The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-02-01

/, the man whose likeness is on the 1917
War Savings Stamps.
| I want to ask you to win the rest
of the war as Benjamin Franklin
| would have you win it. But first,
what sort of man was he whose adj
vice am asking you to take?
He was wonderful man! He was
favorite with the courtiers of the
| court Of France, with the philoso-
| pliers, the savants, the jewelled la
dies, the rCffled and sworded gentle
men-of The most luxurious and the
| jolliest court in the world. He wae
their equal on their own ground, and
their superlors on every other ground,
so he was the first link in the chain
of friendship which binds the United
| States to France-the last link of
which was welded in the awful fires
| of Chateau Thierry, of Belleau Wood,
of st. Mihiel, of the Argonne Forest
last summer and autumn-by those
| in khaki who must be fed and cloth
ed, and made happy-and brought
back.
And yet this man Franklin was the
same person who as raw youth
walked up the streets of Philadelphia
gnawing a loaf of bread becuse he
could not afford to sit down to bet
ter meal.
He gave to the French Revolution
! its nillion-times-sung refrain, its "Ca
ra!"-and mote the contrastD he
practiced saving and thrift so success
fully that, beginning as journeyman
printer in strange city, even as
early rs. the French and Indian War,
he was rich enough SO that the
Pennsylvania farmers were willing to
sell to Benjamin Franklin the horses
and wagons for Braddocks expedition
even though they would not trust the
British Government! He had the grip
on himself which every American
must have now. He knew a century
and half before the medical profess
sion knew it, that cold is an infec-
tious disease; and he not only said.
Liberty is still the birthright of all
men," bu5 also, "The way to wealth
is as plain as the way to market"
And again, he said, "The noblest
question in the world is, "What good
may | do IN it?"-the very question
the answer to which was sought by
our soldier boys on the bloody battle
fields Of France! And then, said
Franklin, GA Penny saved is two
pence clear. A pin day is groa.
a year; Save and Have"
And that last bit of philosophy to-
! day must be the common ordinary
American answer to Franklin's great
question. "What good may l do in
/ the world??' "a Penny saved is two
pence clear. Save and Have"
! He proved the identity of electrici-
| ty and lightning-before he drew the
i lightning out of the cloud by means
of a kite. People thought they were
different things. He spoke, and the
philosophers listened. And he invent
! ed the Franklin stove so as to eco
nomize fuel He is the great apostle
of War Savings Stamps. "Hc tha'
/ spends groat a day idly says
Franklin, spends idly above six
pounds year, which is the price Of
using q hundred pounds"
Franklin is in a large degree the
founder of the American army The
troops of which George Washington
took command in IT'S had no sup
plies, were almost naked, and were
starving. Franklin was leader in
devising plans for feeding, sheltering
and clothing the army-just as, if he
were with us now, he would lead in
the great national thrift movement
which will not only win the rest OF
the war, but will pay cur war debt
The times for the easygoing spend
ing of money should be over in this
country The world needs every thing
we can save. Everywhere is naked
ness, hunger, and lack of shelter.
"Silks and satins," said Franklin, "put
out the kitchen fire." They star
for the things which make it hard to
win the rest of the war. ga fat kitch-
en-, lean WILL" said Franklin, and
we may say GA fat kitchen, lean
Treasury"
I wish we had Franklin for a leader
now-but why can't we make him
our leader? He is as real to US as if
he lived in Washington today. Fol-
low his teaching. Save and have. The
government must have your savings.
If you save and buy Understanding
securities IF the government, you will
still have the government, you will
be prouder of your government, you
will pay you interest every year.
"Save and have"-and win the rest
of the war.