NOW HELP THE LIBERTY LOAN
October 20, 1917
The concrete services to the United States which every decent American not fortunate enough to be a soldier can now render, is to buy as many Liberty bonds as he can afford.
The Treasury Department has set forth in the public press the facts about the campaign which the pro-Germans in the United States are waging against the Liberty Loan. The campaign is being waged by trying to prevent banks from handling the Liberty Loan, and by the publication in certain newspapers of articles tending to discourage people from investing in the bonds. Senator La Follette’s speeches, which are to the same effect, are also being circulated with a view to check popular subscriptions. Senator La Follette, by the way, represents exactly the type which tries to prevent the people from owning the bonds and, nevertheless, will in the future probably rail at the purchasers of the bonds as having, somehow or other, obtained an improper and excessive profit.
Inasmuch as the enemies of the Liberty Loan are of this type, all patriotic Americans should strain every nerve to make the sale a success. Moreover, this happens to be one of those rare cases where the performance of a patriotic duty is a first-class financial investment. The patriot is rendering a great service to the Nation while he is also making a capital investment for himself. If the people do not take the bonds, they will be taken by the big capitalists. The people have the first call, and while it is desirable in the interest of everybody to make this a people’s loan, it is more desirable from the standpoint of the people themselves. The investment is absolutely safe. The men and women who fail to take advantage of it are not standing by the country and they are not standing by their own interests. Every man, from the day laborer to the bank president, should, according to his means, invest in the Liberty bonds.