USA > Indiana > The war purse of Indiana; the five liberty loans and war savings and thrift campaigns in Indiana during the world war > Part 13
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37. Files Fourth Liberty Loan; circular letter dated October 8, 1918.
38. Edwin J. Wuensch, head of the Marion County Liberty Loan Clearing House during the war period, confirms the fact that Indianapolis banks generally applied the principle of loaning money to buy bonds at the same rate of interest that the bonds bore. Mr. Wuensch said he believed this banking assistance to prospective loan buyers had much to do with the eventual success of the county in raising its enormous quota in the Fourth loan, which was the first occasion in Mr. Wuensch's memory where this plan was adopted. This method and other similar methods were used, unquestionably, by outstate banks in an effort to help out bond sales in the Fourth and other loans. The Fourth loan's enormous size practically compelled the use of all such emergency measures as the above.
132
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
and "war board" negotiations with certain wealthy persons in the city district being called into constant use.
Suddenly the doubling fad struck Marion County. Many wealthy men and women doubled their subscriptions as an answer to the German peace plea, and for a time the county took on new life in the Loan drive. On October 9, Governor Goodrich, who was convalescing in Indianapolis from the in- juries received in a street car accident, called loan officials to his home and asked if the doubling of his subscription would assist in any way in impelling Marion County and the state to rush on to the completion of its goal. He then placed another subscription for $10,000, and requested that it be credited to Marion County.
In doubling his subscription the Governor issued a public appeal to the citizens of the state, urging them to subscribe to the limit of their ability.
"Give and give now! Do not delay !" he urged. "He gives twice, who gives quickly. While the country is waiting for the answer of the central powers ; while our heroic soldiers are battering the enemy lines in France, let Indiana, which has responded so splendidly in the past, not falter in the emer- gency, which confronts her now. The responsibility rests on the individual citizens of the state and I am certain traditions of Indiana will be splendidly upheld again."39
The 'Marion County Legion', the name given to the Liberty Loan workers in the Fourth drive, finally adopted a system of merciless publicity, as the end of the Loan drive approached. A statement was issued by the executive committee on Oc- tober 12, declaring that the hour had struck in Marion County for securing subscriptions amounting to $23,000,000. The committee declared that it was "its duty to use some very plain talk to those citizens who deliberately were shirking their plain duty and opportunity."
"We don't propose, from this time forward," the statement read, "to mince words with slackers. A man and wife, paying taxes on over $150,000 worth of real estate in Marion County cannot get by with the subscription of a $50 bond without re- ceiving such publicity as will cause their neighbors to point the finger of scorn at them for all time to come.
"A millionaire with thousands of dollars invested in auto- mobiles will feel the weight of public opinion if he persists in 39. Indianapolis Star, October 10, 1918.
133
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
endeavoring to slink through the lines with a subscription of $2,000 or $3,000.
"A large and prosperous manufacturing corporation that refuses to make a subscription and endeavors to bluff the 'Marion County Legion' with meager subscriptions by its prin- cipal stockholders will receive a jolt that will be heard in Berlin."40
From that time on the campaign in Marion County assumed a much more drastic aspect than had any previous campaign. Threats were made in Indianapolis newspapers a few days later that the Loan officials were ready to print a list of the slackers, but the increases in subscriptions that followed made this unnecessary.
While anxiety was apparent everywhere in Indiana to see the state "go across", at state headquarters there was still a feeling of optimism, since less than two weeks of the cam- paign had gone by and the northern and southern counties both were well on their way to their enormous totals. A Washington dispatch of October 10, to Indiana newspapers served to heighten the optimism over Indiana's progress, for after reciting that the President had made another appeal for the sure oversubscription of the Loan, it recorded that only two billion dollars, or one-third of the total amount needed, had been subscribed throughout the nation. And Indiana was probably four-fifths of the way to her final goal at that time.
At this point in the Loan campaign, executives made an ap- peal again to utilize credit as a basis of finishing the Loan sub- scription task. Mr. Wade issued an appeal in which he declared that a $6,000,000,000 Liberty Loan could not be sold unless individuals, firms and corporations used bank credit to pay their subscription. It was pointed out that it was impossible to pay this vast sum in cash. All classes of people were ex- pected to lend their credit to the Government at that time by anticipating future income and paying when the funds be- came available.
He pointed out that: "The man without capital has bought Liberty Loan bonds generously on the payment plan. Other classes have bought with available cash, but unless the farmer, the manufacturer and the wealthy, make additional pur- chases promptly by borrowing money of the banks or buying promptly on some of the payment plans the Loan will fail.
40. Files Fourth Liberty Loan; statement dated October 12, 1918.
134
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
The situation is critical, and solicitors should pointedly im- press upon all the necessity of buying with more than their cash.
"They should buy more by borrowing at the bank or buy- ing on some payment plan. The farmer especially will have large sums of money available in the next few months from the sale of his farm products. The Government should have the use of this money immediately, and the only way that it can be made available is for the farmer to anticipate these funds by purchasing on the installment plan or borrowing at his bank."41
Notable increases in the subscriptions began to be reported from all sections of the state, as the Fourth loan drive entered upon its final week. In a telegram sent from state head- quarters October 12th to Lewis B. Franklin, Director of the War Loan Organization in Washington, D. C., the statement was made that the Seventh Federal Reserve figures compiled at the close of the preceding day, showed Indiana with about fifty per cent. of her total loan quota actually subscribed. In- diana was leading all other states in the district, as she had done since September 28th. On the report issued by the Fed- eral Reserve Bank, Iowa had subscribed 45.7 per cent. of its quota.42
The northern counties at noon on that date had subscribed $94,311,250, on the total quota of $108,750,000. Adams Coun- ty had been the twenty-ninth county of the northern sixty- eight to complete its allotment. Reports received at the woman's publicity headquarters in Indianapolis on October 12, from Mrs. Fred Lauenstein, woman's chairman for the southern counties, announced that a total of $4,302,775 worth of bonds had been sold by the women of the southern counties.
At the close of October 13th, the following thirty counties in the northern part of the state had oversubscribed, accord- ing to the state bulletin board : Adams, Bartholomew, Ben- ton, Brown, Clinton, Decatur, Delaware, Elkhart, Franklin, Henry, Johnson, Kosciusko, Lagrange, Lake, Laporte, Madi- son, Marshall, Monroe, Morgan, Newton, Owen, Pulaski, Ran- dolph, Ripley, Starke, Union, Wabash, Wayne, White and Whitley.
41. Indianapolis newspapers, October 11, 1918.
42. Files Fourth Liberty Loan; telegram dated October 12, 1918.
135
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
Southern Counties Set Pace
'On October 14, the twenty-four southern counties were far ahead of the northern. A dispatch from Evansville to Indian- apolis newspapers said subscriptions for these counties, com- piled at the St. Louis Headquarters, gave a total of $18,562,- 450, on a total quota of $18,750,000, the counties thus lack- ing only 2 per cent. of their allotment. Marcus S. Sonntag announced on that day that nineteen of the counties in his district had oversubscribed. The following day all of the twenty-four southern counties had met their full quotas. Jackson County was given credit for being the first of the southern counties to oversubscribe, reporting its Loan allot- ment at nine o'clock the morning of the opening day of the Loan. In a spirit of friendly rivalry Mr. Sonntag wired to Mr. Wade on October 15th :
"Southern Indiana counties have gone over the top. Seems to me your district is a little slow. If I can be of service to you command me."
A few minutes later Mr. Wade replied :
"Seems to us your district is a trifle fast when your huge quotas are considered carefully. How do you do it? Con- gratulations on both."43
By October 15th the total for the northern counties had passed the one hundred million mark. The next day the northern counties reported $104,319,450. Outside of Marion County the state lacked only $335,650 of being over in the Fourth loan. Marion County, by strenuous efforts, had passed $18,000,000 in subscriptions. Forty-seven of the sixty-eight counties had met their quotas. The twenty-one counties that had not subscribed on that day were: Allen, Blackford, Car- roll, Cass, Fayette, Fulton, Howard, Huntington, Jay, Jen- nings, Miami, Marion, Montgomery, Parke, Porter, Shelby, Steuben, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vigo, Wells. Marion County was still approximately four and one-half millions from her goal. The majority of the other counties, however, were practically over.
On October 17th, two days before the close of the Loan, Secretary McAdoo gave out a statement from Washington copied in all of the metropolitan papers in which he an- nounced that there would be no extension of Liberty Loan subscriptions beyond Saturday, the closing night. He added
43. Ibid; telegrams dated October 15, 1918.
136
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
that it would be necessary to have a fifth and perhaps a sixth loan campaign, regardless of the outcome of Germany's peace proposals. It therefore was the duty of the nation to sub- scribe to the utmost in the Fourth loan, and he expressed his full confidence in the belief that the $6,000,000,000 total would be reached. "I don't know exactly where all that money is coming from," he said, "but I know it is coming."
Frenzied Effort Marks Close of Fourth Campaign
With a determination such as characterized the onward marching troops in line of battle, the leaders started out to make the last two days the most eventful of all. On the night of October 18th, with only one day left to complete the drive, the northern counties "went over the top" with room to spare. The district quota of $108,750,000 was oversub- scribed by $1,565,850, at the close of business that night, with eleven counties still doubtful. The seven counties which re- ported to the state headquarters that they had exceeded their quotas on October 18 were Fulton, Howard, Huntington, Jen- nings, Parke, Tippecanoe and Tipton; and their total had carried the state past the goal.
By noon on the last day of the campaign but two counties,- Marion and Wells,-remained "black" on the Loan map. On the last day of the drive Marion County succeeded in the gigantic task of raising almost a million and one-half dol- lars. At ten o'clock on the last night, Josiah K. Lilly, chair- man of the executive committee, announced that the county had subscribed at least $24,000,000 on a quota of $23,400,000. In commenting on this unprecedented achievement the Indian- apolis Star stated :
"The $24,000,000 subscription in Marion County was ac- complished without one cent of underwriting by the banks and financial institutions, officials declare. Floating the Loan with- out the aid of the banks permits the financial interests to use their money for purchases of government certificates and the regular conduct of business."44
In Wells County feverish excitement marked the close of the Fourth liberty loan campaign. A dispatch to the state head- quarters told of the last minute rush in Bluffton, and in Wells County, and added :
44. Indianapolis Star, October 20, 1918.
137
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
"For the first time in the history of the county, and this time on account of the rush in Liberty Loan business at the last moment, the banks of Wells County were open Sunday. The county subscribed its quota late Saturday, and so great was the rush that the exact figures could not be given out by Chairman Benjamin A. Batson. Saturday morning, when farmers found that the county was more than $200,000 behind its quota they put away their farm tools and got busy. In one German community, men with deposit slips in hand re- mained at the bank doors until closing time to see that the district reached its quota."45
Following the close of the loan when the figures finally were reported from all the northern counties, a total of $117,- 133,750 had been subscribed officially in the Federal Reserve Bank, on the quota of $108,750,000, or 108 per cent. And on the last day of the Loan the northern counties had $79,000,000 in bond sales actually in the Federal Reserve Bank and were officially leading the Seventh District in percentage of quota subscribed.
Prominent men and women all over Indiana "jollified" over the success. Thus did Indiana answer the war's greatest financial demand. And it was recorded in the Loan files that this gigantic effort cost the Seventh Federal Reserve Bank, for expenses in various counties of the state, a little more than $11,000, the bulk of which went to Marion and St. Joseph Counties.46 This amount, of course, did not include the ex- pense of the Chicago and Indianapolis state headquarters, but Federal Reserve general figures on expense, showed that total costs of floating all Loans were far below, in percentages, the costs of any known commercial flotation of securities.
The workers in the state headquarters had reason for feel- ing supremely grateful over the results of the Fourth loan drive. In a letter addressed to Governor Goodrich, October 21, 1918, Mr. Wade declared: "It is now apparent that the record of Indiana in this, its greatest war financing effort, will be second to none in the Union, and the personal part you played in this success should be a constant source of pleasur- able memory to you."47
In a letter addressed to Michael E. Foley, Chairman of the State Council of Defense, Mr. Wade declared :
45. Indianapolis News and Star, October 21, 1918.
46. Report of Guy W. Cooke, Chicago Office, Files Fifth Liberty Loan.
47. Files Fourth Liberty Loan; letter dated October 21, 1918.
138
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
"The people of the State of Indiana have lived up fully to the best traditions of Hoosier life in making the Fourth Liberty Loan the complete success, which now is recorded. The record of the state will be second to none when all phases of the results are known. It has been the solid senti- ment of the people of Indiana determined to win the war at any cost, that has carried Indiana through in this Fourth Liberty Loan campaign. The thanks of all of the citizens of Indiana are due the State Council of Defense for its co-oper- ation with the Liberty Loan organization, which has benefited greatly from the Council's constant efforts towards the de- velopment of the spirit of war sacrifice in the citizens of every county."48
The foregoing two letters are referred to because they were typical. They might, in all justice, as well have been written to each of the thousands upon thousands of Hoosiers, on whose shoulders fell the burden of making that Fourth great Liberty bond sale in Indiana the success it was. The Indiana State Council of Defense at its meeting on October 21st, moved to record its genuine appreciation of the noble spirit which made possible the success of the Liberty Loan in Indiana, and it adopted resolutions "in recognition of this splendid demon- stration of love of country, of determined championship of our national ideals, and recognition of our international duties."49 The Council went on record as expressing its sin- cere thanks to those who had been directly responsible for the splendid showing made, and to the earnest men and women who had placed themselves unreservedly at the disposal of their government.
Final Reports for Sixty-eight Northern Counties
A summary report of the Fourth loan for the sixty-eight northern counties, representing a final total of the county re- ports to state headquarters on October 24, 1918, a week after the close of the campaign, is submitted below. A few slight additions and corrections were made later, but the total of October 24th is sufficiently accurate to show that, based on the reports of the local Liberty Loan chairmen, the northern Indiana counties exceeded their total quota.
When the final Federal Reserve Bank totals of January 31, 1919, were made public, they showed that many counties had
48. Ibid.
49. Minutes, Indiana State Council of Defense, October 21, 1918.
139
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
exceeded the quotas as reported by the county chairmen. On the other hand according to these same Federal Reserve Bank reports, four of the northern sixty-eight counties failed to meet their quotas, viz .: Blackford, Clay, Huntington and Wells. The following table shows the subscriptions as com- piled by the state Loan headquarters, based on the reports submitted by the county chairmen, and also the reports that were later received from the Seventh Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago. The first column refers to the state reports, while the second contains the Federal Reserve Bank records. These tables also show the order in which the sixty-eight northern counties 'went over' as reported from Indianapolis headquarters at the close of the Loan.
County
Chairman
Quota
State Headquarters Subscription $850,850
Federal Reserve Subscription $828,050
Order In Which Counties 'Went Over'
29
Allen. ...
Arthur F. Hall.
7,600,000
7,765,000
7,768,200
50
Bartholomew
. Will G. Irwin .. .
900,000
1,043,050
1,043,350
6
Benton .
. George L. Roby .
750,000
787,650
787,400
24
Blackford .
.A. G. Lupton .
550,000
(a)550,000
542,000
66
Boone .
. W. J. DeVol .
930,000
931,900
946,500
32
Brown.
. Grover G. Brown
20,000
32,500
32,300
27
Carroll
Emery Flora
750,000
793,350
781,700
60
Cass
.. W. H. Porter
1,700,000
1,846,000
1,805,250
49
Clay .
. H. Stevenson .
850,000
(b)850,000
824,400
33
Clinton
. John A. Ross .
1,550,000
1,630,000
1,719,150
28
Dearborn
. W. H. O'Brien
800,000
975,000
992,550
39
Decatur
. Walter W. Bonner
800,000
914,150
922,600
16
Dekalb
. I. M. Zent ..
650,000
796,750
720,600
43
Delaware.
.J. Lloyd Kimbrough
2,270,000
2,400,000
2,438,800
19
Elkhart .
. B. F. Deahl
1,800,000
2,460,950
2,399,850
11
Fayette.
. Arthur Dixon
750,000
778,000
783,900
61
Fountain
Dan C. Reed.
800,000
813,000
874,550
38
Franklin.
. John C. Shirk ...
475,000
532,200
520,000
13
Fulton .
. Frank E. Bryant ..
575,000
642,150
642,850
54
Grant .
. Rev. E. F. Rippy .
2,350,000
2,480,000
2,432,600
35
Hamilton.
. R. S. Truitt .
900,000
993,950
1,018,200
36
Hancock
William B. Bottsford
600,000
653,150
668,500
37
Hendricks
W. C. Osborne.
750,000
772,050
788,250
44
Henry.
. George A. Elliott.
1,150,000
1,225,000
1,185,900
18
Howard .
. Henry C. Davis.
1,900,000
1,923,950
1,936,900
52
Huntington .
. . John R. Emley .
1,450,000
1,453,150
1,333,050
51
140
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
Adams
. F. M. Schirmeyer
$750,000
.
.
Jasper.
James H. Chapman .
450,000
516,300
533,950
31
Jay .. . Orin A. Rawlings
935,000
935,000
982,800
63
Jennings
W. S. Matthews.
200,000
241,100
245,450
53
Johnson
. . Harry C. Hougham and Ray H. Sellers
825,000
825,000
892,250
20
Kosciusko
M. L. Gochenour
900,000
1,003,200
1,019,450
3
Lagrange
Leon Rose ..
600,000
722,500
698,050
22
Lake ..
. W. F. Hodges.
7,000,000
9,922,000
9,903,500
5
Laporte . . .
Frank J. Pitner
2,300,000
2,300,000
2,402,950
23
Madison .. .
. William S. Diven
2,200,000
2,300,000
2,260,850
4
Fred J. Hoke
. . .
Marion.
A. M. Glossbrenner
23,400,000
24,468,700
24,082,150
68
Claude S. Wallin ..
Marshall
. Clinton A. Bondurant
875,000
1,013,250
1,081,150
ยท 9
Miami ...
. Dudley H. Brattin .
1,100,000
1,100,000
1,276,300
62
Monroe ...
.. W. E. Showers.
375,000
448,500
466,500
10
Montgomery .
Charles L. Goodbar
1,500,000
1,531,900
1,553,800
59
Morgan
. Karl I. Nutter.
525,000
581,950
591,400
8
Newton
. Warren T. McCray
500,000
530,000
546,600
7
Noble .
. Morton P. Thomas
1,000,000
1,034,750
1,064,000
42
Ohio .
.Hugh S. Espey ..
200,000
208,100
208,250
47
Owen .
. Hubert Hickam
200,000
221,750
225,150
12
Parke.
George L. Laney
500,000
600,000
613,300
57
Porter
.M. R. Lowenstine
775,000
809,350
881,050
48
Pulaski.
Elmer Johnson .
300,000
309,350
321,600
21
Putnam.
. Clement C. Hurst ..
830,000
830,000
855,050
45
Randolph
Jacob E. Hinshaw
1,100,000
1,181,850
1,230,500
25
Ripley .
J. A. Hillenbrand.
750,000
751,000
778,000
30
Rush ..
. Earl Payne. .
1,100,000
1,184,300
1,148,850
34
St. Joseph . .
.. Fred A. Bryan.
5,100,000
(c)5,800,000
5,810,900
40
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
141
.
J. K. Lilly ..
County
Chairman
Quota
State Headquarters Subscription
Federal Reserve Subscription
Order In Which Counties 'Went Over'
Shelby .
H. C. Morrison.
1,100,000
1,112,000
1,124,750
64
Starke
M. D. Falvey .
125,000
134,150
163,450
14
Steuben .
. . E. S. Croxton ..
475,000
500,000
508,600
58
Tippecanoe
. Thomas Bauer
3,100,000
3,100,000
3,109,850
55
Tipton.
.F. E. Davis.
750,000
760,000
790,050
56
Union
. Charles D. Johnson
400,000
401,000
404,950
2
Vermillion
.J. C. Straw . . .
775,000
880,950
920,450
41
Vigo
.James S. Royse
5,450,000
5,455,000
5,449,100
65
Wabash .
. Louis Wolf .
1,275,000
1,531,450
1,536,350
26
Warren.
.Burt Fleming
400,000
418,200
427,400
46
Wayne.
Demas S. Coe.
2,400,000
2,632.000
2,592,400
17
Wells ...
. Benjamin A. Batson
940,000
940,000
833,050
67
White.
Bert Van Voorst
750,000
759,150
775,950
15
Whitley
.H. D. McLallen.
900,000
915,000
918,500
1
Totals
$108,750,000
$117,133,750
$117,966,050
142
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
143
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
(a) A letter dated April 7, 1922, from A. G. Lupton, Hartford City, who acted as Chairman of the five Liberty Loan drives in Blackford County, stated that his county oversubscribed its full quota in each of the bond drives. No definite figures were given, however, for the individual quotas, nor the subscriptions for each Loan campaign.
(b) In a letter dated April 11, 1922, received from H. Stevenson of Brazil, Chair- man of the five Liberty Loan drives in Clay County, he explained the deficit in the Fourth campaign as due to the fact that subscriptions from Coalmont and the southern part of Clay County were sent to banks outside of the county, and therefore were not credited to Clay County's quota. Mr. Stevenson felt that all such subscriptions should have been credited to Clay County, which fact would have raised its subscription to an amount equal to or in excess of the county's quota. The Clay County officials con- sidered throughout the Fourth campaign that their total quota has been subscribed and during the last few hours of the campaign discovered the loss of some thousands of dollars to banks outside the county, the money having been subscribed because of the Clay County drive, and within the county's borders. It was then too late to remedy the situation. The county had been one of many which planned merely to reach the full quota and then stop. It did this, on the state headquarters bulletin board, relatively early in the campaign. In "Clay County's Answer", the county's World War History, this statement occurs on p. 75, referring to the county's record in the Fourth loan : "The county met the allotment ($800,000) on Saturday, October 15, reporting an over- subscription of $15,000." This would have been true-and was true-if the ruling on crediting border line subscriptions to banks through which they were turned in rather than to counties in which the subscribers lived, had not been made by the Federal Reserve Bank officials. As it was, the county is credited officially in Federal Reserve Bank records with a subscription of 97 per cent. of quota. In a letter sent to all Indiana banks, Chairman Wade on August 30, 1918, said that "official credit will be properly taken by the county in which the bank is located through which the sub- scription is entered. It is where his bank account lives, which counts, rather than where the subscriber himself lives."
(c) A memorandum, sent to the statistician of the Seventh Federal Reserve Bank, by Guy W. Cooke, head of the sales offices in the Indiana department at Chicago, under date of January 25, 1919, indicated that Mr. Bryan, county chairman of St. Joseph County, in the Fourth loan, had written the Federal Reserve Bank, contending that St. Joseph County had subscribed a total of $5,873,600. No other data relating to this controversy has been found.
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