USA > Indiana > The war purse of Indiana; the five liberty loans and war savings and thrift campaigns in Indiana during the world war > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25
Edgar F. Hiatt
874,000
1,034,200
Wells
Ralph O. Todd.
352,000
129,850
White
Bert Van Voorst
263,000
104,950
Whitley
H. D. McLallen
290,000
68,500
Total
$40,939,000
$42,420,650
Twenty-four Southern Counties
The final reports for the twenty-four southern counties in Indiana show much the same discrepancy that marked the northern sixty-eight counties. The newspapers throughout the southern counties, immediately following the close of the Loan campaign, reported an oversubscription of the total quotas assigned to these twenty-four counties. Only two counties failed [Gibson and Lawrence], if the reader is to believe the press reports of the days immediately following June 15th. Yet, the actual records,-one of them emanating from the War Loan Organization in St. Louis, headquarters of the Eighth Federal Reserve District, of which the twenty-four southern Indiana counties were a part,-showed that only three counties in the district exceeded their real quotas,- Floyd, Knox, and Vanderburgh.
A summary of the Eighth Federal Reserve Bank reports filed by Marcus S. Sonntag, chairman of the Southern Indiana District, with the state Liberty Loan material shows that the total quota for the twenty-four southern counties was fixed at $7,428,749. Also this was the same quota that had been assigned to the twenty-four southern counties by the Central Committee of the National War Loan Organization in St. Louis.33 The actual subscription however, according to the records totaled only $5,244,150. The table of quotas and sub- scriptions, county by county, as filed in the central office of the Eighth Federal Reserve district, is submitted herewith:
33. Letter of George Oliver Carpenter, Jr., St. Louis office, to Will H. Wade of Indianapolis, dated November 30, 1918. Files First Liberty Loan.
34. In most of the southern counties the banks conducted the bond sales for the First loan, and later disposed of the bonds to individuals. Special Liberty Loan or- ganizations for the First campaign were formed in only a few of the twenty-four south- ern counties. See letter dated April 3, 1922, from George Oliver Carpenter, Jr., St. Louis, Secretary of the Liberty Loan campaigns in the Eighth Federal Reserve Dis- trict, addressed to Marcus S. Sonntag of Evansville ; Files First Liberty Loan.
40
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
RESULTS OF FIRST LIBERTY LOAN IN TWENTY-FOUR SOUTHERN COUNTIES
County
Chairman34
Quota
Subscription $150,900
Clark
Charles E. Poindexter
$341,117
Crawford.
116,614
(a)
....
Daviess
325,643
192,200
Dubois
Felix L. Schneider
223,388
(b)135,000
Floyd
361,450
405,500
Gibson
Frank M. Harris
376,595
182,550
Greene
387,121
139,350
Harrison
234,718
75,600
Jackson
310,618
41,750
Jefferson
255,687
232,850
Knox. .
578,558
581,300
Lawrence
T. J. Brooks.
333,240
139,000
Martin
Edgar Witcher
126,643
(c)27,500
Orange
173,166
95,800
Perry
W. F. Huthsteiner
177,724
(d) 105,300
Pike
R. M. Gray
173,166
76,000
Posey
John W. Turner
303,362
(e)250,400
Scott
John Hooker
88,490
(f)10,100
Spencer
205,827
81,000
(a) Reports on First loan could not be obtained for Crawford County.
(b) A letter dated April 12, 1922, from Felix L. Schneider, who served as Chair- man of all the five Liberty Loan drives in Dubois County, stated that the quota for Dubois County in the First loan drive was only $135,000. This amount was under- written by the banks of Dubois County, according to Mr. Schneider's statement. Each bank took its pro-rata amount on the bank's resources.
(c) In a report relating to the history of the Liberty Loans in Martin County, compiled by Edgar Witcher for the Martin County World War History, the statement is made that the quota assigned to Martin County in the First drive was fixed at $38,000 and the subscriptions amounted to $52,200. Apparently this report is more nearly correct than a quota of $126,643, which is entirely out of proportion to the amounts fixed for the later quotas in Martin County. Considerable correspondence was carried on by Mr. Witcher with the Eighth Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the Indiana Historical Commission during the time when the manuscript for this chapter was being prepared in its final form in an effort. to explain the gross inconsistency of Martin County's quota in the First loan, There is small doubt that Mr. Witcher's contention is correct. To have fixed Martin County's quota at $126,643 in the First loan campaign on the basis of its banking resources, shows on its face a most ridiculous allotment. Yet these figures appear in all of the Eighth Federal Reserve Bank reports dealing with the First liberty loan, and the author has no special authority for chang- ing them in the table above cited ; but in fairness to Martin County this note of ex- planation is gladly submitted.
(d) W. F. Huthsteiner, President of the Tell City National Bank, in a statement Issued April 12, 1922, in reply to an inquiry from the author, stated that he was abso- lutely "positive that we subscribed our quota, whatever the amount was in the First loan."
(c) J. W. Turner of Mt. Vernon, Chairman of the first four loan campaigns, in a letter dated April 18, 1922, gave the quota for Posey County in the First loan as $219,000, and the subscription as $222,500.
(f) W. M. Wells, President of the Scottsburg State Bank, in a letter dated April 11, 1922, reported that there must have been a mistake in regard to the quota ($88,490) assigned to Scott County in the First loan. He said that the sale of bonds for the First drive totaled in excess of $25,000.
41
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
County
Chairman
Quota
Subscription
Sullivan.
420,832
(g)242,050
Switzerland E. T. Coleman
108,839
84,700
Vanderburgh
1,346,454
1,885,250
Warrick
Charles E. Powell
236,175
(h)94,600
Washington
196,500
(i)15,450
Totals
$7,428,749*
$5,244,150
*Correct addition totals $7,401, 927.
(g) A letter dated April 22, 1922, from R. W. Akin of Sullivan declares that the banks of Sullivan County oversubscribed the county allotment in the First loan, but no official figures or records were submitted in support of the statement.
(h) In a letter April 18, 1922, from Louis W. Bohn of Boonville, he stated that Warrick County oversubscribed its quota in the first drive, but that the official reports were not at hand at the time of writing. John B. Reed, in the Warrick County War History (manuscript report), gives the quota for the First loan as $94,600 and the sul)- scription as $136,175. However, no official reports were cited.
(i) Otto C. Zink of Salem, who acted as Chairman of the Fourth and Fifth loans, reported in a letter dated April 11, 1922, that one bank alone, the State Bank of Salem, purchased $60,000 worth of bonds during the First campaign. He added that the purchase may have been made from a Louisville bank which prevented credit being given to the Indiana subscriptions.
CHAPTER III. THE SECOND LIBERTY LOAN IN INDIANA
The Second Liberty Loan campaign in Indiana officially con- tinued from October 1, to October 27, 1917. A period of in- tense war preparations had preceded the opening of the Sec- ond drive. The war atmosphere had settled down definitely around Hoosiers, prior to the beginning of the loan, and the selective service army had begun to mobilize at the training camps. The One Hundred and Fiftieth Field Artillery of the Indiana National Guard had joined the famous Forty-second (Rainbow) Division and was stationed at Camp Mills, Long Island, ready to sail for France and represent one of Amer- ica's first definite strokes at the German army. Other units of the Indiana National Guard had gone into federal service and were training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Con- tingents of the new army of selective service men were sta- tioned at Camp Taylor, Kentucky, Camp Sherman, Ohio, and at other points throughout the country, receiving their war training for the final effort that everyone knew would come.
Back home in Indiana the people were fast developing all Arrangements were made whereby the State Council of De- fense had begun to function widely in arousing the war spirit of the people. The co-operation of this body under the direc- tion of Will H. Hays, Chairman, formed an important pre- paratory link in the chain of effort for the Second loan drive. Arrangements were made whereby the State Council of De- fense was to co-operate actively with the Liberty Loan com- mittees throughout the state. Similar co-operation had been arranged between the National Council of Defense and the Treasury Department. Various units of the two agencies gradually combined their efforts in each of the districts of the country, in order to assure success in the war finance program.
By the time the Second liberty loan campaign opened, the people of the state had realized that war was to mean sacrifice. "Meatless days" had begun to appear. Food conservation of far-reaching proportions had become part of the general pro- gram. The organizational life of the state had thrown itself into the war preparations in diverse ways. Public opinion, in support of the war, was an established fact. The word 'slacker' had definitely taken its place in Indiana as the lowest
(42)
BUY A United States Government Bond of the SECOND LIBERTY LOAN of 1917
Help Your Country and Yourself
م
43
-
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
and meanest term in vocabularies. And it had come to de -: scribe not only the military 'slacker', but the 'slacker' also in any of the hundreds of 'fighting lines' that had sprung up back home.
Gradually the people of the state began to know that al- though war brings suffering and sacrifice and heartache and death, it does not necessarily bring slack business. Rather it stimulates business, particularly in territory that is not the actual fighting ground of the armies. And America was at least 3,000 miles from the battlefields. Indiana business generally was beginning to feel the impetus of the vast in- crease in production of many types of materials and supplies, necessary in the preparation of the nation's part in the con- flict.1 Money began to be more and more the means to the end, while the rapid output of food, munitions, clothing for the troops, hospital supplies, fuels, and many other factors in the war program became the main aim of the government and people.
Pre-campaign Activities Second Liberty Loan
On September 15th, two weeks before the actual opening of the drive, official steps were taken in mobilizing the loan workers. Otto L. Klauss, auditor of state, had been named on the advisory committee of the war finance campaign by the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, and with Charles W. Camp, head of the state banking department, efforts were made to bring the smaller banks of the state into a closer unit for the Second drive.
1. On September 24th the Indianapolis Star printed an article in which it was announced that "specifications and blue prints on war contracts involving a probable value of more than $70,000,000 are now in the hands of the war contract bureau of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce for inspection by manufacturers of the city who want to bid on government work. It is estimated by the Associated Employers of In- dianapolis that contracts for war supplies already awarded to the city will amount to more than $30,000,000."
A table compiled from the Committee Report on Expenditures in the War Depart- ment, House of Representatives, 65th Congress, First Session, Serial 1, Part 9, Govern- ment Printing Office, shows that the total of war contracts awarded to Indiana firms during the years 1917-1918 exceeded $200,000,000 in amount. It is known, however, that this total does not include all of the war contracts placed, since reports obtained from individual firms, such as the Nordyke-Marmon Company, Indianapolis, the Studebaker Corporation, South Bend, and others, show that the contracts to their firms greatly exceeded,-in some cases more than doubled,-the amount listed in the Committee Report above cited. Also the tables submitted in the above mentioned report did not include war contracts of less than $100,000 in amount. It is safe to assume that the total amount of war contracts awarded to Indiana firms during the period of the war approxi- mated $300,000,000.
44
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
The opinion had been growing during the summer of 1917 that farmers, generally, in the country had not awakened to the sense of duty that eventually characterized their war efforts. Officials of the war loan organization had begun to sense this, and much of the publicity of the time was directed towards bringing the farmer, as a class, to assist in the war preparation. It was pointed out in several ways, that in the Seventh Federal Reserve District particularly the agricul- tural classes were dominant and that, therefore, they must be made the object of a tremendously wide campaign of edu- cation in the war's responsibilities. It was generally realized, according to hints thrown out from many points in the coun- try's financial fabric, that the great agricultural groups in the country must be brought to see the new responsibilities clearly.2
In Indiana, Liberty Loan officials from county chairmen up, felt this condition, but offset it almost completely by point- ing out that where the story of Liberty Loan had been told to the farmer, he had met his responsibilities fully. Gradu- ally it came to be seen that the story of the Liberty Loan must be carried more extensively into the rural districts.
When the Liberty Loan county chairmen were called by Will H. Wade to meet in Indianapolis on October 2, 1917, the call summoned not only the leaders of the Second loan cam- paign, and bankers, but also representatives of many agri- cultural associations as well. Frank R. Wilson, Secretary of the Federal Farm Loan Bureau, came to Indianapolis during the last week in September, 1917, to meet with representa- tives of the agricultural and farming groups in Indiana, to arouse greater interest among the agricultural classes in the coming visit of Secretary McAdoo. In preparing for this meeting Luke W. Duffey invited the Presidents of all the state agricultural associations to join in a great Liberty Loan meet- ing, being arranged for the secretary. The organizations in- vited included the Corn Growers Association, the State Grange, the Federated Bodies of Agricultural Associations, the State Board of Agriculture, the Swine Breeders Asso- ciation, the Indiana Real Estate Association, the Indiana Bankers Association and others.
It was not however, until the Third loan campaign that a
2. Sce Files of Second Loan Campaign, and newspaper cartoons and reports from September 1, to November 1, 1917,
45
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
really systematic effort was made to reach the agricultural in- terests. It is manifestly unfair even to seem to criticise the attitude of any class towards the war program at any period, since eventually, practically all classes of the population swung in line behind the program relentlessly to the end, and only individuals sought to continue to block the efforts to defeat Germany and her Allies. And often these efforts to block the program came more through ignorance than through intent to be disloyal to the nation's aims.
On September 22, Indianapolis papers carried a Chicago dispatch that told of the appointment of Homer McKee, an Indianapolis advertising man, to be chairman of the Indiana division of the national publicity committee, which was to co-operate in the sale of the Second loan. The appointment came from William H. Rankin, a former Hoosier, in Chicago, vice-chairman of the national advertising advisory board.
Mr. McKee said, upon accepting his new responsibilities :
"This campaign, so far as Indiana is concerned, is not going to be any pink tea party. There are twenty-four hours on the clock dial, and until this thing is put across success- fully, so far as I am concerned, every one of them belongs to Uncle Sam. The publicity and advertising campaign on the First Liberty Loan issue was built around the idea that the government needed everybody's money and that everybody who bought a Liberty bond was doing the country a favor. It is not our idea to put this issue of the Liberty Loan up to the public on any such basis. The government does not need your money half so badly as you need the government's guar- antee on your investments, particularly at this time, when everything of an industrial nature is undergoing such a com- plete metamorphosis. No man can hope to accom- plish such an undertaking and I would not for one moment consider assuming the responsibility if I did not know that I have, without the asking, the loyal support of every news- paper published in Indiana and the loyal support of every man who will be called upon to help."3
The personnel of the committees appointed to assist in the Second loan in the northern counties consisted of :
Campaign Committee: Will H. Wade, Chairman; Chester A. Jewett, George C. Forrey, Gilbert B. Clippinger and Robert E. Wilsey, the latter of Chicago.
3. Indianapolis News, September 22, 1917,
46
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
Federal Reserve Chairman-C. Frederick Childs, Chicago. Federal Reserve Vice-Chairman : Raymond J. Friss, Chicago.
State Advisory Committee: James P. Goodrich, Governor of Indiana, chairman; Harry S. New and James E. Watson, United States Senators from Indiana; Otto L. Klauss, auditor of state; Will H. Hays, chairman State Council of Defense; Morton C. Pearson, Church Federation of Indianapolis ; Stoughton A. Fletcher, president Fletcher American National Bank; John H. Holliday, chairman, Union Trust Company ; Felix M. McWhirter, president Peoples State Bank; Evans Woollen, president Fletcher Savings and Trust Company; William G. Irwin, president Irwin's Bank, Columbus; L. H. Wright, Master Indiana State Grange; Horace Ellis, State Superintendent of Public Instruction; Charles G. Sefrit, presi- dent Indiana Republican Editorial Association; Charles Fox, president Indiana State Federation of Labor; Leonard B. Clore, president Indiana State Board of Agriculture.
Organization Committee: S. Mayo Boyd, chairman; H. Foster Clippinger; Kenneth Macbeth; E. R. Ferris; Thomas O. Baxter; E. B. Hall.
George Ade, famous Indiana humorist, assisted by Edward F. Warfel of Richmond, Indiana, offered their services to the publicity department of the State Liberty Loan committee, and had active charge of directing this part of the campaign. Under their direction every town and hamlet in every part of the state was reached, and acquainted with the imperative need of successfully financing the war.
Organization of Women's Liberty Loan Committees
At the opening of the Second liberty loan campaign, Miss Maybelle Pettigrew of Indianapolis was named State Chair- man of the Woman's Committee, while, meantime, Mrs. Alice Foster McCulloch of Ft. Wayne had been named chairman by the National Woman's Liberty Loan committee. A co- operative plan was adopted and Miss Pettigrew was named head of a committee to have charge of the central tier of counties in Indiana, while Mrs. McCulloch was appointed to take general charge of the work for the Woman's organiza- tion. Under the combined leadership of Mrs. McCulloch and Miss Pettigrew, an active campaign was started at once. A letter sent out by Miss Pettigrew to the women of the sixty-
47
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
eight northern counties, declared that to "keep the govern- ment's war chest filled is the crucial point in this war."
"Money is as necessary in waging this conflict as men are in the field," it continued. "If one single loan offered to the American people should fail, it would be a more fateful dis- aster than the loss of a great battle. By co-operation we can raise our allotment in this state. The women must organize and do their share in helping raise this war loan.
"Arrange to have as many patriotic meetings as possible. Organize Liberty Bond teams in women's clubs, churches, lodges, and all organizations in which women are identified. It is well to have Liberty Bond booths in department stores and public buildings, those booths to be operated by the dif- ferent teams that have been organized among women's or- ganizations."4
A new step taken in the headquarters of the northern coun- ties at the opening of the Second campaign was that of naming a group of "organizers." These organizers origi- nally were selected from a group of Indianapolis and Chicago bond salesmen supplemented by several of the county chair- men, who had shown unusual ability in organizing their coun- ties in the First loan campaign, and by some of the execu- tives of the loan campaign at state headquarters in Indian- apolis. Originally each of the organizers was given a terri- tory including three or four counties, and he was instructed by the campaign committee to: "Go into counties and find out the exact situation relative to the Liberty Loan campaign. First see to it that they (the counties) are properly organ- ized, having sub-chairmen, and committees in the various towns and townships, and of course suggesting to the various county chairmen that you (the organizer) would be pleased to be of any assistance possible to them."5
As the war finance program went on these "organizers" be- came more and more the official representatives from state headquarters, who carried assistance of various kinds into the individual counties. It should be noted here that the per- sonnel of the list of organizers was constantly changing.6
4. Indianapolis Star, September 23, 1917.
5. Second Liberty Loan Files, under letters addressed to "Individual Organizers." Letter is not dated.
6. An examination of the files of the Liberty Loan material fails to disclose a com- plete list of the names of those who acted as "organizers" during the opening of the Second liberty loan drive. But among the field representatives or "organizers" as they came to be called, are to be found the following names: W. W. Bonner, Greensburg ;
48
INDIANA WORLD WAR RECORDS
Indiana's Quota for Second Loan
As the date approached for the opening of the drive, those in charge of the campaign became eagerly interested in know- ing just what Indiana's quota would be, and the terms that would be offered in connection with the Second Liberty Loan bonds.
When the details of the Loan became known to the mem- bers of the Indiana state committee it was estimated that the minimum quota for Indiana would represent approxi- mately ten per cent. of the banking resources and that the maximum would represent approximately sixteen per cent. of the banking resources. The First loan quota in the northern counties of the state had represented approximately eight per cent. of the banking resources.
In a letter written to Mr. Wade by C. Frederick Childs, Federal Reserve Director, just prior to the opening of the Second loan campaign, it was stated that the Second loan bonds would be dated November 15th and that the two inter- est-paying dates would be May 15 and November 15; also, they would mature in twenty-five years and be optional for retirement by the government in ten years. A two per cent. deposit had to accompany all applications as in the First loan, and he announced that the Secretary of the Treasury reserved the right to allot bonds up to $4,500,000,000, although the official offering was fixed at only $3,000,000,000. The lowest denomination of the bonds, as was true in all other campaigns, was fifty dollars.
On September 25, 1917, Mr. Childs wrote Mr. Wade again, stating :
"The total population of Federal Reserve District No. 7 amounts to over 14,150,000. The total subscriptions received from the district in the last loan were $357,387,000. The average per capita subscription was $25.25. The per capita subscription from Indianapolis was $37.00 which was only exceeded by $44.70 subscription per capita from Detroit, and $66.74 subscription per capita from Chicago. Milwaukee's subscription was $35.42 per capita. The per capita subscrip- tion from the State of Indiana, exclusive of Indianapolis, was
William H. O'Brien, Lawrenceburg ; Will H. Wade, Indianapolis ; C. Frederick Childs, Chicago ; Kenneth Macbeth ; R. D. Jackson : Milton Kelly ; Jacob Kiser ; Robert E. Wilsey ; Fred Likely ; John P. Todd ; G. B. Clippinger ; Chester A. Jewett ; Ferd Meyer ; H. Foster Clippinger ; Thomas O. Baxter; J. C. Fisher ; Edwin J. Wuensch ; O. B .. Farr ; George C. Forrey ; Uz McMurtrie, and others.
49
THE WAR PURSE OF INDIANA
$12.80. The total subscriptions recorded from Indiana, in- cluding Indianapolis, were $35,323,000. There is no reason why we cannot exceed that result during the coming cam- paign."?
By the time the Second loan quotas had been established, with at least some degree of accuracy, a feeling began to grow among the leaders of the Indiana organization that Indiana, as well as perhaps other northern states, was being discrim- inated against in favor of southern states as to amounts of quotas. This feeling became acute during the Third loan and resulted then in protest, backed up by figures from many parts of the country, to the Treasury Department. The first ap- pearance of this feeling apparently was on October 5, 1917, when Mr. Wade wrote to Mr. Childs, at Chicago, protesting against the current allotments for the northern counties :
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.