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Liberty Loan Sacrifices Far Outdone in Civil War Nation Would Need to Raise $74,000,000,000 With European and New York Money Markets Hostile, Half the Country Walled Out, to Equal the Stupendous Effort Made From 1861 to 1865 By William J. Black f-?-?\HE cataclysm of war throws the | social surface up Into bold new outlines in the third dimension. The World War has heaved the Na ?io: >al Railroad system into being. The Civil War, further centralizing the Union, brought forth the national bank? ing system. Short as is our national history It 1? rich in precedents for our present se? curity and progress The Civil War was fertile in adventures, social, finan. cial and military, which now stand us in good stead. Washington has not been without its historio guidance In alt those vast undertakings of 1017. The'decimal point has boon moved two intervals. We talk in billions in? stead of tens of millions. Fundamen? tally} we proceed as before. Great courage can be derived from the analysis of Secretary of the Treas? ury Salmon P. Chase and his co-aelju tor. Jay Cooko's, desperate difficulties and their final triumph in financing the Civil War. Were the nation now put to such a test It would be obliged to raise ?74.000,000,000 in four years, and that with a hostile European and New York money market, and with half the nation walled out, Cooke Inventor of Loan Crusades How Chase encountered amazing in, difference to his demands in the monej market, how he was forced to X"Csor! to "legnl tender," paper issues, the "greenbacks," the fiat money of popu lar contempt, how the Civil War loam went begging without a taker througr the dark days of 1SG1, how tho nv tional banking system came into beinj in the tragic emergency, how Ja: Cooko invented the Liberty Loan prop aganda, how he sold the nationa bonds to tho farmers, the mechanic? tho soldiers and tho nurses, and hov by advertising national security am national thrift this remarkable mai restored the credit of the nntion am forged the bullet, that won the war be comes to us now not merely a narra tive of high dramatic values but . prophecy and an inspiration. These Civil War financiers did no merely find the United States's Treas ury depleted "by the treachery of thei successor?," they did not merely di? cover the bankers to be skeptical o Union success: they encountered th dilficu!';: of veiling national bonds to general public which knew nothing c this kind of investment and which ha yet to learn tho habits of natiom thrift. The greatest achievement of Chas and Cooke was winning the war. momentous achievement was the inst tution of the national banking syster But the development of the agency w; even as important, the great America experiment by the people in investir in their own government. Cool preached thrift. He put patriotism c a basis of ownership of the institi tion-. He gave hundreds of thousanc of workers, business men and soldie a financial stake in the security of tl United .States government. Based on Voluntary Investment of Savings Tho promoters of our present gre Liberty Loan distributions had Cookf foundation to work on. Both Coo and Chase knew that the whole fabi of national credit and of the Union it pettded upon the voluntary invest me of savings in national bonds. The lessons had only been half learned the American people, however. It i eiuired the World War to teach it them thoroughly. Never was a man in more despcni straits than war, Secretary Chase wh the war broke. Southern financie Southern sympathizers, were plentif in banking circles. After rather ahji pleading Chase and his friend, J Cooke, the Philadelphia banker, i eluced an association <>i' bankers form lor the purpose to advance tho gi eminent $50,000,000 on Treasury \v? rants, the loan to be met by seven thirty-year bonds, tho first 7-:,in, they were called. The president of t New York ?lank of Commerce solemr addressed the Secretary of the Tre: ury in- these word.;: "Mr. Chase, you have now receive from tlie associated banks tile va sum of $50,000,000. We all earnest hope this sum will be sufficient i end the war. Should it not pro\ enough wo wish to notify you th; [ you cannot depend upon further aid ; from tho associated banks." Within four years the government . raised and spent sixty times this $50,? 000,000, discovering its vast fundameh : tal resources to lie, not in banks, but in production. But every one, at the I outset, made the grievous mistake of assuming that the Rebellion would be 1 put down within sixty days. Many vicissitudes were encountered before banks and producers discovered themselves, and the genius of Jay Cooke unquestionably helped in dis? closing to the giant its own strength, Easy, indeed, is Secretary McAdoo's tusk with the bankers cheering him on. But Secretary Cha so resorted it. threats at first. He vowed that he , would go back to Washington and . issue fiat money. Chase said: "The Rebellion must be put. down if we have 1o put out paper and it takes . a thousand dollars to buy a breakfast." As a matter of fact Chase did ulti ; mately issue paper and lots of it, and it finally cost a good deal to buy a breakfast, and thero was much scorn of the Federal inflated currency in Kurope, where "Tho London Times" said our credit wasn't worth a cent, Knter Jay Cooke, in the role of boost? er of the? national credit. This pros? perous Philadelphia banker was born in Sandusky, Ohio, in 1821. His bank? ing house was already extensive, with branches in New York and elsewhere. He brothercd the sensitive, ambition.?., puritanical Chase. His close relation, ship with tho Secretary of tho Treas? ury excited much jealousy. He was challenged in Congress for his earn? ings as agent for the bond issues. He was obliged to explain certain bond and stock buyings on Chase's private account. He earned for himself, finally, some $-100.000 out of his exten. sive financing operations and lived in almost Roman grandeur on his Phila? delphia estate. But his labors for the nation were apparently as sincero as they were successful. His government rewards were inadequate, considering how he risked his own fortune, and, if he were disposed to help Chase financially Chase's super-sensitive conscience did not admit of a single such inciden? worthy of Congressional rebuke after investigation. Fought Distrust With His Own Money The dav after the disastrous battle of Bull Hun, in 1861, Jay Cooke started out and secured subscriptions for > loan to the government. He raised $1,737,000 personally in four hours. He fought back financial distrust, lie or? ganized national confidence, resorting to advertisements paid for out of hit own pocket. Ho started the first Lib? erty Loan propaganda with placards speeches, agents, advertisements an? appeals. Inducing Secretary Chase to appoint him as the general agent of the Treas? ury, on a basis of one-eighth of 1 per cent for expenses, Cooke appointee 2.000 sub-agents and began, from his Philadelphia headquarters, a lavish campaign with the press, which helpet him so materially to achieve his re? markable success. He not only used advertising space in the newspapers, but he also per suaded the editors to publish lists ol subscribers to the loans, inventing th< effective application of psychology t< the campaign, which consists in pub lishing the totals each day, thus urginj tho public on to an ever Hearing anc a challenging goal. Cooke had by December, 1861, bor rowed from the farmers, mechanics capitalists and business men $198, 000,000, under these issues: 2-year 6% notes.$11,000,000 60-day 6% notes. l??.OoO.OOO 3-year 7 3-10% bonds... 50,000,000 Repeated in October_ 50,000.000 20-year 7% bonds. 40,000,000 Demand notes. 25,000,000 But the condition of the Trcasur; was still dire. Not a little of the fund had been wasted. The expenses of til war mounted alarmingly. Disaste waited on the Union arms. It was no until two years later that Jay Cook finally wrested national credit fror national defeat. The history of th intervening months is picturesqu with military and financial crises. An all the while there was in gestation th national banking system, born of dis aster. Secretary Chase called for $21 1, 000,000 to carry on tho war until Jun< 1862. Mo then estimated that for th year following June, 1862, there woul be required $-100,000,000. Rut in De cember, 1862, he was obliged to ca: for $90-1,000,000 for the next year an a half. The near-vision of the asso ciated banks had not pictured such colossal undertaking. And, as will b seen, none but Jay Cooke could eve then picture the comparative ease wit which the nation could meet thos demands. In 1861 the public shied at Secretar Chase's first issue of $50,000,000 pape with which to repay the associate janks. They would not. accept it as THE MEN WHO FINANCED THE CIVIL WAR Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury Jay Cooke, Financier legal tender. Chaso v,as obliged to re i sort to a forced loan, effected by the i simplo expedient of issuing paper cur? rency which the government made legal ' tender for all debts but government ! debts. This legal tender issue, how I ever, bore interest. Congress presently embodied this ' plan in a statute and authorized the I issuance of $150,000,000 in greenbacks. I Tho payment of specie had been suh t pended." Gold and silver were hoarded ' and disappeared as a medium of ox change. - Tho government paper currency slumped 30 per cent below gold par. Commodity prices rose. Flour sold at. ! $5.50 a barrel. The lower tho purchas ing power of this paper currency fell, the higher went the cost of purchasing munitions and supplies to carry on the ' war. Soldiers were paid in a de ! preciated paper money. Gold became a commodity, like I wheat, of fluctuating price and specu I lativo interest. "Gold pits" took the place of "wheat pits" in the specula? tive markets. Buying and selling gold became a sp?culative frenzy. With gold quoted at 133 on foreign exchange, American exports amounting \ to $14,390,000 brought in onlv $10, 793,000 in gold. Tho country seemed flooded with Federal legal tender and with "state money," issued by the state banks, which state money Chaso now threat? ened to tax out o? existence. But "state's rights," the very issue upon which the war was being fought, proved a stumbling block in the way of an efficient Federal banking plan. Pressed On to National Bank's Goal Congress was reluctant to levy direct or indirect taxes, lest the political part?, which imposed the heavy taxes miglr suffer. Tho issues of fiat money wen' on. Secretary Chase, however, met thesi supreme emergencies in spite of criti cism, and pressed on toward bis na tionnl banking idea!. Of his lega tender issues he said: "Tho issuance of intercst-bearlni paper currency and notes througl banking associations is the germ of ; national banking law." Interest-bearing paper issues wer succeeded by non-interest bearin; issues. Smashing down the oppositio to greenback money, Reprcsentativ Kellogg, o( Illinois, said to Congress ".Members will vote 600,000 of th flower of American youth to be sacri ficed without a blush, but the grea interest of capital, of money, must nc be touched. We have summoned th youth and they have come. I woul summon the capital, and if it docs ne come voluntarily, 1 would take ever cent from the treasury of individual and press it into the use of the goveri ment." The government legal tender bil passed February 23, 1862. The Ni tional Banking act passed in Januai of 1864. "In this way," said n New York ed tor, "the government was saved tl humiliation of shinning through tl barber shops." "Shinning through the barbe shops" is precisely what tho natie again did and what in reality disco' creel to the nation its own fundament resources. Loans that could have been made direct discount were made at larj discounts. Indeed,the banks urged th method in preference. Chase liad bei obliged to pay as high as 17 per ce for loans in the market. In i^'i:? the government was spoil ing $1,250,000 a day. The soldiers In not been paid for a long time. Hu; sums were due '.lie munitions contra tors. Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia that year took this critical view of affairs: "Unfortunately the Secretary thought paper promises were capital, and that, for the Treasury to borrow, it was first necessary to supply the paper to bo borrowed, in the form of money. He thought, a Inrge issue of paper money \ must precedo a loan. The only capital which can bo loaned is derived from profit on industry and commerce." The banks refused to accept the gov? ernment's paper. They ceased to pay out specie. In tho face of these untoward con? ditions, Chase said: "There has been no expansion of the currency, only contraction." Tho census for ISliO showed a total national investment in industry of $900,000,000, and a total industrial out? put, of $1,700,000,000. These resources remained in great part untapped in 1862. The disappearance of specie obliged the government to issue "shinplasters," small paper currency. Postage, stamps wore in common use for small change. Pennies coined out of nickel made their appearance. Later these worn postage stamps were repudiated by the govern? ment at a loss of millions of dollars to the unfortunate holders. Interest rates rnn exceedingly high in spite of tho plethora of paper, because in? terest was payable in gold. Rates ran as high as 10 per cent and Bonds sold as low as 06. In January, 1863, Congress provided for a National Banking System, and authorized the issuance of $100,000,000 additional government notes, and $300,000,000 in current 6% bonds and S600,000,000 bonds for issuance in 1861, also $400,000,000 in 6e; Treasury notes, legal tender, redeemable in gov? ernment notes, also $150,000,000 addi? tional government notes. The taxation of stato bank bills now sounded the death knell of state currency. If the investing public rose to the situation and if the people gave moral couragi to the new National Banking system the financial crisis might pass. From Charles Sumner's speech in the Senate, in 1864, wo get this remarkable parallel between Civil War bankinj conditions and our 1917 railroad con ditions: "The mensuro under consideratior seeks to create a new currency by ? system of national banks which shal supersede the existing state banks ai agents of currency. I entreat you no to allow these national banks to b< sacrificed to state's rights by exposinj them to state taxes. "State banks are not competent ti meet the present crisis. We must havi another system, especially at a time o national peril. The state banks are ii the way. It is no longer expedient tha state banks should have the power t issue money. "Colbert founded the commercia system of France; Peel founded th fiscal policy of Britain. The presen Secretary of the Treasury may boas in the end that ho gave a new cur rency to this country. "An improved currency will be lik a new levy of national troops?a ne? navy afloat. "We have been warned not to sla the goose that lays the golden eggi meaning by this goose the stato bank: But there is another bird of mightic plumage which lays such eggs as n state, bank can hatch, eggs not morel of gold, bul of victory. It is the in tional credit." Meanwhile, the vast sources of ni tional wealth had been tapped by Ja Cooke's bond-distribution methods. I 1861 he tried it; in the face of the Bu Kun disaster. In ISf.L? he had restore Cue credit, of the government with r< spect to its bond issues by exhibitin to the world the confidence of the pe( plo in their own government an destiny. Tho astonishing success of his mar? keting tho groat $600,000,000 five and twenty-year bonds, issued in 1862, re I captured the confidence of Europe, gave courage, to the Lastern money-lenders, enlisted the hearts of the people in the war anew, inspired the soldiers in tho field and correspondingly daunted the South. Tho Jay Cooke 5-20 Na? tional Bond campaign was at once a departure and a victory. At tho moment when, after tho sec? ond battle of Bull Run, the officials were moving from Washington in fear of its immediate occupation by the enemy, when tho department clerk? ? were organizing to barricade their ! buildings, when the streets of the capi j tul were crowded with people trucking their effects in flight, when his own j brother was writing him feverishly to j "work off his government securities" j lest he lose his private fortune invested i in government bonds in the American : debacle, Jay Cooke started out to en ! list the dollars, of the rank and file fox l the defence of the republic. Secretary Chase had already been offering this $500,000,000 of 5-20 bonds to the capitalists, and ho complained that he couldn't sell a single one, not one. From Oberholtzer's excellent biography of Cooke one gets vivid pict? ures of the Cooke campaign, and from tho files of the daily newspapers of that year one derives a fair idea of the 'first extensive Liberty Loan campaign. Some critics said of this $500,000,000 5-20 issue that it was "a conversion, not a loan," inasmuch as the 'earlier legal tender issues were payable in these bonds. Bo that as it may, it drew the money from the people as volunteers. The Cooke campaign wont over into 1863, gaining impetus week by week, month by month. Says "The Philadelphia Inquirer" ol April 9, 1863: "It. would rejoice the heart of every patriot if he could witness in person the daily operation at the agency of tho National Loan in this city. The agents for tho loan su amid piles of orders for bonds by mail, flights of orders by telegraph and incessant orders by word of mouth. The figures run into tens and hundreds of thousands and mill? ions. Hero is a letter from a lady in Camden, N. J., who orders $300, and there is one from St. Paul, Minn., for $12,500. Here is one from Potts ville, Penn., for $1,000, and another from Pittsburgh for $15,000. Near one desk stands a nursery maid who wants a bond for ,$50, and, just be? hind her, a portly business man who asks for $25,000. "Whatever misgiving they may have had in the dark days of the war have all passed away, and they are now laying their treasure on the altar of their country with patriotic confidence." Cooke Solicited All to Buy From Jay Cooke's circular, which h scattered broadcast among the farmer: soldiers and business men, under th caption, "The Best Way to Put Mono Out at Interest," one gets the follow ing argument: "So rapidly has the loan been taken by the* public that only $200, 000,000 "remain unsold. In view of the obstacles that Mr. Chase had to contend with at every turn, his bureau swarmed with traitors, the Treasury depleted by the treachery of his predecessors, the success o? his efforts is almost inconceivable. "He has preserved our national credit?he has paid the expenses ol the government, and now he is re? ceiving aid from the people at the rate of $2,000.000 a day. Mr. Chas? has not asked any assistance frorr abroad. Knowing the loyaltv of the I people, he has appealed to them, I with what success the $10,000,000 or | $12,000,000 pouring weekly into the j Treasury will best answer." In all parts of the country the news ! papers entered into the novel campaign j with zest. The whole nation became ', eloquent with appeals to the patriotism : of tho pocketbook, with maxims of | thrift, with lessons in the fundamenta? j economy of war finance, and in the backing of tho war with the savings of I agriculture, industry and commerce i and with entreaties that those at home should back up tho soldier on tho fir? ing line with dollars. Cities and states competed for honors in tho subscription lists. The Ja> Cooko agencies sent 2,000 men around lecturing, organizing, supplying the press with material, placing advertise? ments and distributing circulars. These urged upon the public "the desirability of our own people owning the national : debt." Movements were reported on bulletin boards in the largest cities. Totals were posted each day in tho newspa? pers. The names of subscribers were published. The dead walls cried Na? tional Bonds and the trees by the high? way called aloud the nation's financial needs. In September of 1863 all the news? papers carried this display advertise? ment, characteristic of the Cooke cam? paign: SPECIAL NOTICE! The sales of the UNITED STATES SIX PER CENT LOAN CALLED 3-20,s have amounted for many weeks past to OVER TWO MILLIONS OF DOLLARS DAILY. THE FIRST OF JULY is rapidly approaching when the public will no longer have the right to subscribe for this desirable loan, the principal and interest of which is payable in GOLD. FORWARD AT ONCE YOUR MONEY through local agencies, or direct t? JAY COOKE Subscription Agent 111 S. Third St., Philadelphia. In the first loan distributions Cooke risked his private fortune and paid large sums for advertisements out of his own pocket. By this time, how? ever, the Secretary of the Treasury recognized the efficiency of advertising and of organization and he allowed Cooke one-eighth of 1 per cent for selling the loan. Cooke made nearly half a million out of it, and "The New York World" demanded to know why he should have a monopoly. Congress, too, was captious. But the thrift prop? aganda went on. "A Word to Gold Hoarders" was on* of the pertinent captions of a Cooke circular. The hoarders began to turn their hoardings into the laps of the agents. Even "copperhead" Baltimore? and half-rebel Kentucky bought liber? ally of the bonds. Farmers in Mary? land and in Ohio who had never before seen a bond went, into their socks and under their rafters for their savings. Said "The Philadelphia Press" in a campaign issue: "An encouraging feature was the demand for bonds from sections from which there had hitherto been no call for this class of investment, Maryland, Virginia and the border states. A soldier in the Army of the Potomac sent a subscription out of Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, and Jay Cooke, Phila? delphia Banker, Then Invented Spectacular Bond Selling Crusade ?Their Financing Won War and Founded National Bank System ! his pay with this remark: 'If I fight I hard enough my bond.? will be good.' Another soldier wrote: 'I am willing to trust Uncle Sam; if he is not good nobody else is." " From "The Philadelphia Inquirer" one gets this item: "(.ire man had a big sum ?lun? over his shoulder. Another offered $20,000. All cia.sses may congratu? late themselves that they have hero found a stock that will be perfectly safe." Jay Cooke. lent, encouragement with interviews in all the newspapers. Our 1917 campaigns only perfected the ex? cellent Cooke methods, as for example: "in the last six days 800 persons have subscribed in Philadelphia, nearly ?mounting to a regiment. Their charge of money-bags is quite as efficient as a ehargo of bayonets." Cooke organized the forces ol* the railroad.*, securing subscriptions from thousands of employes on each roao. He raised flags over the doorways t? ; his agency offices. He advocated the j paying of munition contractors in na? tional bonds. He sent his brother, i Henry, through the West with the in? junction: "Keep the newspapers fired i up daily." An example of newspaper appeal is ! found in "the Hollidaysburg Register" strikingly suggestive of the Liberty ; Loan appeals of to-day, thus: "Our administration wants money ' to perpetuate the best government that the world ever saw and asks ua to loan it money at 6 per cent. Are we less patriotic than the French? Never was there a time when there , was so much money in Blair County seeking investment as at present. , Here is a raro chanco to show our loyalty and profit ourselves. Then coma on with your spare cash and help your country give rebellion the finishing stroke." Cooke, one discovers from his inter? views, was bent on placing these bonds i with "the rank and file of the people? : the people who bore the weight of the ; war as they bore the knapsack and the ; musket." "Money," he said, "is the great power 1 in the war and will win the war at last." "To farmers, mechanics and capital ? ists!" thus ran his display advertise? ment appeal. Under this caption he I made this argument: "You have a solemn duty to perform to your government and to posterity. "Our gallant array and navy must be i supported by every man and woman ; who has any means, large or small. j "What our revolutionary fathers are i to us we will be to the coming genera I tions. Talk not of taxes; they secure ! loans. Take the loans and the taxes i will fall more lightly." So tremendous was the appeal that ' $12,000,000 a week was soon pouring ; into the Treasury. On November 1, :, 1863, 5,000 persons, farmers, workmen, women, capitalists and Congressmen, ! subscribed $5,000,000. So large were i the subscriptions on the last day that , the loan was over-subscribed by $11, ; 000,000. This feat was acclaimed as being without parallel in the history of '? finance. These bonds presently sold i at a premium. The New York ?Tribune | later, in 1873, at the time of Cooke's | later losses in Northern Pacific, paid \ this tribute to the man's triumphant career as the financier of the Civil War: "Nothing can wipe out the debt the country owes the patriotic and the marvellously energetic banker, Jay Cooke." Cooke Had Tapped j True Source of Wealth Cooke distributed other successful ? issues lor Secretary Chase. Apple ! ton says, however, that during the re? mainder of the war "no embarrass? 1 ments attended the administration ot ' the finances." The true sources of national wealth had been discovered ? and tapped. Cooke was the Moses who | smote the rock and thereafter it con? tinued to gush forth. Chase's receipts from honds in 1863 | '04 were as follows: ; 5-20 6 per cent bonds.$321,000,000 i 2-year 5 per cent notes- 152,000,000 Cooke's activities were employed in i the marketing of the following issues: i 5-20 loan..S513.000.00C ?10-40 loan. 200,000,000 ! 7-30 loan. 830,000,000 Secretary Chase acknowledged ; "Cooke's admirable skill and his hearty services." Cooke was also enthusias ' tic in support of the national banking ; system and established the first na? tional bank in Washington, as well a; the first in Philadelphia. Shortly after the peace, the question j of retiring the greenbacks by resuming j the payment of specie became a prob? lem, solved after the fashion of Slier , man, who said that "the way to resume i was to resume." And goi<; pa?, meats were promptly made in ro(j.- rr.ption of all Federal obligations, thus liquidat? ing honorably the debt of tho nation. By odd coincidence, Salmon P. Chas? the issuer of legal tender, now mad? Chief Justice of the Supreme Conn sat upon the legal tender case? in liti? gation. Jay Cooke established a New Yor'< and a London branch and embarked o.>, vast railroad promotion enterprise*. He was auout to solve hi? difficulties with the slumping Northern Pacific Railroad in 1870, by making a loan in Prussia when Louis Napoleon npset his plans by making war on Prussia. Cooke's banking houses closed in th? crash, and although he lived in ftatc to a rip-? old ag<? in "Cooke ?-. Folly,"a vast estate near Philadelphia, he never recovered his preeminent financial standing. In this respect his career had a parallel in that of Robert, Morr 5, the I financier of the American Revolution, I though Morris raised sum- of *50.0n<*i ! where Cooke raised ioar"! of 550,000, 000. The: First Napoleon"; European j operations broke Robert Morris, ?cd ? because of the harsh bankruptcy lawt i of thst period Morris ??vent to priso?? \ for debt. Morris, too, was handicapped j by his marble palace in Philadelphia. ! Both Morris and Cooke have leen nef. i lected by the Republic, which erects its j monuments to horses with men trying to stay on them rather than to pa 1 trjots afoot. Our prosent financial labors deau? I a lhodern Hercules. But the task wil , not daunt us if wo measure the tail ; successfully performed by ?Ies?r! ; Chase and Cooke. A comparative tab'.? ! even of this sketchy nature, is suggei ' tive: j Resource? of hanks in 18S!.. $1.500,100,0? : Re.-ourees of bank?; in 1317.. ?7,000,000,00 i Raised by bonds 'J;;rinff Civil War . 3.000.000,01: I Total cost of Ci? ?I War. *,00''.n00,0( [ Proportionate ?meant th it cootd row be? raised in four yean? . 74,000,000,0< ?Amount voted already, 1317.. Ci/JOe-.OOO.Ot ; WeaJth of American people, 1917.2'.,5,OO0,0ri0>0t i Income of people, 1&17. 40,000,000,0' j Industrial turnover, 1017. BO.OOO.OOO.O1 [ Total national in-.-estmont in . industry in I860. 900,000,0 'Total industrial output, 1860. 1.700,000,0 ? Excess of deposita over ?oars, 1 <*] 7 . 6,500,000,0 Interest on $22,000.000,000 . 2,60 ,000,0 Annual absorption of securi? ties, 1916. 2,600,000,0 Earniupra of hanks, 1017. ;3 per cent mo than normal. Our resources are now moro thi twenty-five times as great. It i.-; dont ful if tho calls of the World War up us can ever be proportionately as gre as those of the Civil War. But ev should this prove true, we can find co fort in tho fact that seven years aft the Civil War three-eighths of the ce of it had been paid off. We May Reach Japanese Standard Jay Cooke gave us a primary le.-s in national thrift. Mr. McAdoo. wi his Liberty Loans and his War Sari Stamp loans, is giving us an intern diate lesson. Pres?ntly -we will ha a senior lesson. Japan could give Her people are very poor. But 1 928,000 of them havo savings accoun a larger proportion than we can bot of. Her own people are investing her government securities. In o year 900,000 new accounts have be opened up. In 1914 there were 2,94 000 students with savings accounts Japan. These challenging comparisons 8 being used in the nation-wide thr campaign now being promoted by < American Bankers' Association, 1 figures quoted being supplied by A. Welton and M. W. Harrison, of tl organization. In 1861 the Civil War financi found the rank and file of the peo ignorant of what national bonds we Vallandigham, the arch-sedition; used to catch the masses by exhibit a $5 Treasury gold bill as "Democra party money," a Civil War governmi bond vs. "Republican money" and "shinplaster" as the money "we : coming to.-' But before Jay Cooke got throt his spectacular and invaluable thi campaigns he had already nailed the dead walls, the bulletin boards, post.-, and the trees the very princip of the present day thrift drive i bodied in the programme underly the War Savings Stamp propagan thus: Discourage savings bank withdraw Eliminate waste. Stimulate production. Encourage saving. Jay Cooke well displayed his gr of the fundamentals of war finance this sentence: ?'The credit of the government is pressed by the enthusiasm vith wh the people meet the calls of the Tr< urv." The First Forgotten Hero of the War? 9eneral Leman, Defender of Liege ?j By Major Leon Osterrieth Belgian Military Attach?, Chief of the Belgian Military Mission in T. S. A. Ai ABLE has just been received by the Belgian Legation an? nouncing that General Leman, the gallant defender of Li?ge, has ar? rived at Zurich, .Switzerland. He was a great leader a trained officer, who had passed through the Military School, the Engineering and Artillery School and the War College. Leman soon became professor in these different establishments for military training, where during many years he taught mathematics and the art of war. He was named governor of the forti? fied position of Li?ge only a few months before tho shameful violation of Belgian territory by tho German army. He soon knew every sector of the glacis and every cupola of the forts, lie was confronted by the most formidable administrative difficulties which would have made the most brave hesitate. He soon solved (hese prob? lems. The garrison under his com? mand was constantly m training, and, on a certain day when he wits gallop ing upon the crest of "Saint Tilment," lie might have been heard to say,point? ing to the (]ecy> woods of the Sclessin Forest and the misiy valley of the Ourthe, "it is through there they will attack us." A few weeks after that the Prussian assault was launched one night with terrific thunder of guns from tiiese 1 woods of Sclessin. Leman was one of the tew Belgians who were not at all surprised by the outbreak of the war. lie knew how to carry on this war with, all his might. However, never a soldier found him? self in u situation more critical, not to say more desperate. Before him. beyond the misty plains, was the- im? mense and formidable unknown power of a most terrible military organiza? tion. One could not think of it with? out misgiving. To stop this force he could count on no assis tance. He had been informed that the army orders for our four divisions contem? plated a concentration upon the Kivcr Gottc, which was to be only an "obser? vation position." He knew that the Bel? gian-government had informed France and (?rent Britain that Belgium would assure the defence of her fortresses. Moreover, the British army was still in camp at Aider-shot and elsewhere in liront Britain. As to the French army, it was only in the first days of its mobilization. It was therefore as n "forlorn hope" that the small garrison of Li?ge would receive the shock and sacrifice itself for the common cause. But General Leman w:'s going to show that "a martial soul is always master of the ormy which it inspires." Ho knew how to communicate tu his soldiers his cold determination, his moral force and his physical energy for this man of sixty-three years still retained his muscjes of steel and his forceful countenance. The aquiline nose and strong jaw indicate his vigor and strength of character. It seemed altogether probable that the enemy expected to find before him a commander ready to negotiate and troops resigned to make only the sem? blance of resistance. Germany held in such contempt all small nations: this "Might" had such great disdain for "Weakness"; duty and honor were so confused with interest in the mind of Germany that it seemed to her impos? sible that Belgium should seriously at? tempt to measure strength with her. The Germans had greatly deceived themselves. The professor, the math? ematician, the encyclopedist, in the person of General Leman, was to show himself a great fighting commander in chief. From his headquarters were sent out every minute precise and rigorous or? ders, thanks to which, with his five slim brigades, he was to arrest the onset of seven or eight strong German division: under von Emm i e.h. The whole world was astonished by the heroic resistance of Li?ge, which for thirteen days, wiih only 25,000 men i one and one-half army divisions), held back the invading hordes of Huns. Indeed, Li?ge was the "grain of sand" which threw out of gear the wheels of a most formidable war ma? chine, the construction of which had required forty years of effort. Seven German army corps I about 300,000 men' were massed along the route of invasion which was barred by the fortified position of Li?ge. A detachment of Germans, having put on civilian dress, succeeded in entering Li?ge, and by treacherous ruse attempted to assassinate Lieutenant General Leman in the offices of his headquarters. The attempt failed, and all the Germans who took part in it were killed. In this affair the Belgians, unfortunately, lost a very gallant offi? cer, Captain-Commandant Marchant After several days of vigorous and sublime resistance, during which the Germans lost more than -10,000 men General Leman decided that the forts could no longer be used except to hold the enemy temporarily and that the moment had arrived to order the Thirc Division to fall back upon the mail army. He assembled the troops o! the field army between the forts o! Lonein and Hollogne. On the Mh of August the Thirc Uivisiuu arrived at the Hive-: Getto The King greeted their return in an! order of the day, of which the follow? ing is an extract: "In the name of the nation I greet you, officers and soldiers of the Third Division and 15th ?lixed Brigade. You have all done your duty, you have upheld the honor of our army and you liave shown the enemy what it costs unjustly to attack a peaceable people, which finds invincible strength in its righteous cause. The country may well be proud of you." General Leman retired into the Fort of Loncin, where he remained up to the last moment, to direct and or? ganize the resistance of the forts. The forts of Li?ge, left without sup? port, still held out for a long time. The last of them fell on August IT, 1914. During the days immediately follow? ing the departure of the Third Divis? ion the forts shelled all the enemy troops which passed within range. In order to reduce the forts the Ger? mans had recourse to their 28-centi? metre and 42-centimetre guns, and also to the Austrian 30.5-centimetre guns. The bombardment began on August 12, about mid-day. The fort of Loncin, which was specially bombarded, was destroyed on August 15. On this day at 5:20 p. m. the fort was blown up by the explosion of a munition magazine which had been penetrated by a i2-centimetrc shell, In spite of the terrific cannonading General Leman had in the morning walked out on the glacis to get a bet? ter view of the position of the enemy batteries. He had then gone to the firing commanding post. The situation soon became critical. Tons of iron and explosives, falling vertically, pierced, crumpled and demolished the fort, as a storm wrecks a ship. Its concrete works broken, cupolas smashed, guns disabled, the fort was only a ruin. However, the soldiers, with half blinded eyes and with parched throats. prayed as children pray when the thunder rolls, and they cried from time to time with hoarse voices: "Long live Belgium! Long live the King!" Lying on a stretcher, General Leman, always stoic and calm, summoned his soldiers about him. He expected death. As the shells ceaselessly roared, he said in a tone of indescribable irony: "Ah, this German music! It always plays the same tune!" As he said these words the fort was blown up. General Leman was taken from the ruins in an unconscious condition. Some days later he made his report to the King in the following words: "Sire: After several battles had been fought with great bravery on the 4th, 5th and 6th of August, by the Third Division of the armv, reinforced from the Fifth, by the 15th Brigade, I considered Hhat the forts of l.icge could no longer serve as more than a temporary obstacle to the advance [ of the enemy. I, nevertheless, main? tained the military government of the place in order that I might organize its defence as far as was possible for me and for the sake of the moral eifect on the garrisons of the forts. ''That my decision was weil founded was proved by tiie grave events that followed. "Your majesty is aware that I took up my position in the fort of Lonetn on tho 6th of August, toward noon. "Sire, you yiil bo grieved to learn that this fort was blown un about 5:20, burying i'.i its ruins the greater part of the garrison, perhaps tour-fifths. "I should have lost my life in this catastrophe had it not been that my escort, composed of Commander Cap? tain Collard, non-commissioned in? fantry officer, who has no doubt per? ished; Gendarme Thevenin and my two orderlies (Ch. Yandenbossche and Jos. Lecoopi, removed me from a part of the fort where I was in danger of asphyxiation by the fumes of the ex? plosion. I was carried into the trench, where I fell. A German captain of the name of Gruson gave me some v.ater to drink, but I was mado a pris? oner and then taken to Li?ge in an ambulance. "I am confident of having upheld the honor of our arms. 1 surrendered neither the fortress nor the forts, "[ trust, sire, that you will be pleased to pardon the shortcomings of this letter. I am physically much pros trated by the explosion at Loncin. In Germany, where ? am about to b<? taken, my thoughts will be, as they have ever been, of Belgium and her , King. 1 would willingly have given my life n thu ir service, but death has passe d me by. "LIEUTENANT GENERAL. (Sd.) "G. LEMAN." General Leman was sont a prisoner to Germany, where on several occasions he ?.ves offered his liberty if he would give his parole. He indignantly re fused, and i; ?a onlv now, after hi? ; health has suffered severely from eon finement, that the Germans have per? mitted him to go to hospitable Switser ? land, where he can rejoin his Jaugh ? ter, who the Germans had r< fused , to permit to visit him during his cap : tivity. General Leman, together with the i King, Cardinal Mercier and the Burgo? master of Brussels, Monsieur Max, wt? . remain one of the most glorious figures ! in tho history of this terrible war. Be typifies the resistance of Bclgrai? which lias risen, as one man, to f*<? : the German ?agio and to give an ener ' ge-tic "no" in response to the infamen? i proposals of Germany. He Bytnboli*?* , the spirit of sacrifi?e" of n people wn? prefer death to dishonor. He stands i out in striking contrant to the s>?ieter , figure of a treacherous and perjured Kaiser. I lOe?pyrUhUd. 19U. Ota? X, WwA4 ?-'