The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1918-01-22
IDLE DOLLARS, SLACkERS;
WASTED ONES, TRAITORS
Frank A. Vanderlip Says Closing of
Industries Should Warn People to
Save Money And Lend to Gov
ernment.

tfllillpnt.
AT a most enthusiastic meeting of
the war-sayings workers of Mary
land, held at the Hotel Belvedere,
Baltimore, last Thursday night,
Frank A. Vanderlip, chairman of the
National War-Savings Committee,
Washington. in d most stirring ad
dress. furnished inspiration and en-
cOura cement to every worker in
Maryland to tackle the war-savings
campaign problem with renewed
vigor and determination.
Mr.. Vanderlip said:
You know that there is war;you
know that we are in it. You are be-
ginning to know that it is going ra-
ther badly, too. New developments,
such as the new coal order issued by
Fuel Administrator Garfield, are i'm
pressing us more firmly with the
seriousness Of the situation, and
that, although the war has been go
ing on for more than nine months,
we have not done very much yet.
When we see industries closed down
for lack Of fuel, we can begin to rea-
liZe that this war is coming to us,
and until we do realize the full sig
nifcance and terrible responsibility
placed upon every one of us to help
in every way We can, the prosecu-
ton OF the war will be hindered.
I'VE are beginning to understand
how big a job we have on our hands,
and while we are not getting much
encOura cement from the war news,
we are getting a lot of inspiration to
get on the Job. Nobody else is going
to fight this war for us. We have
got to fight it. We cannot build a
bridge of ships across the Atlantic |
and put an army over there, and
feed and equip and supply them un- |
less everyone at home helps. We,at !
home, have the biggest industrial !!
Job on our hands that was ever put |
up to any people. 1t is just plain |
industrial job to furnish the armor |
for this army, and the vast amount |
of supplies that the army must have !
in order to do its work.
Now we measure things with the !
yardstick of a dollar, but that yard |
stick won't measure this job. Nine !
teen billion dollars have already been |
appropriated by Congress for eXpen- |
diture this year, but appropriations !
and credits in the Treasury are not +!
going to fight and win the war. They |
are important, but most important of
all, we, the people. have got to trans |
late these Treasury credits into the
output of the workshops; they must
go into the manufacture of war sup
plies
You can get some idea of the
magnitude of this job when l tell you
that the United States Government
for all national purposes whatsoever,
from the first day of its existence to
January l, 1917, spent only $780,
500, 100000, and now we have ap-
propriated and undertaken to spend
S19 900, 100000 in one year. We
can raise this money; there is no
q fsii9ssestt u b at hat money
must be converted into man power, |
fresh materials and output of work |
shops. Is it possible to do this? It |
is, if you and l call on the work !
shops to do less for us than we have i
been calling on them to do. That is !
where the personal responsibility |
comes in.
The army has withdrawn 1,S0O,- |
600 men from production, and its |
needs are so enormous that there |
must be another army, an army |
made up of the remaining part OF |
100, 100000 people who are going to |
feel personal responsibility. who are /
going to come to understand that in |
their personal expenditure there has |
come a new factor. 1t is no longer i
a question of whether you can afford |
to buy a thing; it has become a ques- |
tion of whether the nation can afford |
to have you buy it. You have got to |
measure your personal conduct by a |
new standard
IF you saw a man interfering !
with the equipment of a soldier, tam |
pering with the engine of an air
plane, putting out of commission the |
machinery of submarine, you |
would know he was a traitor and an |
ally of the enemy, and that he ought |
to be shot at sunrise.
But do you know that we are all |
OF us interfering with the equipment |
of the army?\ We have not thought |
of that. Unless we recognize that |
when we have d dollar in our hands, !
we have command of labor and ma
terials, and the way We spend that |
dollar is going to determine how a |
certain amount of labor will be en- !
ployed, how a certain amount of ma
terial will be used, and how a certain |
amount of shop room will be occu- |
pied. If We spend that dollar for |
unnecessary things, we employ labor !
that need not be employed, and we !
use material that need not be used, |
and are hindering that victory that |
we must achieve. But if we refrain |
from buying the unnecessary things, |
if we free labor and materials and |
shop room so that they will be avail |
able for the Government, and then if !
we give to the Government the cred |
it to pay for those things, we are |
aiding the country to victory.
THE whole matter has now come |
to be one of personal responsibility. |
The workshops, the muscle and the |
material are not available to go on |
supplying us with our usual wants, |
with our usual comforts ana luXur- |
les, and at the same time supply the !
vast quantities of materials needed |
by the army.
These War Savings Stamps and |
United States Thrift Stamps are go
ing to make it easy to learn this les |
son OF personal responsibility. They |
are going to teach US a lesson OF
thrift, and unless we learn and prac-
tice thrift we shall not win the war.
We shall not raise this army and
properly equip it; we shall not strike
the blow that will be effective in
smashing the common enemy.
You and l have got to step aside
and give the Government the right
of way. This must be nation unit
ed in sacrifice, a nation united to
give up things they have been ac- |
customed to; to measure their living
by a different yardstick and to sub !
ordinate their affairs to the common
purpose of winning the war.
Now, there are three things you
can do with dollar. You can hoard !
it, you can spend it, or you can in
vest it. There are people who hoard |
dollars. An idle dollar is a drag on
the community; Stacker. But there
are worse things than slackers. A
l. J~ll + hot