USA > Indiana > The war purse of Indiana; the five liberty loans and war savings and thrift campaigns in Indiana during the world war > Part 17
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In the Loan map published in the Indianapolis News on the afternoon of May 10th, the following counties showed "black:" Fountain, Jay, Marshall, Noble, Vermillion, Vigo and Whitley in the northern group, and Gibson, Greene, Knox, Lawrence and Sullivan in the southern group.45 The counties of the southern group just mentioned with the exception of Law- rence, failed to meet their quotas according to the final records of the Eighth Federal Reserve District.46
It should be added, however, taking the district as a whole, that the southern counties oversubscribed their quotas and showed a final report of 104.9 per cent. total subscription. But the total number of subscribers was a disappointment to southern county officials, the figures dropping below those of the earlier Liberty Loan campaigns.
Indiana Closes Last Financial Drive With Signal Honors
Shortly after ten o'clock on Saturday night during the clos- ing hours of the drive, Marshall and Whitley counties wired state headquarters that they had met their quotas, apparently the final two counties in the state to meet their task. Will H. Wade, State Chairman, who had successfully conducted Indi- ana through the five Liberty Loan drives, sent a telegram on the night of May 10th to War Loan Director Franklin in Washington, D. C., as follows :
"We are happy to announce officially that Indiana has com- pleted the last great war finance effort successfully. State oversubscribed before noon today."47
C. H. Schweppe, director of sales for the Seventh Federal Reserve District, sent the following telegram to Mr. Wade that same evening:
"Heartiest congratulations on your success. I am greatly pleased."48
Governor Goodrich and Will H. Hays; at this meeting an effort was made to have the banks underwrite the loan. The plan, however, did not prove successful-in fact it seemed that no method could be found which could pull the county 'over'. It is hazard- ous to attempt a guess as to the reasons. They may have been political or may have involved commercial rivalry, or both. It should be said to the credit of James S. Royse, who had piloted the county through other loans, that he performed almost herculean tasks during the closing days of the last loan in an effort to save the reputation of his county, but he was unable to guide the county to victory. The real reason for the failure in Vigo County was never known to the state committee.
45. Indianapolis News, May 10, 1919.
46. Sullivan County's final report showed that only 72.5 per cent. of her quota had been subscribed.
47. Files Fifth Liberty Loan, telegram dated May 10, 1919.
48. Ibid.
176
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
Carter Glass, Secretary of the Treasury during the Victory loan period, addressed a letter dated June 12, 1919, to Mr. Sonntag, Chairman of the twenty-four southern counties in which he said:
"My Dear Mr. Sonntag:
"With the successful conclusion of the Victory loan cam- paign, we may review the work of the past two years with a large measure of gratification. A task seemingly impossible has been accomplished; over twenty millions of our people have been brought closer together by lending their aid to a common and righteous cause, and most of them for the first time have a direct financial interest in their Government and feel in a measure responsible for its activities.
"Throughout the land a community pride has been awak- ened, and the spirit of real democracy strengthened. As the rich and the poor, the high and the low have died together under the flag of their country, so the rich and the poor, the high and the low have here at home labored side by side in this great cause.
"I desire to express to you individually my very deep appre- ciation for your continued service as a member of the organ- ization of the Eighth District. You have served loyally at the sacrifice of your personal interests, and you deserve the gratitude of your country.
"Sincerely yours,
"Carter Glass."49
The final results of the Victory loan campaign given out by loan officials of the Seventh Federal Reserve District in July, 1919, for the sixty-eight northern counties,50 and from the
49. Ibid, letter dated June 12, 1919.
50. A summary of the enormous totals of money provided the government by the seventh federal reserve district, shows well how the northern sixty-eight counties of the state answered the various Liberty Loan calls. Such a summary was given in the "Reveille", of the Seventh Federal Reserve Bank, June 1, 1919. This summary said:
"Between June 15, 1917, and October 10, 1919, the Seventh Federal Reserve Dis- triet (including 338 counties in five states) lent to the Government on Liberty Bonds a total of $3,288,209,400 -. The Seventh Federal Reserve District, therefore, brought to light and handed to the U. S. Treasury in cash, during 711 days of the Liberty borrowing, a total three and one-tenth times as large as the net debt of the country before the war. Accepting the "quota population" of the Seventh District as officially applied in fixing quota requirements-13,124,855 people-it appears that the people of this district contributed thirty-five cents and three mills per day, per capita, from the beginning of the First Liberty Loan drive to the end of the Victory loan canvass.
"It is impossible to present absolutely exact totals for the five states of the dis- trict in the five Liberty Loans, but the following approximations are right within one- tenth of one per cent .:
177
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
official summary of the Eighth Federal Reserve District Bank for the southern twenty-four counties of Indiana are as fol- lows :
RESULTS OF VICTORY LOAN IN INDIANA
County
Chairman
Quota
Subscriptions
Adams F. M. Schirmeyer
$563,000
$587,600
Allen.
Hugh G. Keegan.
5,700,000
5,934,450
Bartholomew
.. Will G. Irwin .
675,000
776,350
Benton
George L. Robey
563,000
563,300
Blackford
A. G. Lupton
412,000
416,900
Boone
W. J. De Vol
697,000
821,850
Brown
William L. Coffey
15,000
31,800
Carroll
James A. Shirk
544,000
544,600
Cass
M. L. Fansler
1,275,000
1,478,500
Clark
Homer M. Frank
420,400
543,500
Clay
H. Stevenson
638,000
680,350
Clinton
John A. Ross
1,162,000
1,162,000
Crawford
W. J. Hawkins
147,800
151,000
Daviess
M. F. Burke
402,200
504,450
Dearborn
W. H. O'Brien
600,000
982,100
Decatur
Walter W. Bonner
600,000
830,000
Dekalb
I. M. Zent
488,000
488,250
Delaware
Charles A. Wood
1,650,000
1,970,450
Dubois
Felix L. Schneider
370,100
592,900
Elkhart
B. F. Deahl
1,350,000
1,427,750
Fayette
Arthur Dixon
562,000
600,500
Floyd .
Henry E. Jewett
658,600
707,700
Fountain
Dan C. Reed
600,000
639,900
Franklin
John C. Shirk
356,000
469,300
Fulton
Hiram G. Miller
425,000
488,350
Gibson
Frank M. Harris
647,850
642,750
Grant
Archie Price.
· 1,763,000
1,862,700
Greene
Quincy T. Mitchell
604,850
563,550
Hamilton
Fred E. Hines
675,000
677,500
Hancock
William B. Bottsford
450,000
476,300
Harrison W. E. Cook
214,900
217,050
District quota (all loans)
$2,665,500,000
District subscription
3,288,209,400
Excess over quota.
622,709,400
Percentage of quota.
123.4
Chicago and Cook County
1,038,265,850
Illinois, outside Chicago.
399,431,250
Indiana (68 northern counties)
$377,692,350
The total subscriptions for the 24 southern counties in Indiana during the
five Liberty Loan drives amounted to.
66,371,450
Total
$444,063,800
Iowa
$506,690,550
Michigan
580,260,000
Wisconsin
386,917,950
12-21521
178
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
County
Chairman
Quota
Subscriptions
Hendricks .W. C. Osborne.
563,000
585,800
Henry.
George A. Elliott
862,000
890,900
Howard
Oscar C. Smith
1,425,000
1,427,800
Huntington
John R. Emley
1,088,000
1,222,150
Jackson
L. C. Griffitts
482,400
558,400
Jasper
Charles G. Spitler
275,000
356,850
Jay.
W. B. Magill
701,000
752,700
Jefferson
J. C. Finch .
439,000
454,950
Jennings
W. S. Matthews
150,000
244,550
Johnson
R. B. Hougham
619,000
656,450
Knox.
J. L. Bayard, Jr
1,421,400
(a)1,407,600
Kosciusko
M. L. Gochenour
675,000
741,450
Lagrange
Leon Rose
450,000
461,900
Lake
F. Richard Schaaf
5,300,000
7,064,950
Laporte
Frank J. Pitner
1,725,000
1,846,000
Lawrence
T. J. Brooks.
373,850
406,250
Madison
Joseph E. Hennings
1,650,000
1,783,600
Marion
Edward B. Raub
17,605,500
17,611,200
Marshall
Warren O. McFarlin
656,000
658,900
Martin
Edgar Witcher
130,750
175,950
Miami
Leroy O. Arnold
825,000
825,600
Monroe
W. E. Showers
281,000
369,400
Montgomery
B. T. Merrell
1,125,000
1,238,100
Morgan
Karl I. Nutter
394,000
440,850
Newton
Mort Kilgore
375,000
414,850
Noble .
A. M. Jacobs
750,000
786,150
Ohio .
H. S. Espey
150,000
151,200
Orange
Owen C. Ham
230,800
252,900
Owen
Harry Stevenson
150,000
206,200
Parke
W. P. Montgomery
375,000
460,100
Perry
W. F. Huthsteiner
229,900
349,000
Pike
George A. Hurst
230,650
242,800
Porter
M. R. Lowenstine
581,000
744,850
Posey
George J. Waters
730,050
735,350
Pulaski
W. B. Henry
200,000
266,750
Putnam
Clement C. Hurst .
623,000
694,950
Randolph
O. E. Ross
825,000
912,100
Ripley
J. A. Hillenbrand
550,000
771,300
Rush
Earl Payne
825,000
840,950
St. Joseph
W. L. Chandler
3,900,000
4,416,550
Scott
W. M. Wells
90,500
125,300
J. Fred Hoke
A. M. Glossbrenner
Samuel Schlosser
Lewis J. Hess
(a) A telegram and letter dated April 22, 1922, from Harry C. Grimsley, Secretary of the Vineennes Chamber of Commerce, Vincennes, states that Knox County subscribed its quota in the Victory loan to the amount of $1,438,100 on the first day of the drive. He quoted a telegram dated April 23, 1919, from W. R. Compton, Chairman of the Eighth Federal District, congratulating Knox County upon its achievement.
O. M. Booker
179
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
Shelby
H. C. Morrison
825,000
882,150
Spencer
T. E. Snyder
267,350
308,400
Starke
M. D. Falvey
90,000
106,750
Steuben
E. S. Croxton
356,000
369,250
Sullivan
J. F. Bollinger
670,750
486,300
Switzerland
Harry D. Stow
132,950
222,450
Tippecanoe
George P. Haywood
2,325,000
2,333,650
Tipton
Walter E. Carter
563,000
588,300
Union
Charles D. Johnson
300,000
316,950
Vanderburgh. . John J. Nolan
4,612,250
4,510,650
Vermillion
J. C. Straw
581,000
617,050
Vigo
James S. Royse.
4,087,000
3,681,300
Wabash
Rev. Ira C. Dawes
956,000
956,050
Warren
Burt Fleming .
300,000
393,500
Warrick
William S. Hatfield
361,100
382,750
Washington
Otto C. Zink
222,550
253,550
Wayne
Lewis G. Reynolds
1,800,000
1,924,900
Wells
Benjamin A. Batson
705,000
720,950
White
H. C. Johnson
563,000
574,500
Whitley
Mose Mayer
675,000
676,000
Totals
$95,655,450
$101,296,400
The final total of subscriptions for the entire state of Indi- ane, including both northern and southern counties, is given as $105,102,950.51 This figure represents totals taken from records of the Treasury Department in Washington, the date of such totals, however, not being set out.
The Chicago Federal Reserve District, according to the same source,52 subscribed a total of $772,046,550, and the St. Louis District (the first district to oversubscribe in the nation) sub- scribed a total of $210,431,950.
The nation as a whole, according to the same source,53 sub- scribed $5,249,908,300 to the Victory loan, an oversubscrip- tion of three-quarters of a billion dollars, and almost sixty per cent. of the total was taken in subscriptions of less than $10,000 each. The Chicago Federal Reserve District-of which Indiana was a part-was shown as having been second in total number of subscribers to the Victory loan with 2,267,- 411. New York Federal Reserve District was first, with 2,482,932 subscriptions.
It is therefore evident that the record of the great central western agricultural states for distribution of the Loans to the ultimate investors was not lowered in the Victory loan.
51. Labert St. Clair, Story of the Liberty Loans, p. 94.
52. Ibid.
53. Ibid.
180
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
Liberty Loan Workers Receive Congratulations
Will H. Wade, State Chairman, officially closed the great volunteer Liberty loan organization throughout the state, in the following personal letter, under date of May 26, to each county chairman :
"The record of your county in the Victory loan as well as its record in the four previous Loans, is one of which you should be very proud. To you is due much of the credit for this record.
"I have sincerely appreciated the faithful and unselfish character of your work. The sacrifices you so cheerfully made and the obstacles which you met and overcame, have made me deeply grateful to you.
"As the work is finished it is with certain regret that it is laid aside, but I assure you that its friendships and associa- tions will always be a very pleasant memory.
"Will you please accept for yourself and convey to your organization my heartfelt thanks for all which has been ac- complished ?54
"Will H. Wade, Chairman."
This was but the bare outline of the thanks which all Loan officials felt for the thousands of Indiana citizen-patriots who had so sturdily fought the good fight. Their own consciences, safe in the knowledge of work well done, were their best re- wards and thanks.
54. Files Fifth Liberty Loan, letter dated May 26, 1919.
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WOMEN! HELP AMERICA'S SONS WIN THE WAR
BUY U.S. GOVERNMENT BONDS
CHAPTER VII. INDIANA WOMEN IN THE LOAN CAMPAIGNS
Indiana's womanhood has a place of honor, co-ordinate with the men, in the history of war financing. Reference to their able and conscientious work for the success of the various drives will be found at many points throughout this volume.1 Many times it was their enthusiasm and their ideas of organ- ization that kept counties or districts from falling by the way- side as the struggles to complete Liberty Loan or War Savings goals went on.2
While there was some question as to whether the plan, ad- vanced early in the Loan campaigns by the Secretary of the Treasury, to build a country-wide organization for the women and thus divide efforts to some extent in the campaigns that were to come, was the best that could have been devised, yet it was true, that such rivalry between men's and women's organizations was engendered in many counties, and this per- haps produced additional sales efforts during the various cam- paigns. Perhaps the greatest single value in the separation of the women nominally from the men came from the stimula- tion to the pride of the myriads of women's organizations everywhere. In such a state as Indiana, where women had been organized in many diverse groups for years the welding of these organizations into fighting units for the Loan cam- paigns was very important in the building of the war spirit.
There was some friction at various points in the state be- cause of the dual type of organization caused by the formation of separate men's and women's committees, but in the major- ity of cases the groups divided their territory and thereby built up more comprehensive organizations than if either group had been alone in its efforts. In a great many counties the women confined their efforts to soliciting women only, while in others they solicited in certain types of industries and business houses, as well as in the homes.
The direct appeals by women to women in the Liberty bond campaigns and the War Savings campaigns bore fruit in many
1. See Chapters III, IV, and V.
2. The record of Vigo County in the Victory loan is a case in point. In that county the men's organization failed to function properly. Correspondence in the Files of the Liberty Loan material states bluntly that the entire sales totals for that county up to the last day or so of the Victory loan had been raised by women workers.
(181)
182
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
ways. Saving of household supplies became the order of the . day in Indiana's homes, and many were the dollars laid on the altar of the country's need through the direct sacrifice of Indiana women.
The National Woman's Liberty Loan Committee was started in the spring of 1917. Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo named Mrs. McAdoo as chairman. Other members of the committee were Mrs. Antoinette Funk, vice-chairman ; Mrs. George Bass, secretary ; Mrs. Frank A. Vanderlip, treas- urer; Mrs. A. S. Baldwin, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, Mrs. Guilford Dudley, Mrs. Kellogg Fairbanks, Mrs. George Thatcher Guernsey, Mrs. F. L. Higginson, Mrs. J. O. Miller, Miss Mary Synon and Mrs. Ella Flagg Young. The first meeting of this committee was held in the Treasury Building at Washington, May 9, 1917.3
Miss Grace Dixon, of Chicago, was named chairman of the women of the Seventh District, to serve from the beginning of the Second loan. She served through the remainder of the war campaigns. Miss Florence J. Wade, St. Louis, was the Woman's Chairman of the Eighth Federal Reserve District. Mrs. Alice Foster McCulloch, of Fort Wayne, was named chairman for the Indiana women at the Washington meeting.4
Soon after Mrs. McCulloch's appointment as state chairman for the women, she named three vice-chairmen. They were Miss Maybelle C. Pettigrew, Mrs. Jessie Fremont Croan, of Anderson, and Mrs. Fred Lauenstein,5 of Evansville. Mrs. Croan eventually became state organizer for Mrs. McCulloch's territory and Mrs. Lauenstein became chairman of women's activities, under the Eighth Federal Reserve Bank, for the southern twenty-four counties. Mrs. Horace Stillwell of An- derson, served as a vice-chairman, under Mrs. McCulloch in the Third and Fourth loans.6
3. The name of Carrie Chapman Catt does not appear as a member of this Na- tional Woman's Liberty Loan Committee in the Indiana State Files of the Fourth Lib- erty Loan. In that material Miss Mary Synon is named as treasurer, replacing Mrs. Frank A. Vanderlip. The name of Mrs. Solon Jacobs appears as a member of this committee in printed material of the Eighth Federal Reserve Distriet, issued subse- quently to the Victory loan.
4. Manuscript report, Work of the Women's Committee in Liberty Loan Cam- paigns, by Mrs. William M. Herschell. Mrs. Herschell served as Director of Publicity for the women of the northern Indiana counties during the war.
5. Miss Maybelle C. Pettigrew, of Indianapolis, was the first woman to organize a Woman's Liberty Loan committee in Indiana. She organized the women of Marion County for the First loan drive. More than $500,000 in bonds was distributed by this committee. See Mrs. Herschell's Work of the Women's Committee in Liberty Loan Campaigns.
6. Report of the Woman's Section of the Indiana State Council of Defense; pre- pared by Mrs. Alice Foster McCulloch.
183
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
In the majority of counties no women's organizations ex- isted until the Third loan, but in some few, women county chairmen were named for the Second loan. Thus, in several counties the same women chairmen served through four cam- paigns. The organization of the women of the state was fre- quently more complete than that of the men. In the cities and towns the women's organizations often were built with the city block as the unit, and in the country districts they were organized in great measure down to the township and school districts.
Records show that many millions of bonds were placed throughout the state directly as the result of activities of the women. In some counties the women's organizations sold more bonds than did the men's groups, and not infrequently the women were directly responsible with their sales, for the success of particular counties, or districts, in the Loan drives. The same was true of the War Savings drives.
Little Organization In First And Second Loans
Records of the activities of the Women's Liberty Loan committees during the First and Second bond campaigns in Indiana are few. But during the Second loan campaign, in the fall of 1917, there was a definite effort made by Indiana women for a separate organization. Late in September of that year, just as the Second Liberty Loan campaign opened, the Women's Liberty Loan Committee of Indiana was organ- ized.7 Due, however, to the short time which they had to effect an organization, it was impossible to appoint county chairmen for all of the counties in the state. Even with such a small percentage of the women at work, the Woman's Com- mittee was able to report that the bonds sold through that committee in the Second loan amounted to over $6,000,000. Among the most active women's organizations that took part in the Second bond campaign were those found in Bartholo- mew and Madison counties. Ed C. Toner, of Anderson, ap- pointed Mrs. Jesse Fremont Croan to take charge of organ- izing the women of Anderson early in the Second loan. The resulting women's organization confined its activities solely to the sale of bonds to women. During the last five days of the drive a separate organization of women was created also in Elwood, in the same county. A total of $315,000 was reported for the Second drive by the women in Madison County.
7. Ibid.
184
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
It was impossible, however, to obtain definite reports from any great number of the counties for the Second loan cam- paign as only about one-third of the counties were actively organized by the women in that period.
There was apparent the same absence of a definite woman's organization in the twenty-four southern Indiana counties during the First and Second loan campaigns. In the First campaign the women as a unit did not take any part what- ever in the bond sales program. In the Second loan drive, ten of the twenty-four southern counties had attempted an organization, and reported at the end of the campaign $600,- 000 worth of bonds sold.8
Women's Organizations Active In Third Liberty Loan
Preceding the opening of the Third Liberty Loan campaign definite action had been taken by the woman's organizations in numerous counties in Indiana toward assisting in this patri- otic war work. Many of the novel advertising ideas that were developed on the eve of this campaign originated with women.9
Poster-drawing contests; "Paint-Up Days" (when women dressed in white, painted Liberty bond signs on sidewalks in many towns and cities) ; the writing of plays; the organizing of women's parades; flag parades by children; "kitchen con- ferences," and other gatherings; the development of the "Fourteen-Minute Women" (under the direction of Mrs. Julia C. Henderson, of Indianapolis) ; the stimulation of women in industry to buy bonds; the use of pageants; the organization of sales among women of foreign birth; the writing of essays in schools; "Victory Verse" contests; addresses by women, some of whom had served overseas; and the constant efforts of thousands of women's organizations in every district of the state-these were methods used by the women to call attention to the Liberty bond and War Savings sales and to make Hoo- sier women join with the men in their contributions to the nation's needs.
8. Report of Mrs. Fred W. Lauenstein, Work of the Women's Liberty Loan Com- mittees in Southern Indiana Counties; Files Liberty Loan Records, Indiana State Library.
9. In Huntingburg, Indiana, Miss Maude Williams, a newspaper woman, was given credit for developing the 'beacon light' idea, although it is probable that the idea was first used elsewhere. Lights were placed in windows, on hill tops, in church towers, and elsewhere on the nights before the Third loan campaign opened. This was done to call attention of the people everywhere to the war work that was theirs.
185
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
A résumé of the activity of the women in the Third loan campaign shows that real war sacrifices were made by the women on every hand.10 Women bought bonds, who had not been able in other years to lay aside a dollar a month out of their household expenses. Working girls cut down on their noon lunches, were content with a wardrobe of necessities only, and bought bonds with the money they saved.11
It was in this campaign that intensive organization among the women was begun. In general the same scheme of organiza- tion was used as for the men. Strong associate organizations for the actual Liberty Loan groups were formed by leading social, educational, fraternal, religious and literary bodies of women. These associate groups included such organizations as the Indiana Federation of Women's Clubs, the Woman's Franchise League of Indiana (which later became the Indiana League of Women Voters), the Woman's Christian Temper- ance Union, the Collegiate Alumni Association of Indiana, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Federation of Music Clubs, the Needlework Guild of America, the Girl Scouts, the Indiana Mothers' Congress, the Indiana State Nurses Association, the Councils of Jewish Women, the Colo- nial Dames of America, the Associated Women of Commerce, and similar groups. Colored women's organizations co-oper- ated in several counties as special units.
The women's organizations paid special attention to the school children of the state. Liberty Loan education was spread in the school rooms by use of primers that were dis- tributed to the school teachers in the different counties. In distributing this material, the teachers in the colleges, public
10. A few special examples of the determined spirit with which women took up their task are cited :- In Rushville a woman 87 years old had kept a "nest egg" of $100 for many years to defray her burial expenses. She saw the "I Have Bought a Bond" posters and wanted one in her window. She bought it-with her $100. In another county there appeared in a window one day the sign: "Eggs for Sale-the Money to Be Spent for Liberty Bonds." A high school girl conceived the idea of walking to and from school in a city, where distances were long, and before long many of her friends were following her example, the savings being spent for bonds. Women gave up automobiles and other luxuries to buy the bonds. From Carthage came such a story, and it was closely followed by one concerning the buying of a $1,000 bond by Mrs. Frederica Hill. She had several nephews fighting under German colors, and some American cousins, fighting under Old Glory. She was "the first person in Carthage to contribute two barrels of flour for Belgium, and then to purchase government war securities." A woman was found in Indianapolis, cleaning ninety-six rooms of a down- town office building each day. When Loan workers talked with her, she told them she had subscribed for Liberty Bonds, had no other way to pay for them and had taken the janitor's job, although she never had done any work of that sort before.
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