The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-10-16
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

All my life 1 have heard people wish for "a heap of money but it seems Uncle Sam has set a new mark in wish
 ing, for his last wish is for s6,0O0, ,00U OOO, which is sure "a heap of money, even for the wealthiest country in the world to raise.
 he nation is called upon to raise the largest sum of money ever attempted in any single loan anywhere in the world.
 The British victory loan of 1917 sstab- lished worlds record, which at tho time was thought to be one that would
 stand@ fors years to come The total Of America's greatest competitor in wealth
 was s5.o96,2i5.32o.
 Now Uncle Sam is going to raise John
 a billion higher, and whether he reaches it or not, depends perhaps on what you
 and I do Get what I am driving at: If we beat the English every mothers
 son of us will have to dig deep down in his jeans, for it's no child's play to overtop the great British achievement. It's about time for our spread-eagleism to get down off the perch or make good live up to our proud boast that we are
 ,he richest natio, on the earth and that we are going to call the Kaiser's peace bluff by forcing him to show his tand--
 mailed fist which has lost its cum ming and was stretched out to grab a victory which his arms were powerless to win.
 i I believe it was Max o'Rell. the witty Frenchman. who said either in one Of his books or lectures that the Ameri- cans were the biggest braggarts in the universe, but unfortunately they had way of making their boasts come true We have boasted that We are going to lick the Kaiser. If we want to make r,od. then i. is up to us 70 put mp the
 money o- shut up.
 Have we got tEe money? That is the question. Sure we have. Now I am
 out of my class when it comes to, high finance, but I have looked up the ques' ton and from reliable sources l have found out that we have got whole lot mere than Germany, and that the finan- cial condition of the country justieies com plete confidence in our ability to absorb even the greatest loan in the history of man, with comparative ease, provided that each one takes his or her part or II. 
 For the first seven months of 1918 there was no failure of any national bank m any one of our 4S states have not noted any since these figures were gwen out by the official United States bulletin of August F. 1918. Never before in the history of the national banks since ls7c (with the single exception of the year 1sSD has there been such immunity from
 such failures The resources of our banks
 today are seven times greater than the
 amount asked for in this Fourth Liberty Loan.
 l Just for a side light on the relative re- sources of Germany in comparison with ! the United States we find that the re-
 sources of the former before the war
 were estimated to be 5000. .oo),0o0. The |, annual expenditures of the imperial gov
 ernment were about $500. 100000. Her debt I now is $3O.0Oo. 600 900 and her resources and
 manpower have been severely impaired.
 In finances she is organizing and in
 battle she is losing her men. After the
 war she will be confronted with addi- tional exnenditures growing out of the
 ccnflict-and as defeat stares her in the face, she is beginning to realize that she has lost her great gamble in arms,
 The German government has drained
 the German people of their gold. even their jewels and their heiriooms, and yet the Imperial Bank of Germany now
 has but little over $5OO. 100000 of gold
 ir it's vaults l do not know how these figures are known, but It's the. dope
 which comes straight from Washington