme. In three weeks in
the autumn of 1915 the first war loan
was subscribed up to nearly $2,000.000,-
600.
Living conditions became steadily
worse, however. Prices for necessities
scared. More men were called from in
dustry into the army. When q second
issue was planned widespread cam
paiGn was undertaken to stimulate the
people to further sacrifices. The best
artists in the country volunteered their
services-just as they have in the
United States-and some Of the most
beautiful posters yet printed began to
appear in every village and hamlet,
each one stirring pictorial argument
for more saving, for more sacrifice, that
the Hun might be throyn from the
gate.
In an inspiring message to the
French army that might we'll be a mes
sage to America to-day Marshal Joffre
said thus:
at is sacred duty, not less impera-
tive than military duty itself, for eve"y
Frcnchman to subscribe to the loan
Soldiers who do not spare their en-
ergies and give their lives should avoid
useless expenditures and buy rentcs
with their superfluous cash.
"The more money France has the
| more ammunition she can expend, econ
omizing human lives-her true wealth
and Fastening the approach of vic
tory"
France has given, and given, and
given! We had slogan during the
last Red Cross drive: "Give till it
hurts" France has been doing that for
nearly four years; she has been dong
it until she really seems to have i'm
murized herself from hurt
Speeches have had little part in the
French loan campaigns. The newspa-
pers have helped to the extent of their
space, but white paper shortage has re-
duced them almost to bulletin form, and
the work of enlisting the francs has de-
volved largely on the poster artists and
the fiscal agencies of the government.
How successful they have been is shown
by the fact that, despite the gradually
decreasing earning power of the coun-
try, the nation absorbed S73.6O per cap
lta of the last loan. as compared with
$47.80 Of the first loan.
Great Britain has relied on publicity
to put across" its big loans The first
was subscribed in the main by very
limited number of persons of large
wealth. The government immediately
saw, however, that if this was to be a
peoples war the people would have to
provide the means for carrying it on.
and when the second loan was launched
~ 'SHV Nu'Cl using u aims IN the Brtt-
lsh Isles were concentrated on the prob-
lem OF interesting the public.
London was turned into one huge
billboard Monuments sacred to art FOR
generators bore flaming appeals to buy
bonds. Newspapers preached it, a
speechmaking campaign that dwarfed
the efforts before Parliamentary cleo
ton carried the needs of the ARMY and
the navy into the smallest communities
The result was an increase in per
capita subscription from $3.50 to
$63.50 and distribution of bond to
one IN every ALP persons, as compared
with one to every 453,7 persons in the
first lean.
In preparation for the third loan
campaign in the summer Of 1917. TAG
new local war savings committees
were organized for local propaganda
and more intensive organization of the
communities. These were in addition
to S73 in existence from the second
loan.
While primarily formed to exploit