USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Andover > Andover, Massachusetts, in the world war > Part 7
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The sense of a big task well done, - the sense of team work, - the co- operation between government and business, - the realization of the extent and
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THE LIBERTY LOAN CAMPAIGNS
value of the resources, - these and the lessons of thrift signalized the Second Liberty Loan Campaign. These provided the will, the heart, and the self-confi- dence for those loans yet to come.
THIRD LIBERTY LOAN
"A Bond in every home."
In this loan, Andover and North Andover conducted their campaigns as separate and individual towns. The full or cash payments were made to the Andover National Bank, and installment payments were cared for in the Andover Savings Bank.
The quota allotment for Andover was approximately $55, North Andover, $35, and Methuen, $25, per capita. This was the first loan in which the State used a County Organization, with the Chairman located at Salem, an arrange- ment which was continued throughout the remaining Liberty Loan Campaigns.
At the rally meetings of the solicitors, emphasis was placed upon a wide distribution of the bonds among as many people as possible. All solicitors en- deavored to so dispose of the bonds that they would "stay put." This effort gave the citizens a livelier interest in the cause.
The Andover organization which carried on the first and second loans had been built up in structure and detail, and was prepared for an interesting cam- paign. The executive direction had been broadened so that a clearer and more potent organization was ready to launch the local drive. The solicitors did not, therefore, find it so necessary to explain the technical features of the bond or the necessity of subscribing to the limit. The evident increased spirit of saving and the careful scrutiny of personal expenditures were noteworthy.
Andover soon reached its quota and secured the Liberty Loan honor flag, which was suspended in front of the Bank Building.
Accompanying the honor flag was a letter addressed to the Andover Liberty Loan Committee by the State Chairman, which read as follows:
"I want to express my appreciation of your efforts which have so successfully carried the town beyond its quota. Such work as this all over the State has made the campaign a most successful one."
It was found that Andover had produced more single subscriptions in the Third Loan than in either of the other two campaigns, and too, it was found that the labors of the solicitors had been of marked value to the public aside from the result in money loaned.
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ANDOVER IN THE WORLD WAR
The success of the campaign was due to well-prepared plans and careful dis- tribution. The loan got close to the people. Upon many an Andover street every family had purchased one or more bonds.
A portion of the Executive Committee's report to the workers in the third loan follows:
"According to our records the final report of subscriptions in Andover, to the Third Liberty Loan, is as follows;
1. Subscriptions reported by Local Banks direct to the Federal Re- serve Bank $500,000
2. Subscriptions of citizens placed through Banks in other places and reported 265,600
3. Total $765,600
4. Deduct subscriptions of citizens of other districts placed through Local Banks and reported 171,500
Net-2192 Subscriptions $594,100
FOURTH LIBERTY LOAN
" Fighting Fourth." "Borrow and Buy". "Subscribe early and keep your bond."
This loan was the largest financial transaction which had ever taken place in the world and was destined to be realized only by the most intensive and intelli- gent work. Andover knew that if the money was not forthcoming in loans from the people, the Government must conscript it by taxation.
It was the first loan in which the women had participated in any thoroughly organized way. It was the first loan in which taxation features had to be carefully considered by solicitors because excess profits and other kinds of taxes were already affecting purchasers.
The Executive Committee realized that the problem of getting actual buyers was correspondingly more serious. The campaign required three weeks. Parades and mass meetings were not featured. Attention was devoted entirely to the in- dividual solicitation in an overwhelming subscription.
The circulars sent to the 1900 Andover householders and preceding the in- dividual solicitor, read as follows:
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THE LIBERTY LOAN CAMPAIGNS
TOMORROW
JOIN THE FIGHTING FOURTH
Andover's Allotment for the Fourth Liberty Loan
Is More Than $700,000
This must be raised in the next three weeks. It is a BIG UNDERTAKING which demands the support of each man, woman and child.
Everybody Must Buy to the Utmost-
As the Soldier Fights in France.
Solicitors, men and women, will call at every home in town to take your subscription. Meet them with a hearty welcome and send them away with your share of the quota.
Andover has never failed to do her full share
She Will Not Fail This Time
The two banks will receive the subscriptions and do the necessary financing as follows :- The Andover National Bank will accept payments in full and on the Government Plan, viz :- 10% on application 20% December 19, 1918 20% November 21, 1918 20% January 16, 1919 30% January 30, 1919, with interest adjustment. The Andover Savings Bank will accept payments on the monthly payment plan, full particulars of which will appear in the Andover Townsman and be supplied by the solicitors.
Buy Bonds and Keep Them- Increase Your Holdings
Dig In; Dig Deep; Dig Until It Hurts
Act Quickly-Help the Committee in Charge
All Europe is aflame! Your friends, your brothers, your sons are there, fighting the burning land. Will you stand idly by-or will you do your part to help put out the cruel fire?
Keep the blue star blue Don't let it change to gold; The blue star will stay blue If every bond is sold.
Will You Do Your Part?
You Cannot Fight in France-So, Fight with the Fighting Fourth
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ANDOVER IN THE WORLD WAR
Andover had already raised in previous loans all the money for which the Government asked; yet, when the figures were closely scrutinized, they revealed a situation that was not altogether gratifying. The number of subscriptions was clearly short of the proper point. The people realized in the fourth loan the real consequence of being in the war.
The solicitors were therefore impressed with the fact that a generous and general solicitation on the part of each person with small means was necessary. Every detail in connection with bond selling was reviewed and reviewed again with the prospective solicitor.
The Women's Liberty Loan Committee were likewise carefully schooled in the preliminary of this, their first real bond selling campaign, and their work achieved handsome results.
The general plan was as follows:
1st. To visit every householder and endeavor to secure a bond purchased in behalf of every individual in that household.
2nd. To take time for every visit and omit no one.
3rd. To show a kindly interest in everyone and refrain from argument.
4th. To turn in the reports promptly.
This vigorous campaign closed with the following result:
Population - 1910 Census 7301 Quota - Fourth Loan $818,000
Amount of Subscriptions
Item 1. Subscriptions reported by local Banks direct to the Federal Reserve Bank
$893,400
162
271,450
2891
Total
$1,164,850
2891
. Total Brought Forward .
$1,164,850
80
2901
Item 3. Deduct subscriptions placed through local banks with the request that they be credited to other committees Net 113,200
$1,051,650
Number of Subscribers 2819
Item 2. Subscriptions of Andover citizens placed through banks in other communities with the request that An- dover receive credit. This item also includes subscrip- tions of the local Banks (if any) which have been filed by them through correspondent banks in other cities
93
THE LIBERTY LOAN CAMPAIGNS
The County Chairman addressed the Executive Committee as follows:
"I hope you feel as proud of the result in Andover as I do and that you also feel a great satisfaction in having your community do its.full part in what has been the strongest financial test we have yet had to undergo. The result was magnificent.
"I want you to know that only your hearty cooperation and untiring efforts could have produced these results and that this kind of leadership is the thing which will make possible the speedy winning of the war for de- mocracy and justice."
The Executive Committee's report to the workers read in part as follows:
"Andover feels great satisfaction in having the community do its full part in what has been the strongest financial test it has yet had to undergo. The result was due primarily to the loyalty, untiring effort, and close co- operation of solicitors and people. .
"The gratifying features of the campaign in Andover were:
1. The almost unanimous desire, upon the part of Andoverians, to have all of the amount of their subscriptions, wherever m'ade, credited to the ac- count of their home town. The Reserve District desired very careful checking of all such subscriptions, and there were but few cases from whom the credit did not "come through," due presumably to clerical errors in the making of the subscriptions. Resident subscribers in outside banks were themselves solicitous to make sure that Andover did finally receive their credit. If any- one has been overlooked, he can report to the Chairman, and the necessary adjustment and allocation made to Andover's credit even at this date.
2. One in every three persons in the Town made subscriptions. This is a goodly proportion.
3. The last three days of the campaign brought in many of the larger subscriptions. The pledges, however, were made early in the campaign, but no public acknowledgment of the credit could be made until the subscription had been received in regular form.
"Approximately ten per cent of the Country's wealth has been used each year in the prosecution of the war. The resources for the payment of these bills has been derived largely through Bond Issues, War Savings, and Federal Tax. The Bond Issues place upon future generations a portion of the burden; the Federal Tax places upon the present generation a corresponding portion.
"The response to the Fourth Liberty Loan is remarkable, when one con- siders the handicap of the prevailing epidemic, and the magnitude of the financial operation, but patriotic duty was the inspiration of one and all.
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ANDOVER IN THE WORLD WAR
"Another Liberty Loan seems certain, for the American people must finance a just and conclusive peace. They must be prepared to make its success certain and absolute with the same sense of patriotic duty that has supported the previous great Liberty Loans."
FIFTH LIBERTY LOAN
"Liberty Bonds - the means to Victory," "Finish the Job," "Buy early," "Wear the Button," "Buy Another": these were the slogans in Andover for the Fifth or Victory Loan, the second largest of the five, and Andover carried the loan grandly over the top and did her part in spreading the financial load.
Before the Fifth Loan was announced, the Executive Committee were pub- licly encouraging Andover people to cut down their expenditures, to save as much as possible and put the money in the banks where it would be on hand when the Victory Liberty Bond campaign opened. It was foolish to try exemption from the inevitable. The war was over. The job of paying the bills was not over, and the Treasury had already sold certificates of indebtedness and "anticipations." The Victory Loan campaign was the most difficult to sell of all the five Liberty Loans. It was a man's job, and the Andover people applied themselves to it.
Taxes had increased fearfully, and it was no easy task to find Andover people with money to buy. It was not for her, however, to discuss the several evident ways in which the loan might be floated; it was for her to sell her apportion- ment, and more if possible.
The Andover teams were explicitly told that patriotism must float the loan; that they must not regard the bond from a purely commercial basis, as such a loan could not be floated purely for investment purposes.
Our solicitors were advised to direct their influence toward overcoming the feel- ing of reaction which seemed to have taken place since the signing of the armi- stice, in relation to the financial program of the United States. They were in- structed further that the loan was necessary to pay our debts incurred since De- cember 15th, to support the army of occupation in Germany, to watch out for the sick, to demobilize the troops, to care for the wounded, and to readjust our- selves to a condition of peace. So the strong appeal in this loan was to the patriotism, the pride, and even the self-interest of Andover people.
The organization of solicitors met in the Insurance Offices, Friday evening, April 18, 1919. The technical side of the loan was thoroughly discussed before sixty-two men, who showed the same energetic spirit and eagerness to put through this Victorious Fifth.
95
THE LIBERTY LOAN CAMPAIGNS
Ballardvale was likewise thoroughly organized, under the Chairmanship of Mr. William Shaw.
The final data for Andover's record in the Fifth Loan indicated that the town could properly take its place in the list of those cities and towns that "went over the top again." The result was due largely to the loyalty and systematic manner in which the solicitors carried through their work. The results were as follows:
Item 1. Subscriptions reported by the Local Banks direct to the Federal Reserve Banks. $1,002,000
Item 2. Subscriptions placed through Banks in other communities to Andover's credit $ 79,350
Total. $1,081,350
Item 3. Deduct subscriptions placed through Andover Banks with the request that they be credited to other communities. $ 126,350
Net.
$
955,000
Number of subscribers 1095 Quota 613,500
Andover received prizes for her records in the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Loans. Only a few towns of this size showed their patriotism by coming through so splendidly.
The final appearance of the Liberty Loan workers was in the "Welcome Home" Parade on Saturday, September 6, 1919, when they marched in a body, forming on Elm Street, with head on Summer Street.
The results for all five campaigns may be summarized as follows:
No. of Allotment Subscribers
Amount Raised
First Liberty Loan of
$2,000,000,000
$400,000*
1931
$ 434,250
Second Liberty Loan of
3,000,000,000
673,000*
3228
1,249,950
Third Liberty Loan of
3,000,000,000
434,000}
2192
594,100
Fourth Liberty Loan of
6,000,000,000
818,000}
2901
1,051,650
Victory Loan of
4,500,000,000
613,500}
1095
955,000
*(Including North Andover)
t(Including Andover)
For the purpose of making the house to house canvass in the Liberty Loan Campaigns, the town was divided into seven districts as follows:
1. Ballardvale, to and including Woburn Street on to and including Das- comb Road on west.
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ANDOVER IN THE WORLD WAR
2. West Parish, all to and including Lincoln Street, to Lawrence line on North and to George Pillsbury on south.
3. Abbott Village, Brechin Terrace, Shawsheen Road, Cuba Street to Abbot Bridge and up to Railroad on South.
4. Frye Village, Lincoln Street to North Andover line, up Main Street to Stinson Bridge, Old Railroad, and Burnham Road.
5. Holt District, Salem Street to Main, including all streets leading into it and Holt Street to Gardner Avenue.
6. Scotland District, to and including Hidden Road, Gardner Avenue, Stinson, and Holt Streets.
7. Centre. North to Elm Street, including High; North Main from Square including Harding, Stevens, Pearson and Essex; South of Elm in- cluding Summer, Washington Avenue, Avon, Florence, Park and Whittier Sts., Chestnut, Bartlett, Punchard, Morton, Upland, Brook, Central, School, and Phillips Streets.
The following men and women acted as captains of the various districts:
George L. Averill
Mrs. R. S. Bushnell
F. G. Cheney
Mrs. Frank A. Buttrick
C. H. Forbes
Miss Alice Coutts
Frank H. Hardy
Miss Edith Donald
Edmund B. Haynes
Mrs. J. J. Feeney
Samuel P. Hulme
Mrs. Burton S. Flagg
William H. Jaquith
Mrs. Frank M. Foster
Mrs. J. H. Kidder
Harry Sellars Mrs. Arthur W. Bassett
Mrs. John A. Morrill
with the following corps of lieutenants:
John C. Angus
Mrs. Bernard Allen
R. N. C. Barnes
Miss Helen W. Battles
P. J. Barrett
Miss Alice Bell
K. R. Batchelder
Miss Katherine Berry
Joseph Battles
Mrs. F. L. Brigham
Howard W. Bell S. D. Berry
Mrs. Frank T. Carlton
H. A. Bodwell
Miss Mabel Carter
A. T. Boutwell
Mrs. George Cheever
F. S. Boutwell
Miss Minnie S. Cheever
Roy H. Bradford
Mrs. Walter Buck
Mrs. M. W. Colquhoun
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THE LIBERTY LOAN CAMPAIGNS
97
F. L. Brigham
Mrs. Cecilia Derrah
F. A. Buttrick
Mrs. C. T. Dole
G. R. Cannon
Mrs. P. J. Donovan
Mrs. Carl Elander
Gerard Chapin William B. Cheever
Mrs. Douglas Fleming
George Christie
Mrs. John Flint
L. A. Dane
Miss Bessie Goldsmith
Walter Donald
Mrs. Edith Grant
J. Dugan L. O. Duncklee
Mrs. Arthur W. Hall
Eldon Fleury C. J. Francis
Mrs. E. E. Hammond
W. H. Gibson
Mrs. Charles W. Henry Mrs. C. W. Holland
F. B. Goff
Mrs. Henry Hopper
N. C. Hamblin
Mrs. Lester Newton
E. E. Hammond Laurence Hannon
Miss Edith Kendall
W. H. Higgins C. A. Hill
Mrs. Stanley Lane Mrs. A. B. LeBoutillier
G. M. R. Holmes
Dr. H. F. Holt
Mrs. David Lindsay
John V. Holt
Miss Genevieve McNally
Jonathan E. Holt
Mrs. Frederic G. Moore Miss Grace Morse Mrs. J. H. Morss
Frederick R. Hulme
Mrs. John O'Connell
Louis Huntress
Mrs. H. F. Perkins
Mrs. T. M. Platt
Miss Clara Putnam
Miss Mary E. Richards
Miss Mary Robinson
E. V. Lovely A. E. Ludlum
Mrs. C. W. Scott Miss Simmons Mrs. Fred Smith
Mrs. H. H. Smith
Miss Mary L. Smith
Miss Clara Thompson
Miss Edith Valpey
Miss Dora E. Ward
Mrs. E. M. Weeks Mrs. Monte Whitcomb
Ralph O. Ingram Gile Johnson Walter Lamont E. L. L'Archer David Lawson
Timothy Mahoney Joseph Mccarthy Frank McGuire M. B. McTernen George R. Miller W. K. Moorehead Charles Morse
Miss Anna Kuhn
L. H. Homes C. R. Hughes
Mrs. Arthur Jackson
C. A. Gilbert
Miss Adah F. Hall
Mrs. N. C. Hamblin
98
ANDOVER IN THE WORLD WAR
James Morss James Mosher J. Harry Playdon Frank H. Paige C. A. Parmelee H. F. Perkins Everts C. Post H. M. Poynter John A. Riley Joseph B. Scott William Orr
Mrs. P. B. Whittemore
Irving R. Shaw Joseph Stott
F. A. Swanton
A. P. Thompson
W. H. Thompson
R. A. Watson
E. M. Weeks
2
Horace D. Wood
W. D. Yates George J. York
5
JOHN J. GEAGAN Private, 1st Gas Regiment, U. S Army Killed in action, November 1, 1918
[ 100]
V
THE THRIFT AND WAR SAVING STAMPS CAMPAIGN
BY FREDERIC G. MOORE
"Think naught a trifle, though it small appear; Small sands the mountain, moments make the year."
T O bring the World War to a successful issue, it was essential that the Treasury should be well supplied with money. In raising the necessary amount, the various Liberty and Victory Loan campaigns were, as we have seen, of incalculable importance; but the sale of Thrift and War Saving Stamps, while necessarily on a smaller scale, was of no less significance, not only because of the actual financial help to the government but also because of the spirit which it revealed in people who were by no means wealthy.
The scheme of Thrift and War Saving Stamps was devised with the aim of opening the door of opportunity for aiding in winning the war to all people, the poor as well as the rich, the children as well as the adults. As a by-product, the federal authorities had also other ends in view: the encouragement of thrift among all classes of society, and the elimination of that thoughtless expenditure of money for non-essentials, a habit deplorable enough in times of peace but inexcusable in the stringent years of war.
The general plan was simple. Thrift stamps could be purchased at the post office at twenty-five cents each, and pasted upon a so-called "thriftcard". When this card had twenty stamps, aggregating five dollars, it could be exchanged for a "war saving stamp", which could be held by the owner until maturity, or turned into cash at any post-office in a time of emergency.
Andover, excluding Ballardvale and a portion of West Andover (both of which were attached to the Lowell District), consisting of about seven thousand inhabitants, was allotted a quota of $140,000. It needs only a glance at these figures to see that the task of the Andover committee was likely to be stupendous.
In January, 1918, Mr. Frederic G. Moore was named as local director of War Saving Stamp activities, with the following gentlemen as his executive com- mittee: Mr. William B. Cheever, Mr. Frank L. Cole, Mr. Herbert E. Russell, Mr. Henry C. Sanborn, and Mr. W. Dudley Yates. As the work developed, sub- committees were appointed, with Messrs. Russell and Yates in charge of the mills and manufacturing plants, Mr. Sanborn of the public schools, Mr. Cheever of the fraternal, social, and mercantile organizations, and Mr. Moore of the churches and private schools.
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ANDOVER IN THE WORLD WAR
These sub-committees began at once an intensive and regular cultivation of their respective fields. From the oldest inhabitant to the baby of the family, the town was covered by agents in personal solicitation, the endeavor being to reach every one. Posters were displayed in public places, and a systematic can- vass was instituted.
Unfortunately for the opening of the campaign, the notion became current that the government relied almost entirely for success in this particular movement upon the purchases of the stamps by citizens of small means, and especially by school children. When, however, it was appreciated that the large sum of $140,000 was expected from only seven thousand people, it was obvious that the burden was beyond the resources of the small investors. The committee, when con- fronted with the situation, at once made an appeal to the financial institutions of the town, as well as to a large number of the more well-to-do citizens, to purchase issues in the sum of $1000, the maximum amount set by the Treasury Department. To this procedure, more than to any thing else, the attainment of the quota may be attributed.
The Andover Post Office, under the exceedingly capable and constant direc- tion of Mr. Frank S. McDonald, the Assistant Postmaster, did valiant work. The carriers spent many hours overtime, selling stamps, with no thought of offi- cial recognition or promotion. Mr. John A. Burtt led the carriers in the amount of sales. He was closely followed by carriers Joseph H. Blunt, John Lewis, Raymond McIntosh, James J. Feeney, and Vincent J. Irvine.
The schools, too, rendered effective cooperation. A regular organization was established in the School Department, and weekly sales to the pupils were made by those in charge. Many instances of self-denial on the part of girls and boys were recounted, and it is undeniably true that in a large number of cases habits of thrift and saving were definitely fixed.
On May 30, 1918, the President of the United States issued a proclamation in which he earnestly appealed to all men, women, and children to pledge themselves on or before the 28th of June, to save constantly, and to buy as regularly as pos- sible securities of the government, but to do this mainly through membership in War Saving Societies.
In accordance with this injunction a drive for pledges was made during the week ending June 28, 1918. It was opened with a mammoth rally, held in the Town Hall, on Sunday, June 23. The Presiding Officer was Joseph L. Burns, Es- quire. Invocation was offered by the Reverend E. Victor Bigelow, Pastor of the South Church. The principal speaker of the evening was Arthur Mack, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, who, to quote his own words, when he found that our country was not going into the war, "declared war himself, enlisted with the Canadian forces, and went over on a horse transport". He thrilled the audience with stories of his experiences with the Allied Forces overseas, some of his escapes from death and serious injury having bordered on the miraculous, - hence the
103
THRIFT AND SAVINGS STAMPS
name "Shell Proof Mack", by which he was best known. Intense interest and enthusiasm was aroused at the meeting, and the solicitation for pledges commenced early the following day.
This campaign was conducted largely by an organization of women directed efficiently by Mrs. Charles S. Buchan, who, although just through with a "drive" for the Red Cross, went with renewed vigor at the task in hand. The quota of pledges assigned to Andover was 2200 names. At the end of the week the Director was proud to be able to wire the Boston headquarters, "Andover has exceeded her Quota!"
The large quota imposed by the government on the Commonwealth of Massa- chusetts was never reached. Andover, however, exceeded her allotment by rather more than ten per cent. She occupied the seventeenth position among the cities and towns of Massachusetts, and actually led Essex County. The County Cup was at first awarded erroneously to Swampscott; but when the corrected records were examined and it was found that a mistake had been made, neighbor Swamp- scott gracefully yielded in favor of Andover, the legitimate winner.
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