St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1918-02-02
SMALL CROWD CREETS
SAUNDERS IN THIS
CITY FRIDAY
Speaker Says Dollar Hoarded up is a
"slacker Dollar and Urges Pur-
chase Of Thrift Stamps

Small was the crowd that came out
to hear DR. P. H. Saunders, State Dir
ector in the war savings campaign, in
1.-The address which he delivered at the
Court House in this city on last Fri
day night, having as his subject the
need Of economy and thrift and SELF
sacrifice on the part of the American
people Mr.. Saunders is at the head
of the campaign in this state which
has for its object the raising Of two
billion dollars by the sale of thrift
stamps and war savings certificates in
the United States.
Mr.. Saunders views the war very
seriously, and he is of the opinion
that it may Lost for term of years
yet. It is going to be won or lost on
this side of the Atlantic, and whether
we win it or lose it depends upon the
self-sacrifice and denial of the stay
at-homes. The government is striv
ing to equip its army as repidly as
possible, but is being materially ham
pered by the thoughless and selfish
doy,oa,,,5n 1f 4I,o A m ar;ooa Y1onnIo y1yhn
daily and in every Imaginable way,
enter into competition with the gov
ernment for those things that are SO
necessary to the health and comfort
of the soldiers, and which the great
mass OF the people could so easily do
without, if they only wanted to.
Speaking of the need for wearing
apparel, the speaker said the time
would soon come when a we1l-dressed
person would not be in good taste,
for he or she showed lack of interest
in the war the world is fighting look
ing only to his or her personal ap-
pearance and caring nothing for the
boys who are in the trenches.
In this connection, Mr.. Saunders.
stated that our annual output OF manu-
factured goods amounted to twenty
two billion dollars in normal times.
to this the governments have added a
demand for nineteen billion. dollars
worth Of manufactured articles to
equip the soldiers and sailors. The
question arose, how could these fac
tories meet the demands for the mill
tary needs and continue their normal
production? The solution must come
in the self denial on the part of the
people OF this country. Then the
manufacturing plants win be able to
supply the needs of the army.
We can all lend assistance to the
cause by practicing thrift and in
dustry. Buy nothing that is not alb
soluely necessary, and turn the mon
ey that is thereby saved into thrift
stamps and certificates. Mr. Saunders
callel boarded money Stacker mon
ey.p because it renders no aid. A
dollar deposited in the banks does
one service, said he, but dollar say-
ed and invested in war stamps per-
forms a double service-it helps it's
owners government as a loan, and it
assists the great cause in that it is
taken out OF circulation and is not
spent for something that may be
needed by the army.
The state director urged greater ef-
fort at production, and asked for q
more systematic practice of the hab-
its OF thrift. He showed how the
South has worlds Of room for I'M
movement in the thrift movement.
The per capita savings in the state
of Massachusetts is s274.00, that is to
say, there are $274.oo deposited in
the banks OF that state for every man,
woman and child therein In Louisi-
ana. outside of New Orleans, it is
less than $500 Quite difference
And there isn't much difference, i
any. between Louisiana and the 9TH
er Southern States. Mr.. Saunders
attributed the small value OF Louisi-
ana lands to the lack OF thrift among
our ueople. An acre of land in this
state will produce more money than
an acre of land In the Middle Western
states, yet the lands Of the Middle
West sell for three times much as
Louisiana lands. Why? the speaker
asked. Because of the lack Of thrift
III this state and the practice Of it
elsewhere. When piece of land in
the Middle West is offered for sale
YOU have a half dozen people who are