Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-09-29
.L|THUANIANS AID
!. S. LIBERTY LOAN
Organize Committees and LOYAL.
ty Leagues to Pro
mote Sales.
10000 OF THEM NOW IN ARMY
Come From Country That Suf-
fered Severely Under Ger
man Yoke.


opening of the fourth Liberty loan
finds the I.ithuanians in America we'll
organized to give IL their unstinted
support. For a number OF weeks they
nave been pcrfccting their organization.
There are branch committees n every
city OF the country which contains Il
sizablc Lithuanian community. Hy
means OF speeches. mass meetings and
posters printed in the Lithuanian
language. they expect TO arouse great
enthusiasm among their people ard get
even more liberal contributions than
they got in The first three drives.
There are about 10000 Lithuanians
In the United States. The largest colony
which, is in Chicago, contains aoou-
one-tenth OF All this population, In
me coal Thinning regions Of pcnnsyl-
vania there are about 100000 I.ith-
nanlans. There arc also many ot Their,
u, IN fnlladelphia. in New York. md IN
citlcs or Massachusetts and New
Jersey. There are no large colonies
several thousand have taken to the
lumber Industry, and about - 900 are
farmers sra 81, as they were in their native
iand; but the majority are industrial
In 1914. Lithuanian National
G Gov ;n c Tas established, with its Of!
OF i3ls. II has had headquarters in
MaShinEton and is the focal point Of
az Lithuanian activities in the United
states The council! contains repre-
sentatives Of both political parties in
10 which the l-!thuanians are divided
and they work together in I.rfect
harmony. for q common purpose.
LOYALTY LEAGUE ORGANIZED
FOR PATRIOTIC ACTIVITIES.
In order TO be better prepared to
,ake part in every sort OF patriotic
Council is now fostering the formation
or Loyalty League. which will have
,I s HIanehg T, IN ;sy.ry Lathpan!an set:
handle Liberty loan and Red Cross
campaigns. but will stimulate interes,
IN every, undertaking OF the govern
mcnt. whether. it be a draft registra
non day. camp welfare project or
1000 conservation program. Active
by inc War Department and by other
Offices and bureaus IN Washington.
For ne first and second Liberty
kerr for the l.ithuanians. and the
amount of their subscriptions canno,
ne determined In the third loan, they
had better organizers and the Treas
ury department credits them with a
total Of s433i,35o worth Of bonds
n nenEh' ira tGwSvet 'n;s is no, all. be
subscribers bought their Liberty bonds
through factories and local commit
tees which did not turn in any report
chasers
The war savings stamp drives prob
from tho Lithuanian people The ma
tional council estimates that more than
*o.ooo,ooo has come in. from them in
the shape Of small contributions. some
or the small settlements had really
brilliant showinEs. In tho manufacture
ing town Of Canton. Mass, just ont
Lithuanian citizens. But at two meet
ings they bought s6.lS5 worth of war
savinga stamps. During ". : $. week.
a small band OF Li,huanians living IN
Omaha, Neb., purchased about 8 900
worth OF the stamps.
10000 LrrHUANIANS ARE
now SERVING IN ARMY
Among the foreiEn-born soldiers in
our army there are no less than 30 BOO
OF Lithuanian extraction. There are
from 5000 10 1000 serving in the Brit
ish army, and several hundred in French
and Canadian armies Aside from his.
efforts are being made 10 get authori-
cation to form additional Lithuanian
legions which have already been Gre
ated.
Lithuania is one OF the lands which
has suffered severely under the Ger
man yoke. Al the beginning of the
war. ii served as battle field for
the Prussian hordcs. and its cities. such
a Mariampol. Kovna and Shavli. we're
destroyed Twenty-siX churches were
RACED and many more damaged. Re
sides this. the Germans tried TO com
they refused, they were dcported and
put into prison camps in Prussia. The
number of civilian prisoners in Ger
many is unknown. but il is probably
very large
Scattered throughout Russia. Tx
raine, the Caucasus. Siberia and Turke-
stan there are about 1000 Lithuanian
refugees. With the help of their Cen
trail Committee they have been able to
maintain about 200 primary schools and
five high schools The Lithuanian SOL
diers even published a paper. and seven
or eight were printed by the civilian
refugees But, because they protested
again the Brest I.itovsk treaty. the
Bolsheviki suppressed the publica ions,
arrested some of the leaders. killed a
large number OF persons without trial
and tried utterly to stamp ont the ac-
Invites of their societies.
To escape Bolshevik tyranny. large
number Of Lithuanian refugees are re-
turning to Lithuania. But il is a case
OF leaping from the frying pan into
the fire. for the German military gov
eminent now holds sway in I.ithuania
and is mancuvcring to get complete
control over the people and poison them
with the virus of Prussianism
The great desire of the Lithuanian
people in America is to see the cause
of democracy succeed They know that
it is only through the overthrow OF
dynasties like the Romanons and Ho-
hcnzollerns that their kinsmen in Eu-
rope can realize their aEe-long hone to
become an autonomous. Safeguarding
state.