loan, by which almost seven billion dollars were raised, an
average of about $350 for each contributor. Almost every one
bought war savings stamps, by which about a billion dollars were
raised in 1918. Practically all this money came from savings.
Enormous sums were also given to the Red Cross and other causes.
To do this people saved and sacrificed "until it hurt." The
provisioning of our armies and of the needy peoples of Europe was
made possible by the saving, in American homes, of slices of
bread, of teaspoonfuls of sugar, of small portions of meat and
fats.

THRIFT AS PATRIOTISM

Thrift, however, is not merely a war necessity. "The time when
thrift shall not be needed--needed as vitally as food itself--will
never come ... Through thrift alone can the rebuilding come--the
rebuilding of America--the rebuilding of the world ... Thrift is
patriot ism because it is the elimination of every element that
tends to retard..." [Footnote: S W Strauss, "The Patriotism of War
Savings"]

Thrift is necessary both for individual success and for good
citizenship. It is only by thrift that the individual may in some
measure repay others for the care he himself received during
dependent childhood, and provide, during his productive years, for
the "rainy day" of sickness and old age. It is by thrift that
CAPITAL is accumulated with which to carry on the world's work.
The citizen who saves and invests his savings in a home, in
business enterprises, in bonds or savings stamps, not only makes
his own future secure, but becomes identified with the community