UC-NRLF 
 
 B M DDfi im 
 
 REPORT 
 
 ON 
 
 WAR CHEST 
 PRACTICE 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 PRESENTED TO 
 
 CONNECTICUT STATE COUNCIL OF DEFENSE 
 
 By HENRY M. WRISTON 
 
REPORT 
 
 ON 
 
 WAR CHEST 
 PRACTICE 
 
 PRESENTED TO 
 CONNECTICUT STATE COUNCIL OF DEFENSE 
 
 By HENRY M. WRISTON 
 
 n 
 

 FOREWORD. 
 
 The following report on the subject of war chest practice 
 is the result of long interest and study and of something over 
 two months exclusive application to the problem. The subject, 
 however, is so large that even that amount of time has meant 
 that the work has been done under great pressure and in haste. 
 It would have been impossible but for the helpful and courteous 
 cooperation of a number of people. It was the intention to 
 acknowledge their help by name but the list has grown so long 
 that none could be mentioned without distinctions that would be 
 unfortunate. The writer wishes therefore to make, at once, 
 acknowledgment to the officials of a large number of war chests, 
 to the officers of the Fosdick Commission, the Red Cross, the 
 Y. M. C. A., the War Camp Community Service, and to many 
 others who have given a great deal of assistance. 
 
 Under the circumstances of its preparation, this report un- 
 questionably has many mistakes and many more failures prop- 
 erly to evaluate individual features adopted by various cities. 
 It is hoped, however, that the broad lines of war chest practice 
 are accurately drawn and that the conclusions are not without 
 some warrant in the evidence collected. 
 
 For purposes of uniformity the city or town name has been 
 used almost invariably rather than the name of the county, 
 because it is more readily located in that way by most readers. 
 
n /^ 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 Since the type was cast for this report, material changes 
 have taken place in the situation. The investigation upon which 
 this was built was devoted almost as much to finding ways of 
 relief for communities through other methods as to the study of 
 the War Chest movement, and the dominant idea behind it was 
 that the then situation in regard to war relief activities was 
 chaotic, both in the matter of financial support and administra- 
 tive control. President Wilson has now published a letter ad- 
 dressed to Mr. Raymond Fosdick of the War and Navy Depart- 
 ments' Commissions on Training Camp Activities, which virtu- 
 ally sets up a national War Chest for the seven agencies which 
 are recognized and controlled by the Commission, and budgets 
 are set definitely in the President's letter, and the proportion 
 which each is to get, as well as the date on which the campaign 
 is to begin. 
 
 Moreover, the usual campaign for the sale of Christmas 
 seals, to raise funds for the support of the anti-tuberculosis work 
 in the United States, is this year to be combined with the Red 
 • Cross membership drive at Christmas time. It is said to be not 
 impossible that the third Red Cross war fund will include next 
 j^ear's membership campaign, though no definite assurance can 
 yet be given on that point in view of the fact that a rapidly alter- 
 ing military situation makes it impossible for Red Cross offi- 
 cials to determine when the next effort for funds will take place. 
 
 Assuming that this step is taken, in addition to the other 
 two, there would be three problems of some importance still un- 
 solved, viz. : the elimination of the campaign for Armenian and 
 Syrian relief, which has twice been conducted after Presidential 
 proclamation ; second, the control of the large number of smaller 
 unofficial war relief agencies who do not solicit by means of 
 drives ; and third, there would be the problemi of supporting local 
 war activities in many cases, such as the local Red Cross chapter, 
 the campaign expenses for Liberty Bond and Thrift Stamp com- 
 mittees, the means of support of the Farm Bureau, and, in some 
 cases, the War Bureau. 
 
 While, therefore, the situation has not entirely changed 
 since this report was written, it is only fair to emphasize the fact 
 that the steps, as taken, do afford a very serious measure of 
 relief and obviate many of the difficulties which were respon- 
 sible for the War Chest movement, and these considerations 
 should be given most careful attention by any community which 
 has thought of altering its methods of collecting funds. 
 
 Another point which must, in fairness, be set forth on the 
 other hand is that while the action of the President and the de- 
 velopment of events have made the situation less acute, thus 
 rendering the War Chest somewhat less necessary from the 
 standpoint of bringing relief to communities, it does not wholly 
 clear the situation, and it has simplified the task of disbursement 
 by virtually setting fixed proportions. To that extent it has made 
 the War Chest plan simpler and more practicable from a com- 
 munity standpoint. It has further led many of those who 
 opposed the War Chest to abandon opposition. 
 
 667G29 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 FOREWORD 2 
 
 CHAPTER ONE 
 
 Introduction 6 
 
 Relation to State Councils of Defense 11 
 
 Productivity 12 
 
 Dates- and Numbers of War Chests 14 
 
 Duration of War Chest Pledges 15 
 
 Inclusiveness • . '• 19 
 
 Agencies included 20 
 
 Red Crass Membership 26 
 
 Local Chariities 28 
 
 CHAPTER TWO 
 
 Structure of the War Chest 32 
 
 Campaign Organization 38 
 
 Overlapping 41 
 
 Team Structure 43 
 
 Check up on Workers 44 
 
 100 % Organizations 45 
 
 Badges 46 
 
 Campaign Divisions 46 
 
 Score Boards 52 
 
 Instructions to Workers 52 
 
 CHAPTER THREE 
 
 The Campaign 56 
 
 Census 56 
 
 Other Methods 62 
 
 Prospect Cards' 63 
 
 Rating 65 
 
 Suggested Amounts 68 
 
 Basis of Pledge 77 
 
 Form of Contribution 80 
 
 Pledge Forms 82 
 
 Designated Gifts * 89 
 
 Competition 95 
 
 Use of Pressure 97 
 
 Follow-up Subscriptions 103 
 
 4 
 
CHAPTER FOUR 
 
 Collections 108 
 
 Industrial Collections 108 
 
 Frequency of Deductions 112 
 
 Patriotic Half-Hour 113 
 
 Personal Collections 118 
 
 Collections by Solicitors 118 
 
 Centralized Collections » 120 
 
 Decentralized Collections 120 
 
 Methods of Payment 122 
 
 Experience with Voluntary Payments 123 
 
 Voluntary Units 124 
 
 Bills 125 
 
 Bank Drafts 126 
 
 Notes 128 
 
 Following up Collections 128 
 
 Bookkeeping and Accounting 130 
 
 The Salem System 131 
 
 Philadelphia 132 
 
 Albany 134 
 
 Glens Falls 134 
 
 Syracuse 134 
 
 Columbus 135 
 
 Detroit 135 
 
 Conclusions 136 
 
 CHAPTER FIVE 
 
 Disbursements 138 
 
 Administrative Expenses 138 
 
 Budgets 141 
 
 Other Methods of Disbursements 146 
 
 Suggested Set of By-Laws 154 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The war chest is simply one phase of a movement for 
 reform in the methods of financing the agencies auxiliary to the 
 conduct of the war. There are many other illustrations of the 
 same purpose. It is said that as early as June there was held 
 at Washington a conference looking toward a merger in the 
 financial efforts of the agencies of the war and navy depart- 
 ments commissions on training camp activities. The action of 
 the Connecticut State Council of Defense, in issuing its state- 
 ment to the Council of National Defense, is another illustration. 
 The effort of the Illinois State Council of Defense to organize 
 a regular and permanent financial committee in each community 
 represents still another effort in the same direction. Bulletin 
 114 of the Washington State Council of Defense outlines the 
 solution proposed in that state. The inauguration of the Mer- 
 cer County plan and similar efforts indicate the widespread 
 character of this feeling. The mid-western representative of 
 the Council of National Defense, Mr. John H. Winterbotham, 
 reported that the question of supervising the solicitation of 
 funds absorbs so much of the time and energy of some local 
 councils that it detracts materially from their strength in other 
 and more important lines of national defense work. 
 
 The war chest, therefore, is simply one of a whole group 
 of more or less related movements. It may be defined as a 
 community effort to raise a fund from which the moneys nec- 
 essary to the support of all war auxiliary agencies may be 
 drawn. Beyond that definition cannot go, because there are 
 such striking divergences of name, organization, policy, and 
 practice. 
 
 The war chest movement is frankly a givers' movement. 
 Its point of view is fundamentally that of the man who is fur- 
 nishing the money, not that of organizations which are. asking 
 for money, though it ought to be said at once that while there 
 is a distinction between these two points of view there is no 
 necessary hostility between them. From the standpoint of the 
 individual giver the war chest is desirable. It allows him to 
 look forward and plan what he is to do. In the case of the 
 individual, one may reason in two fashions concerning the 
 drive system. One may argue that by making a specialized 
 appeal a man will be roused to an effort at giving which at a 
 later time, under the stimulus of a new appeal, he will repeat 
 and thus give more than he intended and more than he realizes. 
 The other manner of reasoning says that knowing other de- 
 mands are in store, but being unable to determine how many, 
 a man holds back for the unforeseen, confuses many givings with 
 much giving, thus believing that he has done better than he has. 
 The only umpire between these two arguments — equally good 
 
theoretically and in some two individual cases equally good in 
 practice — is production statistics. However that may be, the 
 war chest calls upon a man to determine what part of his in- 
 come he is willing to devote to the support of the humanitarian 
 and recreational agencies for war service and to give that much. 
 He is not fooled into giving more than he ought, nor does he 
 fool himself into the belief that he has given more than he 
 actually has. 
 
 From the standpoint of the community it appears that 
 there is no question as to the desirability of the war chest. 
 One is compelled to this conclusion by the unanimous expres- 
 sions of satisfaction on the part of all classes of war chest com- 
 munities when one approaches them with the question as to their 
 opinion of tlie new as against the old method. The war chest 
 unquestionably saves a great deal of time and avoids much du- 
 plicative effort. It obviates, too, the general disruption of busi- 
 ness and minimizes the expenditure of energy. It also assures 
 a much broader and more comprehensive basis of giving than 
 did the system of separate drives. Being a community move- 
 ment, it stimulates community pride and from that point of 
 view is valuable. Testimony is unanimous as to the unifying 
 effect upon the citizenship and increased community solidarity. 
 
 From the standpoint of the smaller agencies there appears 
 to be slight, if any, question as to the desirability of the war 
 chest. The smaller organizations have not the same advertising 
 or selling value as their better-known and larger collaborators. 
 It must be admitted that there is not the same challenge in a 
 call for $10,000,000 that there is in a call for $100,000,000, and 
 -it is consequently more difficult to create adequate organizations 
 to raise money. Yet these agencies, many of them, come to the 
 public with official endorsements as deserving adequate finan- 
 cial support. The war chest plan makes it possible for thera 
 to get their proper share of the money raised without the heart- 
 breaking effort that is now necessary. 
 
 From the standpoint of the Red Cross and the Y. M. C. A., 
 the >var chest movement is nothing to be feared, provided it is 
 properly organized and wisely conducted. In some war chest 
 cities the policy has undoubtedly been somewhat narrow. In 
 some, perhaps, money has been unwisely spent. These mistakes 
 and narrownesses have nothing to do with the war chest princi- 
 ple. 
 
 It may be true that the general adoption of the war chest 
 would entail some alteration in the financial methods of the 
 Y. M. C. A. and the Red Cross, but there would be no tendency 
 to curtail the financial support of those great movements. 
 There is of course the difficulty arising from the fact that the 
 war chest is not universal and, being a community movement, 
 will never become universal, and the Red Cross and Y. M. C. A. 
 are compelled in consequence to adopt different methods in 
 
different places instead of having a uniform plan. This cannot 
 be remedied unless those two organizations should endorse and 
 adopt the war chest method. It may be said, however, that 
 there are enough war chests so that they have already adjusted 
 themselves to the problem created and that the multiplication 
 of the war chests will probably not seriously complicate the 
 problem. One should add to this the fact that the war chest 
 movement is not the only one which exerts pressure in this di- 
 rection. Most of the other state and local plans have much the 
 same effect, and these, like the war chest, are gaining more and 
 more currency. 
 
 It has sometimes been said that the adoption of the war 
 chest method destroys the moral effect of the great nation- 
 wide intensive effort for the Red Cross or the Y. M. C. A., which 
 it is hoped will have its repercussion in Germany. As a matter 
 of fact, however, war chests may readily be influenced to make 
 their subscriptions at that time and so create the same moral 
 effect that would be produced upon the enemy by having a drive 
 in every city. 
 
 The National War Work Council of the Y. M. C. A. adopted 
 a resolution opposing the war chest in which the only reason 
 mentioned was that it did not seem to offer the same flexibility 
 that the drive system allowed. With all deference to the opin- 
 ion of the Y. M. C. A. officials in this matter, it is only fair to 
 point out that there is not the same difficulty in this regard 
 now that there was at an earlier stage. The reason is that the 
 contest has reached such a stage that organizations can look 
 forward with somewhat more accuracy in their efforts to de- 
 termine what their needs are likely to be. 
 
 The six agencies of the Fosdick Commission are this year 
 submitting itemized and comprehensive budgets. The fact that 
 that commission called for them is evidence that it is not an 
 impossible task, and the fact that the initiative in the matter 
 is said to have come from one of the large organizations is 
 evidence that they do not regard it as unreasonable. Even last 
 year the Y. M. C. A. drew up a budget for a period of several 
 months and called for $35,000,000. It is said on good authority 
 they were able to live within that budget during the period 
 planned for. All of these facts go to indicate that a budget 
 system is a practicable one and it is perfectly certain that an 
 effort is being made to operate to some extent on that princi- 
 ple. It must be said that in one sense some of these budgets are 
 not "rea^^ because the agencies hope for and expect over-sub- 
 scriptions, which vitiates the budget system somewhat; but it 
 does not alter the fact that with proper allowances for an emer- 
 gency fund they can and do look forward to anticipate their 
 needs. 
 
 In the second place the war auxiliary agencies do not live 
 under a peculiarly flexible system now, because they are not 
 
entirely free to return to the public with a call for funds when- 
 ever need arises. There are so many agencies in the field that 
 when one takes into consideration the demands upon time by 
 actual governmental needs, such as Liberty bond and war sav- 
 ings stamp campaigns, any single agency is virtually precluded 
 from returning to the public at a time determined wholly by 
 itself, even though its funds may need replenishment. A letter 
 from Mr. S. M. Greer, assistant general manager of the Ameri- 
 can Red Cross says: *'In deference to the needs of other de- 
 partments of the Government after our budget had been deter- 
 mined as nearly as was practical, and after we had announced 
 the sum we desired to raise, we were compelled to postpone the 
 date of our campaign upward of five months." One would 
 suppose, and it is doubtless true, that the Red Cross would have 
 the greatest consideration in this matter of any of the organi- 
 zations, and yet it appears to have been compelled to wait five 
 months in order to find an open date. 
 
 These facts make it appear on one hand that the data nec- 
 essary to make it possible for the war chest to determine the 
 amount which it should raise will be more completely available 
 this year than last, and secondly that the drive system is not as 
 flexible as it has frequently been presumed to be. The con- 
 clusion seems to be that while there is need that the war chest 
 should plan for a considerable emergency fund, there is no long- 
 er cause for serious worry with regard to the alleged lack of 
 flexibility of the war chest method. 
 
 It ought to be said in candor that for building an after-the- 
 war clientele for most of these organizations, the war chest 
 is not the ideal agency. It makes its fundamental appeal on 
 the winning of the war rather than upon any auxiliary of the 
 war. The Red Cross as the most catholic organization and the 
 one of deepest appeal is inevitably put in the foreground. This 
 means that so far as the Y. M. C. A., the K. of C. and the Recrea- 
 tion Association of America ought to and wish to educate the 
 public as to the value of their own particular work for after-the- 
 war purposes, they must do it by whole-hearted cooperation in 
 the war chest campaign and by purely educational efforts at 
 other times unconnected with the raising of money. 
 
 The war chest attempts to reduce the matter of giving to 
 something like its proper proportion of expended effort. It 
 seems altogether possible that in view of the tremendous num- 
 ber of things on which the public needs education — war invest- 
 ments, fuel and food conservation, not to mention such subjects 
 as the aims and issues of the war — the matter of giving to war 
 auxiliary agencies threatens under the perpetuation of the drive 
 system to absorb more than its proper share of time and energy. 
 This is not intended to reflect upon the situation last year, but 
 simply to apply to present conditions and such conditions as 
 appear to be developing. With the increase of war activities 
 
 9 
 
and with the departure of more and more men for military 
 service, it seems fair to say that if these agencies can be sup- 
 ported with the expenditure of less effort and time, there will 
 still be plenty that remains to be done so that neither the time 
 nor the effort thus saved will be idle. 
 
 The arguments for and against the war chest have been 
 recited so many times that it is not necessary to repeat them 
 here. It is worth while, however, to emphasize that the war 
 chest makes possible the democratization of giving. The indus- 
 trial worker is given his opportunity to participate as never 
 before, particularly in agencies other than the two leading ones. 
 He has seldom been called upon, save through the war fund, to 
 contribute to the support of the local Red Cross. The supple- 
 mentary calls for the support of the local chapter have usually 
 been confined to a relatively narrow circle. This, of all war 
 relief activities, particularly in view of the development of the 
 home service feature, should be a community enterprise on the 
 broadest possible basis a^d above the slightest suspicion that it 
 is a charitable agency in the hands of a social group or class. 
 The war chest integrates a larger share of the community 
 in all the war auxiliary movements, and if an effort is made 
 to publish not only the amount of the war chest appropriation 
 but also the agency to which it is going and the nature and value 
 of its work, that integration may be made real and not merely 
 formal. 
 
 Finally, the war chest method makes possible a fairer dis- 
 tribution of the community gift than is now possible. Without 
 attempting to discount the divergences and the occasional ab- 
 surdities in this matter which are set forth elsewhere in this 
 report, it must be said that they are not as great nor as absurd 
 as those which appear to have been obtained under the drive 
 system. This after all is natural. A body of men, usually small 
 and of more than average intelligence, can by careful study and 
 thought arrive at a saner and fairer conclusion than can be 
 reached by a process of having a quota assigned, then campaign- 
 ing in an effort to reach or over-reach it, the result being a 
 total which no one could possibly forecast and which is difficult, 
 often, logically to justify. Occasionally it is argued that the 
 total justifies itself because every agency should have as much 
 support as it can convince the public it needs. That argument 
 does not seem to be sound. Some organizations have work 
 which is spectacular and which has an emotional appeal. Others 
 have work more prosaic in character though no less necessary; 
 theirs must be a purely intellectual appeal. The funds result- 
 ing from these two sorts of appeal are not likely to furnish an 
 accurate gauge of the relative values of the two organizations. 
 In short, the difference in methods of apportioning the commu- 
 nity^ gift leads to a conclusion wholly in favor of the war chest 
 as against the drive method. 
 
 10 
 
The conclusion which these considerations induce is that 
 the war chest and related expedients were produced and are 
 being propagated because of evils in the present system which 
 are admitted by the leaders of the chief organizations. If 
 there had been only one or two organizations in the field, the 
 present situation would never have arisen; but in view of the 
 large number of them, and in view of the methods adopted by 
 the Government in marketing bonds and war savings stamps, 
 community action in self defense is justifiable. Though the 
 war chest is, from the point of view of the two great organiza- 
 tions, somewhat inconvenient, there is no evidence that it is 
 harmful and its benefits to the communities outweigh its incon- 
 venience to the organizations, much as any such inconvenience 
 is to be regretted. 
 
 Relation to State Councils of Defense. 
 
 Five state councils of defense, namely, those of Michigan, 
 New Mexico, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin have ad- 
 vocated a state-wide adoption of the war chest plan. Few, 
 however, appear to be taking a very active part in meeting and 
 helping to solve the problems which are inevitably involved in 
 the war chest. Generally speaking, state councils simply en- 
 dorse or disapprove the war chest without making an effort to 
 make their approval or disapproval effective. For example, in 
 Illinois, where it is necessary for any agency which desires to 
 collect funds to have a license from the state council of defense, 
 war chests have not been refused licenses, though the council 
 has disapproved the plan, as have the councils of Indiana, Ten- 
 nessee, Viirginia, and Massachusetts. 
 
 The Washington State Council of Defense has taken two 
 steps in this matter which are a distinct help to war chest cities. 
 It has set a county quota which is fixed, being expressed in 
 terms of percent, and in this manner has made it possible for 
 war chest cities to determine what they ought to pay organiza- 
 tions. It also forbids over-subscription, which removes another 
 embarrassing problem. The Washington Council, moreover, 
 has dealt with the question of local charities participating by 
 stating that campaigns for the support of institutions not organ- 
 ized primarily for war work may not be combined with appeals 
 for funds for war work. Appeals for the war work of local 
 institutions may not be combined with campaigns for state and 
 national war funds, save with the special approval of the State 
 Council of Defense. 
 
 Occasionally the members of the local councils of defense, 
 which are sometimes appointed by and usually have a direct 
 relation to the state council of defense, are members of the war 
 chest governing body. In several instances all the officials of 
 
 11 
 
the local council of defense and of the war chest are identfcal. 
 In general, however, apparently because of the fact that not all 
 the states are thoroughly organized and because of the fact 
 that relatively few state councils have taken any position in 
 the matter, there is no relation between the war chests and the 
 state councils of defense. So far as Connecticut is concerned, 
 it is perfectly obvious that the war chest wherever established 
 should be very carefully integrated with the War Bureau and 
 through that with the state council of defense. 
 
 Productivity. 
 
 The war chest produces money. There has been a great 
 deal of dispute as to whether the war chest or the drive system 
 produces more money. There can be no logically conclusive 
 decision among the disputants in this matter. It is not enough 
 to show that war chest cities raised more money this year than 
 last year, because cities which have not adopted the war chest 
 have also raised more money this year. Nor does the compar- 
 ative percentage of increase give us an absolutely safe guide, 
 because in any given instance it is governed by a number of 
 factors whose influence cannot be analyzed accurately. On the 
 other hand, it would not be enough for the Red Cross to show 
 that they have actually received less or a smaller percentage of 
 increase from war chest cities than from cities without the war 
 chest. Such statistics would serve merely as an index to the 
 practice of some war chest cities in relation to the policy of 
 over-subscription of quotas. Moreover the figures would need 
 closer analysis to determine whether the war chests involved 
 make separate appropriation for the local chapter of the Red 
 Cross, and whether they propose to distribute any surplus at 
 the close of the fiscal year. Many other factors also enter into 
 the problem and complicate it so thoroughly that it defies ef- 
 fective analysis. 
 
 It is really astonishing that, in view of the tremendous 
 variety of methods employed, there should be such uniformity 
 of results as does actually exist. Some war chests had no drive 
 at all but simply called for volunteers to come forward and 
 subscribe. Some limited themselves to mail solicitations, some 
 conducted their whole campaign in one day, some campaigned 
 for a month. Despite these remarkable differences in practice, 
 only six that reported fell below the goal which was set and in 
 some of these cases it is demonstrable that enthusiasm outran 
 judgment in setting the goal. 
 
 Many of the cities which reported did not report completely, 
 or did not report clearly, and have, in consequence, been omit- 
 ted. The best that it has been possible to do in a statistical 
 
 12 
 
way, therefore, was to take the material from about sixty cities, 
 whose figures were clear and dependable. They cover all types 
 from metropolitan areas like Philadelphia and vicinity, to vil- 
 lages of less than five hundred inhabitants. They are scattered 
 from Georgia and Maine on the east to New Mexico, California 
 and Montana on the west. As nearly as any group could, they 
 seem to be a fair cross-section sample of the United States. 
 Some are admitted failures, others striking successes and there 
 has been absolutely no ''loading." These cities reveal an ave- 
 rage gift of $22.07 for every subscriber, and an average 
 per capita gift of $8.68, and something over 35% of the 
 population enrolled as givers. Lexington, Mass., Rochester and 
 Rome, N. Y., lead in size of the average gift, each with $40.00 
 or more. The lowest average gift is Vevay with $6.60. The 
 highest per capita gift is in Rochester with $19.40 and the low- 
 est in Albion with $2.18. The largest per cent, of population 
 is in Albany with 58% of the population enrolled as subscrib- 
 ers, and the lowest reporting is Albion with 13%. It ought to 
 be said that the statistics with regard to the average gift and 
 percentage of population have been vitiated by the fact that 
 some included children and other persons without independent 
 income in their lists of subscribers, others did not, the natural 
 result being that those which did include children had a lower 
 average gift and a higher percentage of population. 
 
 The really significant figure is that with regard to the per 
 capita gift. If it were applied to the whole United States, a not 
 unfair process if these cities are as near a normal sample as 
 they appear to be, the result would be a national gift of $868,- 
 000,000. Last year not one-half that was raised. The antic- 
 ipation for this year may fairly be said to be not much over 
 $500,000,000. 
 
 At all events it seems that there is developing a consensus 
 of opinion that the war chest will prod-uce funds enough. A 
 letter from Mr. S. M. Greer, assistant general manager of the 
 American Red Cross, says, in speaking of the comparative pro- 
 ductive power "the fact that stands out is that any method 
 which appeals to the American people will obtain a generous 
 response," and again, '*it would seem, then, that for proper 
 purposes the money can be had in either case." 
 
 The conclusion derived from a sincere effort to get at the 
 actual facts in the matter is that the war chest produces at 
 least as much money as the drive system in any given community 
 and probably produces a very considerable amount more. It 
 ought to be said that that statement is extraordinarily conser- 
 vative and is made so because of realization of the impossibility 
 of complete logical demonstration. The impression which the 
 study leads to is that the war chest is a very much better pro- 
 ductive agent than the individual drive. 
 
 13 
 
Dates and Number of War Chests. 
 
 There are no accurate statistics on the number of war 
 chests. This is due partly to the fact that there has been no 
 central agency to which they all report, partly because a number 
 of communities sometimes join in one war chest and fail to 
 make the matter wholly clear, and partly because so many dif- 
 ferent names have been used and so many varieties of the 
 scheme utilized that letters sent to the president of the war 
 chest association fail to reach the person in authority under the 
 plan adopted in a given locality, by whatever title he may be 
 called. Consequently, accuracy with regard to the number and 
 the dates of war chests cannot be had and the statement here 
 is admittedly inadequate though it is probably the most complete 
 and accurate there is. It is safe to say that there are over 
 three hundred war chest communities in the United States. 
 The first war chest associations were organized in Syracuse 
 and in the towns of Ilion and Mohawk acting together. Which 
 of these was first, I do not know ; both were put in operation in 
 June, 1917. That at Syracuse has been a pronounced success. 
 The Ilion and Mohawk association is not as strikingly successful, 
 but should not be called by any means a failure. The next war 
 chests which have reported are Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Gran- 
 ville, N. Y., which were put in operation in November, 1917. 
 There follow in January, 1918, Herkimer, N. Y., and Elkhart, 
 Indiana, and in February Columbus, Ohio, Utica, N. Y., Albur- 
 querque. New Mexico, Escanaba, Michigan, Oswego, N. Y. 
 Before the Red Cross drive opened on the 20th of May there 
 had been forty-five war chests established which have reported 
 their dates. Forty-four more specifically state that they were 
 put in operation at the time of the Red Cross campaign in May, 
 1918. Eleven have reported their organization since then and 
 the volume of correspondence which has developed indicates that 
 large numbers are preparing to organize for operations this 
 fall. 
 
 On the whole, it seems fair to say that there has been 
 created a sufficient body of experience to be of large value. 
 The plan has been in existence more than a year. One of the 
 cities has had a second campaign, the results being such an 
 extraordinary increase over the first that the community was 
 thoroughly satisfied. The better methods of conducting a cam- 
 paign can certainly be drawn from experience ; various methods 
 of collecting are already proving their several values ; the prob- 
 lem of disbursement has been handled so variously that it is 
 possible to get a good deal of information along that line. 
 
 Taking it all in all, it seems safe to say that the war chest 
 has passed beyond the experimental stage and can now be more 
 or less standardized and regularized. If every community is 
 careful to put itself in possession of the experience of others in 
 
 14 
 
almost any particular line, it will have available a considerable 
 body of experience to give an idea of the wisest methods to 
 follow. By associating themselves with a national organiza- 
 tion for the interchange of experience and information, cities 
 will avoid the hard necessity of learning exclusively by their 
 own mistakes and can profit very largely by the experience of 
 others. 
 
 Duration of War Chest Pledges. 
 
 The pledges taken under the war chest plan vary widely in 
 the period of time for which they are effective. The original 
 plan followed in Syracuse, N. Y., in the campaign of June, 
 1917, was to take pledges for the duration of the war, the idea 
 being that people should have just one solicitation and then give 
 regularly thereafter. Twenty-eight cities have reported that 
 they follow that plan. 
 
 As the war has gone on, however, and the needs of the 
 agencies have increased vastly it has become evident that that 
 plan has certain difficulties and dangers. These arise partly 
 from the unforeseen development of humanitarian and recrea- 
 tional work, and partly from the movement of population, the 
 moving away of subscribers and the coming of new persons who 
 should be given an opportunity to play their part. In conse- 
 quence of these considerations and others — inconvenient book- 
 keeping and the establishment of a proper system of caring for 
 labor turn-over — Syracuse abandoned the original plan and con- 
 ducted a new campaign in June, 1918, cancelling all former 
 pledges and making the new pledges run for a period of a year. 
 Careful inquiry among different classes of population developed 
 the fact that this was not regarded by the public in any way 
 as a breach of faith, because it recognized the situation. The 
 fact that the alteration in plan did not develop friction is also 
 evidenced by the fact that the number of subscribers was much 
 more than doubled and the amount of the subscriptions was at 
 least doubled. 
 
 The present scheme in use at Syracuse constitutes the sec- 
 ond general plan with regard to the duration of pledges. Thir- 
 ty-nine towns have reported that they take pledges for a period 
 of one year. Six allow the subscriber an option between signing 
 for one year or for the duration of the war. 
 
 There are other plans. A few cities have adopted the 
 method of Mitchell, S. D., namely, to have pledges not for the 
 duration of the war, but for the period during which war relief 
 is necessary, which may be of much longer duration than the 
 war. Billings, Mont., took pledges for the duration of the War 
 Service League. These plans are open to the same objections 
 to which pledges for the duration of the war are open, and are 
 not vrise plans to follow. 
 
 Kenosha, Wis., and Lansing, Mich., and certain other cities 
 have set odd periods of time, such as thirteen months or ten 
 
 15 
 
months, for the duration of their pledges, apparently in order 
 to bring the beginning of the fiscal year at what was deemed to 
 be a convenient time. 
 
 Cleveland, Ohio, originated the idea of having pledges for 
 six months, the purpose being to have two drives a year. In 
 its first campaign in May, 1918, pledges were taken for a period 
 of seven months in order to make the fiscal year b^gin with 
 the calendar year. This plan is advocated strongly in Cleve- 
 land on the ground that it facilitates the operation of the budget 
 principle in making disbursements as against the necessity for 
 having disbursements made by a committee after the amount 
 has been raised. Those in charge of the war chest there felt 
 that by attempting to look forward only six months a budget 
 was possible, whereas it would not be advisable if a whole year 
 was to be covered. This unquestionably gives an element of 
 flexibility to the budget method of disbursement. The leaders 
 in Cleveland feel also that this plan meets the argument, wheth- 
 er sound or not, that the public needs constant re-information 
 by means of drives. It ought to be said under the operation of 
 this idea it is understood that any over-subscription of the 
 amount demanded by the budget shall be applied to the ensu- 
 ing fiscal period, i. e., they do not propose to over-subscribe the 
 amounts called for by their budget and to spend all the money 
 collected within this fiscal period. The reason for this is that 
 they feel that it would be doing a moral injustice to the sub- 
 scribers who ought to do their proper part in making payments 
 toward these organizations, but no more. Many, if not most, 
 of the cities which have adopted a year as the period for the 
 duration of their pledges are perfectly candid in saying that if 
 the amount which is collected proves insufficient to meet the 
 requirements of the Red Cross and the other organizations there 
 will be no hesitancy in approaching the public for more funds. 
 Many war chests have published a statement to that effect. 
 For example, Springfield, Mass., published the following state- 
 ment, prepared by Mr. Charles Hall : 
 
 "It is impossible at this time to determine accurately what is 
 going to be required by war relief organizations for the next twelve 
 months, but based on such information as is available and after tak- 
 ing into account that the activities of all these organizations are in- 
 creasing by leaps and bounds, the trustees feel safe in stating that if 
 $1,200,000 is obtained from the war chest territory it will take care 
 of demands to be made upon us for the next twelve months." 
 
 The guarantee is not that there will be no other war chest 
 canvass within a year, but that no other organization . save the 
 war chest can make a canvass within one year. 
 
 Roanoke, Va., was explicit in saying that the pledges were 
 to cover one year "unless dire necessity made the demands such 
 that the war chest would be insufficient." D*etroit published 
 
 16 
 
a statement which said that "by the terms of agreement with 
 the patriotic fund the subscriber is protected for one year from 
 further solicitation except in case of possible national emergen- 
 cies that may arise." The statement in Newberry read that they 
 would sanction "no other requests for subscriptions for contri- 
 butions for patriotic purposes except in case the funds should 
 prove inadequate to care for the demands made upon the 
 county." 
 
 These quotations may be taken as sample statements and 
 represent what appears to be a safe and proper method of hand- 
 ling the situation, namely, to make the duration of pledges only 
 presumptively one year but to give no guarantee that the war 
 chest will not return within that period if calamities should lead 
 to a situation where its funds should prove inadequate. This 
 practice is not, as has sometimes been said, a substantial return 
 to the drive system, because such an emergency, as it relates to 
 the war chest, would come only as a result of an emergency call 
 from the Red Cross or one of the other organizations. A disas- 
 ter of large proportions would be likely to involve at least the 
 Y. M. C. A. in addition to the Red Cross. In that case commu- 
 nities would be faced with a whole group of emergency drives, 
 whereas many war chests would not have to campaign at all 
 because of the size of their emergency funds and such cities as 
 did have to make an appeal would have only one and not several 
 as a result of the emergency. 
 
 It is clear that it is unwise to set a fixed time before which 
 the war chest agrees not to approach the public for further 
 funds. The correlative problem is whether the war chest 
 should set a fixed time at which it will come back to the public 
 for funds even though the needs of the various agencies have 
 not yet exhausted the resources of the chest. There are four 
 types of practice in relation to this. 
 
 First of all, certain cities, notably Rochester and Detroit, 
 which are mentioned simply as prominent examples, plan to dis- 
 burse the entire amount of the funds collected within the period 
 of a year. This means a large over-subscription to practically 
 every participating cause. All things considered, this seems 
 to me to be the best method while war auxiliary agencies con- 
 tinue to finance their work as at present without attempting 
 to make real budgets. 
 
 The second method, one which appears to be unique, is used 
 by the Montgomery County War Chest with headquarters at 
 Crawfordsville, Indiana. The plan allows the committee which 
 controls the fund to designate any particular month or months 
 when payments shall be omitted, if it is confident that without 
 such payments there will still be sufficient money to meet de- 
 mands of the causes to which the war chest contributes. Inas- 
 much as all pledges are payable monthly the omission of any 
 payment affects all subscribers equally. 
 
 17 
 
The third method is to carry over the amount which is not 
 absorbed in meeting quotas and reduce by that much the call 
 at the next campaign. 
 
 The fourth plan, that to be used in several Ohio cities as 
 well as certain others, is to postpone the time of the next drive 
 until more money is needed to meet the quotas assigned to the 
 community which may be thirteen or fifteen or more months. 
 
 The last three of these plans are obviously built upon the 
 assumption that the war chest will not over-subscribe its quotas 
 for the various agencies. In response to the objection that 
 these methods are likely to lull the constituency to sleep and to 
 make the public feel that there is no need for real sacrificial 
 effort, the answer is made that nothing conduces to such confi- 
 dence on the part of the giving public in the wisdom and pru- 
 dence of the disbursement agents as to have the administration 
 of the funds put on one of these basis. The argument runs as 
 follows : 
 
 "We look ahead and see, let us say, a need for $100,000 to meet 
 the probable demands and also the improbable calls which emergency 
 may bring. By urging the people to give to the limit in view of pos- 
 sible disaster they produce, let us say, $200,000. Now if we expend 
 the whole of that $200,000 without the arising of a national emergency 
 it means that we have called 'wolf like the shepherd boy of the fable, 
 and then deceived them. When on the other hand we conserve that 
 money by not over-subscribing it does not cripple the national organ- 
 izations, since they get all they ask for and whenever they need more 
 they are always free to ask for it. These methods create tremendous 
 confidence on the part of the public in the trustworthiness and candor 
 of those to whom they have committed the administration of their 
 gifts. If you warn the public," the argument continues, "that you may 
 return with a new demand for funds within twelve months you make 
 your terminal point movable. If you move it one way in the face of 
 emergency demand it is only fair that you S'hould move it in the other 
 direction if the demands are such that it is possible to do so." 
 
 Unquestionably this logic has some force, and if the war 
 relief agencies were regulated by a Federal commission and had 
 real budgets, it would be the proper practice. So long, however, 
 as present methods prevail a due regard for the wishes of the 
 agencies, whose interests after all the war chest ought assidu- 
 ously to serve, demands that the policy of over-subscription be 
 adopted. At present all of these agencies use the over-sub- 
 scription not merely for the enlargement of their work but also 
 for the extension of the time between their appeals for funds. 
 It is obvious therefore that when one of these agencies collected 
 precisely the amount of its quota demands it would return for 
 more in ten months, but when it collected an amount in excess 
 of exact quota assignments it would postpone its return for 
 more funds until twelve months had elapsed, there is a period 
 
 18 
 
of two months out of that year in which cities which paid only 
 the face of their quotas are not contributing to its support but 
 are leaving that wholly to such cities as over-subscribed. This 
 is not a theoretical argument. Last year the Y. M. C. A. called 
 for $35,000,000, which was to finance its work until July. The 
 over-subscription allows it to postpone its call to the public a 
 number of months. During those months the cities which gave 
 only the exact amounts of their quotas are not contributing to 
 its support. 
 
 The only reason in the light of these facts for refusing 
 over-subscriptions is that it it is a justifiable means of bringing 
 pressure upon the war auxiliary agencies for reform. While 
 there is some evidence that it is not a wholly ineffective method 
 it seems on the whole wiser to use other means. It ought to be 
 said in fairness that this is an individual judgment and must be 
 construed, therefore, not as a criticism of the action of the war 
 chests which follow the practice of refusing to over-subscribe, 
 but simply expresses a difference of opinion. The war chests 
 are not the only agencies which follow this plan. The Mercer 
 County plan, which has gained considerable currency, is built 
 upon refusal to over-subscribe quotas; the Washington State 
 Council of Defense in its Bulletin 114 practically prohibits over- 
 subscription of quotas to any cause. In short, most of the local 
 and state attempts to work reform in present methods of financ- 
 ing these agencies are based upon refusal to over-subscribe. 
 Elsewhere in this report it is pointed out that the writer agrees 
 with the principle but feels that further opportunity should 
 first be given the agencies themselves to alter their present 
 methods. 
 
 INCLUSIVENESS. 
 
 The policy with regard to the territorial extent of war 
 chests has not become standardized. Occasionally it follows the 
 Red Cross chapter organization or the organization of the state 
 under the council of defense for war purposes. In general the 
 normal political entities govern this policy. Thus, in states 
 where the county plays a significant part in political life, the 
 war chest is likely to be county-wide in extent. In Wisconsin 
 and Ohio, for example, practically all the war chests include 
 entire counties. In New England, on the other hand, where the 
 city or township is the unit of political life, relatively few war 
 chests include whole counties. Occasionally in some great met- 
 ropolitan area as, for example, Philadelphia the war chest 
 covers more than one county. In that case it includes five. 
 
 As applied to Connecticut the wise principle appears to be 
 to base the inclusiveness on four considerations: first, the or- 
 ganization of the State under the Council of Defense; second, 
 the organization of the Red Cross chapters; third, the embrac- 
 ing of surburbs which furnish large numbers to industrial cen- 
 ters, so that those who commute will not be solicited in two 
 
 19 
 
places and so that they may be reached primarily through their 
 places of employment, which proves to be the most effective 
 manner of reaching people ; and, fourth, the matter of covering 
 the ground without leaving stray bits of territory which would 
 be difficult to organize separately. 
 
 There is, unquestionably, some prejudice against including 
 rural districts in a city war chest, because for one reason or 
 other the country districts have not the same giving capacity as 
 urban centers. Cities are usually eager to make a record, and 
 hesitate to include districts which may not produce large 
 amounts and which will have a tendency in consequence to lower 
 the standard of pledge and limit productive power. This, how- 
 ever, is a factor which should not be allowed to enter seriously 
 into the question because of the larger and more important 
 issues involved. 
 
 Agencies Included. 
 
 It is impossible to discover an absolute standard with 
 regard to how many or what agencies are allowed to participate. 
 This is not at all surprising when one considers the number of 
 organizations approaching the public with appeals for funds and 
 when one realizes that there is no rational method of endorse- 
 ment for them. The only agency endorsed by the Council of 
 National Defense is the Red Cross. The six agencies which 
 operate under the Fosdick Commission are endorsed by that 
 body, which is an agent of the War and Navy Departments but 
 strangely enough are not given endorsement by the Council of 
 National Defense. There is beside these the Salvation Army, 
 which, if Mr. Fosdick is accurately quoted in the New York 
 Times, "is recognized by the American Expeditionary Force," 
 though not by the Fosdick Commission itself — surely an anoma- 
 lous situation. There are in addition agencies which on the one 
 hand receive funds from the Red Cross — for example, the Arme- 
 nian and Syrian Relief — and which are thus stamped with its 
 approval, and others with contribute to the Red Cross, as the 
 American, Belgian, French, British Blind Fund. There are 
 still others which in their appeals carry letters of endorsement 
 from government officials, perhaps acting personally though 
 that is seldom emphasized. There are yet others which have 
 been examined as to their business methods, though not as to the 
 question of whether they are duplicative or not, by the Charity 
 Organization Society of New York and still others which are 
 complete free lances. In a situation as chaotic as that it is not 
 surprising that there is no standard practice. 
 
 In this matter one should preserve a comparative point of 
 view. It is not proper to criticise war chests in general because 
 some of them support causes of questionable value or even ques- 
 tionable practice, for those causes also derive money from cities 
 where there are no war chests — and with greater impunity. In 
 
 20 
 
general the war chests command larger investigative power and 
 almost uniformly make more serious attempts to discover the 
 proper line of action. The consequence is that the war chest 
 movement has a very distinct tendency to diminish the support 
 of unworthy and duplicative agencies. This tendency will un- 
 doubtedly be largely stimulated by the organization of a Nation- 
 al Association of War Chests which is mentioned in another 
 part of this report. 
 
 The most common practice is to name in the literature the 
 larger organizations, beginning with the Red Cross, the six 
 Fosdick agencies, and usually the Armenian and Syrian Relief, 
 and then to add the statement that the chest will also lend 
 support to any other organizations which the trustees may de- 
 cide are worthy. This may lead to contributions to an almost 
 innumerable number of causes. Syracuse, N. Y., last year gave 
 some money to fifty-four causes. In the three months, April, 
 May, and June of this year Columbus appropriated for thirty 
 causes. In six months Kenosha, Wis., gave to twenty-three 
 causes. Even leaving out of account the many local agencies 
 and the support granted to war savings and Liberty bond cam- 
 paign committees for advertising and other expenses, the total 
 number is large, though by no means so large as that in cities 
 which have no war chests. 
 
 The number of agencies in the field and the differences in 
 the degree of endorsement which has been accorded them have 
 led many people to fear that there will be raids upon the large 
 aggregations of money gathered in war chest cities. To meet 
 this danger there has been organized on the one hand the 
 National Association already mentioned and there have been 
 developed in some cities checks upon the number of agencies. 
 For example, Springfield, Mass., has a provision in its by-laws 
 by which there are recognized the Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A., 
 K. of C, and the Jewish Welfare League, to which appropria- 
 tions can be made on vote of the majority of the board of trus- 
 tees, and they may contribute "to such other organizations and 
 agencies recognized by the Government of the United States 
 as are engaged in general war relief work upon the affiiTaative 
 votes of three-fourths of the full board of trustees. In cases 
 of emergency, distress, or necessity for immediate relief, the 
 trustees shall have power to appropriate and expend funds for 
 the same upon the affirmative votes of three-fourths of the full 
 board of trustees." Other cities have included, occasionally, sim- 
 ilar provisions requiring an extraordinary majority in order to 
 give to other than a few stated agencies. 
 
 On the whole it seems to me that the situation is such at 
 the present time that the Government is not likely to call new 
 agencies into the field and that the probabilities of the develop- 
 ment of new causes of worthy character and large importance 
 are slender. It seems therefore that the proper policy to be 
 
 21 
 
pursued henceforth is to require the budget committee to survey 
 the field carefully, to call upon all who wish to participate to 
 make that fact known, and then to select those which shall share 
 in the fund and publish their names in advance. There should 
 be no question of the inclusion of the agencies recognized by 
 the Council of National Defense or of the War Department, but 
 beyond that point a good deal of discretion would be requisite. 
 This plan would preclude absolutely the danger of raids upon the 
 fund. 
 
 This is perhaps the place where some careful consideration 
 should be given to the question as to the relations between the 
 Red Cross and the war chest. The Red Cross is selected because 
 it is the most prominent of the agencies and because it is the 
 only one which has conducted a drive since the war chest move- 
 ment became general. 
 
 The whole problem of the attitude of the Red Cross toward 
 the war chest movement and the results of the war chest upon 
 the Red Cross is one of extraordinary difficulty because of the 
 fact that the factors which are regarded as most important by 
 the Red Cross officials cannot be dealt with statistically. The 
 objection of Red Cross officials to the war chest movement 
 springs from fear lest the esprit de corps of the organization 
 might be impaired and an alien factor might be introduced 
 between the Red Cross and the people. 
 
 It seems to be unquestionably true, both from personal ob- 
 servation and in view of statements of Red Cross officials, that 
 the war chest movement has cut down the amount of support 
 of the Red Cross in some communities. The total effect it has 
 been impossible to determine. Indeed figures which the Red 
 Cross officials were kind enough to show me in a confidential 
 way make it evident that it is not yet possible for the Red Cross 
 itself to reach a final conclusion in the matter. 
 
 The reasons for the cut-down in some communities are in- 
 volved. It is due in the first place to a widespread impression 
 that the Red Cross has a budget. Whether or not it has what 
 may be called a budget is not readily determinable, since one 
 official gave complete assurance that there was absolutely none 
 and another one says : "After our budget had been determined as 
 nearly as was practicable," etc., which would indicate that there 
 was some sort of budget. At all events strange ideas are 
 abroad about this matter, one city being under the impression 
 that the War Department fixed the amount for which the Red 
 Cross was to call and also local quotas! It has been impossible 
 further to determine whether the Red Cross quotas amounted 
 to $100,000,000 in the aggregate or to more than that amount. 
 High Red Cross officials said they thought it amounted to more, 
 but repeated efforts to discover exactly what the facts are have 
 been unavailing. Moreover the basis of determining the quotas 
 is not entirely clear. It is described thus by one official : 
 
 22 
 
"Our method in determining the quotas is to make use of all 
 existing statistics of population and wealth and examine all the quotas 
 and responses of communities to Liberty Loan and Thrift Stamp cam- 
 paigns. In addition we load our figures under local advice where 
 there are peculiar elements of population and prosperity to consider. 
 By 'loading' I mean that special figures are given weight in addition 
 to the general figures." 
 
 Whether it is true or not the impression is common among 
 war chest cities that one of the elements of ''loading" is whether 
 or not there is a war chest. In some of the cities of New York 
 State the impression was deeply grounded that there had been 
 discrimination in the matter of quotas against war chest cities. 
 
 The result, it seems to me, is that the whole matter is con- 
 fused largely through misunderstandings. There is undoubted- 
 ly on the one hand serious misunderstanding on the part of some 
 Red Cross officials with regard to the nature of the war chest 
 movement, and there is a misunderstanding on the other hand 
 among some war chest cities as to the nature and methods of 
 financing the Red Cross. The difficulty is not due to any lack 
 of desire on the part of the communities to do their utmost 
 share in the support of America's greatest humanitarian effort, 
 but it is not surprising that they should lack understanding of 
 some of the points involved in view of the difficulty of getting 
 precise official information. 
 
 Many cities on the other hand have exceeded their quotas. 
 Mr. Davison in a telegram to Mr. James R. Garfield, Lakes 
 Division Manager, stated that "a number of cities where war 
 chest drives were held have doubled their Red Cross quotas,*' 
 and at the same time called upon those war chest cities which 
 had not exceeded their quotas to over-subscribe to the extent of 
 sixty-five per cent, on the ground that it was the only way in 
 which they could do their full share, inasmuch as the Red Cross 
 was not being financed by the drive for any stated period — so 
 that the larger the amount raised the longer a new drive would 
 be deferred. As indicated elsewhere in this report, it seems to 
 me that under present conditions this is the proper practice for 
 cities to follow. 
 
 The results of personal observation cover the following 
 cities : 
 
 Salem, Mass., was given a quota of $40,000. The first ap- 
 propriation from the war chest was $50,000 for the Red Cross, 
 which was not necessarily regarded as final. 
 
 Lexington, Mass., was assigned a quota of $8,500, which 
 was more than double that of last year. Last year its contribu- 
 tion was not over $5,000 ; the war chest has appropriated $17,- 
 000. That is double this year's quota, quadruple last year's, and 
 triple last year's gift. 
 
 Seymour, Conn., appropriated $25,000, where last year the 
 
 23 
 
drive produced $30,000. It was said there was special reason 
 for this, and it may be that the appropriation will be increased 
 later, though there is no information on that topic. 
 
 Toledo, Ohio, last year gave $750,000 on a quota of $450,- 
 000. This year the quota was advanced to $600,000, but on 
 objection was reduced to $450,000. That amount was appro- 
 priated. In addition the war chest will take care of the local 
 Red Cross chapter to an amount which is estimated to be from 
 $350,000 to $400,000, whereas last year the chapter had only its 
 twenty-five per cent, of $750,000. This means, therefore, that 
 Toledo is spending more money for Red Cross purposes than 
 last year. 
 
 In Columbus, Ohio, the Red Cross called for $300,000 and 
 that amount was appropriated. In addition, however, the local 
 chapter is receiving about $20,000 a month, which may be more 
 or less according to current needs. The Red Cross will get 
 more for all purposes than it did last year. There was some 
 fear in Columbus that the war chest might put a damper upon 
 the local work of the chapter, but this has not proved to be the 
 case. . 
 
 Dayton, Ohio, last year subscribed $221,876.12. There was 
 collected $214,053.02, the unpaid subscriptions amounting to 
 $7,823.10. Campaign expenses, for local purposes only, 
 amounted to $4,211.57 and the expense of collection to $1,592.45, 
 making a total expense account of $5,804.02. The net amount 
 which the Red Cross received last year therefore was $208,- 
 249.10. Twenty-five per cent, of that amount proved insuffi- 
 cient for the work of the local chapter. This year the war 
 chest appropriated to the War Fund of the Red Cross $200,000 
 and to the local chapter $40,000, which means a larger total for 
 Red Cross purposes than last year. 
 
 Detroit, Mich., last year had a quota of $1,500,000 and 
 raised $2,250,000, an over-subscription of $750,000. The local 
 chapter had twenty-five per cent, of this amount. This year 
 Detroit had the same quota and gave that amount outright, 
 none being retained for the local chapter. That amounts to an 
 over-subscription of twenty-five per cent. Besides, the plan calls 
 for participation of the war agencies pro rata in the over-sub- 
 scription of the war chest goal after costs, shrinkage, etc., have 
 been determined. Thus the National Red Cross will get from 
 $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 more than last year and in addition 
 the local chapter is to have $1,500,000. Detroit, therefore, is 
 devoting a great deal more to Red Cross purposes this year than 
 last. 
 
 In Hudson Falls, N. Y., it was agreed that one-sixth of all 
 that was raised in addition to the minimum amount called for 
 by the war chest should be given to the Red Cross in addition 
 to its quota. Under this plan the Red Cross secured more than 
 a one hundred per cent, over-subscription. 
 
 24 
 
Rochester, N. Y., incorporated in its budget a provision for 
 an over-subscription which will net the Red Cross an amount 
 largely in excess of that which was available last year. 
 
 Utica, N. Y., had a quota last year of $160,000, which was 
 later reduced to $100,000, $90,000 being raised. This year the 
 quota was increased to $250,000, which was met. Thus the 
 Red Cross War Fund got nearly three times as much this year 
 as last. In addition they plan to support the local Red Cross 
 chapter for an amount which may reach $150,000 and will be a 
 net addition to what Utica did for the Red Cross last year. 
 
 Springfield, Mass., last year had a quota of $200,000 and 
 raised $342,000. This year its quota was increased to $300,- 
 000, which was appropriated. In addition the war chest sup- 
 ports the local Red Cross in an amount estimated at about $200,- 
 000. The total appropriations for Red Cross purposes will 
 therefore be in excess of last year. 
 
 Rome and Syracuse, N. Y., have both had their quotas in- 
 creased from approximately $2.00 per capita to $3.00 per capita 
 and gave in accordance. 
 
 Cleveland, Ohio, met its quota and made no separate pro- 
 vision for the local chapter. How its subscription compares 
 with last year I do not know. 
 
 The Miami, Ohio, war chest gave 132% of its quota in order 
 to conform to the general over-subscription of quotas in the 
 Lakes Division. 
 
 Youngstown, Ohio, simply met its quota and in consequence 
 gave less to the Red Cross War Fund than last year. The war 
 chest will take care of the local Red Cross chapter, but even so 
 there is some doubt as to whether there will be as much money 
 devoted to Red Cross purposes from that city this year as last. 
 
 Philadelphia, Pa., recognizing the force of the argument 
 about over-subscription, made an extra appropriation which 
 amounted to an over-subscription in about the same proportion 
 as was the case in other communities of its size. 
 
 What the result of new method of apportioning production 
 to the local chapters will be it is not yet possible to determine. 
 If this relieves them of a financial burden which is not promptly 
 replaced by the demands due to the development of the Home 
 Service, it may be that some cities will alter their practice. 
 The cities mentioned above are simply a haphazard collection 
 and were not selected on any principle whatever. They furnish 
 perhaps a fair sample of war chest practice. 
 
 Occasionally it is said that local chapters are embarrassed 
 under the war chest plan. Indeed local Red Cross officials in 
 one or two divisions have written to that effect. An effort to 
 check up this statement by referring through correspondence 
 to several officials of local chapters has brought vigorous de- 
 nials. In almost every city visited an effort was made to see 
 personally the Red Cross chapter officials and talk over the 
 
 25 
 
matter confidentially. Not more than one or two wished a 
 return to the old practice. A few of them admitted some em- 
 barrassment because of the necessity of turning in budgets to 
 a war chest disbursement committee. The great majority, on 
 the other hand, expressed themselves as being very much pleas- 
 ed with the situation and as being relieved of one of their most 
 serious burdens, inasmuch as war chests made it possible for 
 them to devote their energies to the industrial production and 
 development of Home Service without diversion of effort in 
 the direction of raising money. None reported any loss in in- 
 terest or slackening in work. 
 
 The conclusion of this matter, if put bluntly, would be 
 that no candid investigator could fail to become convinced that 
 the war chests are unanimously determined to support the Red 
 Cross in any effort it may undertake and on the other hand, 
 that the Red Cross, so far as its higher officials, at least, are 
 concerned, has attempted to cooperate with the war chest cities 
 but found itself embarrassed by the introduction into a broad 
 general scheme of a new and unexpected element. As time goes 
 on the situation is certain to clear. The policy of intimate in- 
 formation and frank contact will eliminate most of the troubles. 
 
 The Red Cross, however, has never entertained any fear 
 that the war chest plan would destroy the financial support of 
 the Red Cross if generally adopted. They regard the matter as 
 going deeper than the mere garnering of money and have some 
 fears lest their broad plan of building a comprehensive national 
 organization on the broadest lines might be interfered with. 
 They have laid out an elaborate and what one of their officials 
 frankly called an idealistic scheme which they fear the war 
 chest may have a tendency to disrupt. It is not possible in the 
 space available to deal with this phase of the situation. In any 
 event no definitive conclusion could be set forth for the prob- 
 lem is one of opinion. After careful study of the question the 
 writer has come to believe that the war chest has not proved 
 and is not likely to prove a serious interference with the Red 
 Cross program. Whatever modification may have to be made 
 in the scheme of things outlined by the Red Cross will rise from 
 causes which produced the war chest movement and for which 
 the war chest is, therefore, not responsible. 
 
 Red Cross Membership. 
 
 The problem of Red Cross membership has become in some 
 instances more or less acute. Here again careful inquiry de- 
 velops the fact that friction is occasioned almost entirely by the 
 failure to understand each others' point of view rather than by 
 any desire on the part of the Red Cross to be captious or any 
 wish on the part of the war chest cities to flout the Red Cross. 
 
 The original idea current among war chest cities was that 
 the Red Cross would welcome having enrolled as members the 
 
 26 
 
large number of people who were subscribers to the war chest, 
 a not unnatural notion, since the contributors to the first Red 
 Cross War Fund were enrolled as members and the war chests 
 contributed to that fund. Therefore Syracuse and other cities 
 provided for an automatic membership and simply took out a 
 dollar membership for every war chest subscriber. It devel- 
 oped however that the Red Cross objected to automatic mem- 
 berships on the ground that joining the organization should be 
 an expression of personal interest rather than a financial mat- 
 ter. The Red Cross wished to have the membership help to 
 maintain personal contact between individuals and itself. 
 
 After the attitude of the Red Cross became known various 
 plans were devised to obviate the trouble. Syracuse, for ex- 
 ample, at the time of its second war chest drive had the solicitor 
 after taking a war chest subscription offer the subscriber an 
 application for membership in the Red Cross, to be paid from 
 war chest funds. This amounted of course to a designation of 
 one dollar of the contribution for the purpose of Red Cross 
 membership. The second method has been to incorporate in 
 the pledge to the war chest a statement that the first dollar paid 
 should be used for membership in he American Red Cross, a 
 statement which could be crossed out by persons not wishing to 
 join. The pledge card of Sycamore, Illinois, contained the 
 statement that: 
 
 "It is understood that after December 31, 1918, $ per 
 
 year of the amount hereby pledged shall be u&ed in payment of annual 
 memberships in the Red Cross for the persons named on the reverse 
 side of this card, provided my annual contribution shall be not less 
 than $2.00 for each person named." 
 
 What the attitude of the Red Cross toward these methods 
 may be is not known. Whether it is insistent that the mem- 
 bership drive must come in December or whether communities 
 may suit their own convenience about the time of enrolling mem- 
 bers is unascertained. 
 
 Two other plans have been developed, however, both of 
 which provide for a December enrollment. The first of these 
 excludes the Red Cross membership entirely from the war chest 
 and allows the Red Cross to stage a wholly independent drive at 
 that time on the ground that it is not a matter of money, but 
 a matter entirely of membership, and that the money is a purely 
 incidental concomitant. This plan was adopted in Dayton, 
 Ohio, Elmira, N. Y., Glens Falls, N. Y., Tarrytown, N. Y., 
 Springfield, Mass., Vevay, Indiana, and perhaps others. It has 
 the weakness that it does not wholly keep the pledge with regard 
 to prohibiting all other solicitations for money. While a dollar 
 is a very small amount for many people, to the industrial worker 
 who is making sacrificial subscription on a weekly or monthly 
 basis it may be not inconsiderable. 
 
 27 
 
In consequence there has been developed the plan contem- 
 plated in Utica by which all war chest members will be sent a 
 non-transferable coupon, good for a one-dollar membership in 
 the Red Cross. The Red Cross can then stage its membership 
 drive and subscribers can either turn in the coupon for an 
 annual membership or put more money with it according to 
 the class of membership they desire. They may destroy the 
 coupon and join by paying money, or they may decline to join 
 and destroy the coupon. This plan seems on the whole to be an 
 admirable one. It preserves the personal contact which the 
 Red Cross desires to maintain. At the same time it allows the 
 person to plan at one time his giving for the entire year and 
 since the money is not regarded by the Red Cross as the vital 
 factor its passage through the war chest is scarcely an objection. 
 
 The war chest in every case should be particularly careful 
 to see to it that it provides a plan in this matter which is 
 satisfactory to the Red Cross. 
 
 Local Charities. 
 
 A minority only, it is safe to say, are taking care of local 
 charities by means of the war chest. Of those reporting on this 
 point, fifty-six do not, twelve do, and eight made responses that 
 leave one in doubt. 
 
 The reasons for including them are, first of all, the fact 
 that it emphasizes the single campaign idea and in some cities, 
 as for example in Dayton, Ohio, after the war chest idea began 
 to spread to the public, there was a demand that the charities 
 should be included. The second reason is that these local char- 
 ities have a tendency in the press of war financing and the sup- 
 porting of war relief agencies to run into debt, both because of 
 increased cost of operation and decreased support due to com- 
 petition with war funds. Their unfortunate financial condi- 
 tions are often therefore traceable directly to the war. It seems 
 unfortunate that permanent institutions should be burdened 
 with debt, which would tend to cripple their . effectiveness later. 
 In the third place, many of these are engaged in war work to 
 some extent. In addition to the activity of the home service 
 department of the Red Cross, many charitable organizations 
 find that the war develops greater demands upon them and 
 many hospitals anticipate a good deal of war work. Finally, 
 local charities have been included in some cases with the specific 
 end in view of educating the public. In such cases it has been 
 done as part of a deliberate effort to break down prejudices, 
 cliques, and create a broader community spirit. In one parti- 
 cular instance where it was admitted that the inclusion of local 
 charities had probably reduced the amount of money raised, the 
 men in charge believed that it was worth the price because it 
 had cleared up an absurd situation and opened the way for bet- 
 ter things another year. 
 
 28 
 
Where local agencies are included, the support accorded 
 them varies widely, both in extent and character. Some cities, 
 as for example Rochester, include the local Y. M. C. A. in the 
 war chest. Others include only purely charitable enterprises. 
 In Detroit forty-two local organizations were included ; in Roch- 
 ester thirty-six. Cleveland has a welfare federation which in- 
 cludes about ninety societies of which only sixty participate in 
 the funds. The welfare federation was included in the war 
 chest. These facts give some rough notion of the varieties 
 and number of causes supported in different communities. 
 
 There is the same difference in the character of the support 
 which is given. For example, the Rochester war chest did not 
 take care of the deficits of the societies. The inclusion of local 
 agencies was regarded as more or less of an experiment and it 
 was decided to see them through this year, leaving them in the 
 same financial condition at its close as at the beginning. On 
 the other hand, Detroit and certain other cities did take care of 
 the deficits, feeling confident that the plan would be continued. 
 
 Some cities forbade the charities which were to participate 
 to include capital expenditures, allowing only current expenses 
 to be put in the budget. Other cities, on the contrary, allowed 
 certain capital expenditures to be included. Rochester permits 
 any society to solicit funds during the year for capital expendi- 
 tures. In Detroit, however, that appears to be regarded as not 
 wholly in accord with the spirit of the war chest's operation. 
 
 Most of the cities which provide for their local charities 
 give them, not the full amount of their needs, since many derive 
 income from endowment or other sources, but allow them to 
 receive from the war chest only that part of their expenses for 
 which they would have been obliged to solicit the public. 
 
 There are certain difficulties and dangers involved in the 
 inclusion of local charities. In the first place the fiscal years 
 are not uniform and very delicate work is required to obviate 
 the difficulties which this introduces. In the second place, ex- 
 perience has shown some suspicion and dislike of these among 
 certain elements of the public. Occasionally there has been a 
 feeling on the part of the wage-earners that these enterprises 
 are more or less aristocratic in character, adopting a somewhat 
 superior attitude towards those from whom they do not derive 
 support. This fact unquestionably caused friction in a number 
 of cities. In some of them criticisms were justifiable and it 
 was pointed out to the charitable organizations that inasmuch 
 as their support had been democratized, their behavior might 
 well undergo alteration in the same direction, and it is said that 
 this had a salutary effect. 
 
 In the third place the inclusion of the local charities has 
 a tendency to raise religious and sectarian questions. This is 
 particularly true when it happens that a hospital of one religious 
 denomination is wholly supported by church contributions and 
 
 29 
 
in consequence is not included in the war chest, while a hospital 
 of another denomination has been accustomed to approach the 
 general public with an appeal for funds and consequently is 
 included in the war chest. 
 
 In the fourth place, the argument frequently used against 
 the war chest to the effect that it destroys the clientele of sepa- 
 rate organizations has more cogency when applied to local char- 
 ities than to war relief funds. Usually these agencies have 
 built up a circle of individuals interested personally and finan- 
 cially in their success. If they are included in the war chest, 
 they are overshadowed by issues so much larger that this clien- 
 tele has a tendency to be disintegrated and the personal interest 
 upon which they must depend in order to get personal work is 
 to some extent destroyed. There is the risk that "local charities 
 after being carried two or three years by a war chest might 
 find themselves left by the wayside, should the war chest dis- 
 solve after the conclusion of the war. In the case of the smaller 
 organizations particularly, their publicity and financial machin- 
 ery would be very likely to atrophy during a long period of war 
 chest financing. This is, I think, a danger which should be 
 guarded against." (Quoted from a letter of Mr. Barry C. 
 Smith.) 
 
 Finally, it has been urged that this practice has a tendency 
 "to take the war out of war chest", by putting in an appeal 
 which cannot be called purely patriotic. 
 
 Such reasons as these doubtless, as well as others, induced 
 the Washington State Council of Defense to direct that "cam- 
 paigns for the support of institutions not organized primarily 
 for war work may not be combined with appeals for war work." 
 
 Arguments for and against the inclusion of local charities 
 are so evenly balanced that it seems evident that the wisdom 
 of inclusion or exclusion depends very largely upon local con- 
 siderations. It depends upon the character of the charities, the 
 religious and racial distribution, the present means and methods 
 of support, and the amount to which the community has been 
 educated in relation to them. Certainly no other feature of a 
 war chest requires as much careful diplomacy and thorough 
 preparatory work as does the inclusion of local charities. It 
 is probably fair to say that, as a general rule, the larger the 
 city the more difficult becomes the inclusion and the more 
 doubtful the wisdom of including local charities. This, how- 
 ever, is a rule that is not absolutely without exception. 
 
 In case inclusion is decided upon, experience has shown, 
 first, that more time is necessary to organize ; second, that this 
 matter needs particularly frank and candid treatment; third 
 that the local agencies should have itemized budgets presented 
 to the budget committee and that the amount which they are to 
 receive collectively and individually should be published well in 
 advance of the campaign — whether the war funds are budgeted 
 
 30 
 
or not ; and fourth, disbursement should be made to them not in 
 a lump sum, but monthly, in accordance with their needs under 
 the budget. Any committee which considers including local 
 charities should read with great care the report on "Financial 
 Federations" published by the American Association for Organ- 
 izing Charity, 130 East 22nd Street, New York City. 
 
 31 
 
CHAPTER TWO 
 
 STRUCTURE OF THE WAR CHEST. 
 
 It is not possible \^dthin the limits of this report to give 
 a complete account of the various types of permanent and cam- 
 paign organizations used in various cities where the war chest 
 has been adopted. Instead, an effort will be made to give a 
 sort of composite picture which describes no particular city's 
 plan accurately but which represents, so far as may be possible, 
 the consensus of practice. 
 
 Permanent Organization. 
 
 The problem of satisfactorily organizing the permanent 
 structure of the war chest and at the same time creating a 
 temporary campaign organization is one of some difficulty. 
 
 To begin with there is a very acute problem of integration 
 — to make such arrangements that there will be neither over- 
 lapping nor gaps. Probably the simplest and most effective 
 way of meeting this problem is to put the destinies of the war 
 chest in the hands of a relatively small executive committee 
 whose members shall be the chairmen of the various other per- 
 manent committees. In this fashion a relatively small group 
 can get together and decide matters of policy. This is virtually 
 the plan adopted in Columbus, Ohio, Butte, Montana, and Utica, 
 N. Y. This committee should have general charge of the war 
 chest and of the disbursement of the funds, ultimate responsi- 
 bility being centered in this body. 
 
 Syracuse carried this idea still further and planned not 
 only to integrate the work of the war chest committees effec- 
 tively but to have an executive committee which represented 
 all phases of community war work — Liberty bonds, food, fuel, 
 war savings, etc. — and have the same group in charge of vir- 
 tually the whole range of civic war activities, the immediate 
 sponsor for the particular activity acting as chairman wherever 
 his problem was under immediate consideration. As applied to 
 Connecticut, this would mean that the war bureau should be the 
 executive committee. Whether this is a desirable plan for the 
 cities of this state depends upon local considerations. At all 
 events it would be unwise, in view of present organization of 
 war bureaus, to have the chairmanship movable, as in the plan 
 suggested in Syracuse. 
 
 In many cases the executive committee, by whatever name 
 known, undertook to run the campaign. More frequently, how- 
 ever, that task was assigned to a committee known variously 
 
 32 
 
as an organization committee, as a membership committee, as a 
 teams committee, as a campaign committee, or as a war cabinet. 
 The function of this body was defined by Adrian, Michigan, "to 
 have charge of organizing the league in every ward and town- 
 ship of the county." In Springfield, Mass., the war cabinet was 
 given the direction of the drive. 
 
 Ordinarily one member of this committee, usually its chair- 
 man or secretary, was designated as campaign manager or 
 director. The committee is permanent and the campaign divi- 
 sions belong under it. Usually the heads of the various cam- 
 paign divisions comprise the membership of this committee, thus 
 again securing proper integration. This committee should be 
 as small as circumstances will permit and every policy in rela- 
 tion to the immediate conduct of the drive should be left in its 
 hands by the executive committee. 
 
 The third of the permanent committees is the budget com- 
 mittee which appears in almost every city in some form or 
 under some name. The usual problem which is presented to it 
 is to make a careful survey of the probable demands upon the 
 city in the course of the fiscal period adopted by the war chest 
 and on the basis of that, after allowing for costs, shrinkage and 
 emergencies, set the amount for which the war chest should 
 call. It is its duty, in the second placfe, under normal circum- 
 stances, to determine the distribution of that amount among the 
 various classes of the community and to that end to construct 
 whatever sliding scale may be published in order to distribute 
 the burden equably. 
 
 Occasionally the budget committee is called upon to exer- 
 cise further functions. If local charities are included it is al- 
 most always required, and should always be required, to care- 
 fully budget the local charities and determine in advance - 
 precisely how much each is to receive from the war chest. 
 Wherever the disbursement of money to war relief organizations 
 has been based upon a budget principle this committee has been 
 given the task of determining the amounts which each shall 
 receive. This was done with extraordinary care in Rochester 
 under the chairmanship of President Rush Rhees of Rochester 
 University. In any case the task of this committee is one of 
 great delicacy and difficulty and requires time, tact, and large 
 ability. 
 
 The publicity committee needs to be a permanent organiza- 
 tion, because it should begin work long before the campaign 
 and must continue its efforts after the campaign closes. If the 
 drive is to be successful public opinion must be educated. If 
 collections are to be successful public interest must be maintain- 
 ed after the campaign is over. The publicity committee has so 
 many functions that it must inevitably have a number of sub- 
 committees. As complete a sub-division as any was adopted in 
 Springfield, Mass., where there were the following sub-commit- 
 
 33 
 
tees; Banners and Buttons; Display Advertising for Newspa- 
 pers; Educational, Editorial, News, and Color; Factories; Leaf- 
 lets and Instructions; Letters and Circulars; Posters and Car- 
 toons ; Pulpit Messages ; Signs and Sign Boards ; Special Adver- 
 tising; and Stationery and Printing. There was beside a 
 Speakers' Bureau which had subdivisions for theatres, rallies, 
 shops, and the noon lunches of the workers. 
 
 This committee should be kept small in number and should 
 regard its task as executive in character — the determination of 
 policy and overseeing its execution rather than the execution of 
 the policy in person. It holds a key position, because the idea 
 of the war chest is somewhat complicated and only the most 
 persistent and skillful effort will adequately instruct the public 
 and ensure the success of the campaign. 
 
 Particularly important is the speakers' bureau, which needs 
 to be very carefully organized. Perhaps this was worked out 
 as thoroughly as anywhere in Springfield, Ohio, where Mr. John 
 Dorst arranged and conducted 601 meetings between the 5th and 
 27th of May, the highest number on one day being 63. His 
 speakers were so well organized in a comprehensive directory 
 that they were notified in ample time and the chairmen of 
 meetings also were notified so that there was no confusion. 
 Careful planning of that character means a great deal in the 
 direction of success for the war chest. 
 
 One of the most important functions of the publicity commit- 
 tee, too often overlooked, is the maintenance of an information 
 bureau at headquarters during the campaign. That bureau 
 should be kept open continuously, in charge of persons who 
 thoroughly understand the whole plan and can answer general 
 questions promptly and intelligently and tell inquirers exactly 
 whom to approach for detailed information on any topic. This 
 saves a tremendous amount of bother by the avoidance of un- 
 necessary interruptions of overworked executive officers. It 
 also improves the temper of workers who dislike to be referred 
 from pillar to post and back again for information on some 
 simple point. 
 
 Publicity. 
 
 It has been sa^d that the success or failure of the war 
 chest rests upon preparation, personnel, and publicity. Of 
 these publicity is not the least. It would not be possible in the 
 scope of this report to give anything like a complete account 
 of the publicity methods which have been used. Cities have 
 shown a great deal of originality and the variations in principle 
 and method are striking. 
 
 Some cities, for example, attempt to make very elaborate 
 poster displays. On the other hand, Syracuse used no posters 
 save only a few Red Cross posters with war chest addenda. 
 Some attempt to create a slogan and centei* a tremendous 
 
 34 
 
amount of advertising about that. Others utterly neglect it. 
 Some depend upon newspaper advertisements, others upon read- 
 ing matter. Every city has its own pet plan of publicity. 
 
 Columbus, 0., originated the greatest piece of mystery ad- 
 vertising which has yet appeared in connection with the war 
 chest. The ''1 to 31" appeal is said to have been thought of 
 while a party was en route to Toronto in order to study Cana- 
 dian methods. Certainly it was a tremendous hit from an ad- 
 vertising point of view. That slogan and its derivatives have 
 been used in a very large number of cities. It is interesting to 
 note that despite the success of that appeal other successful 
 war chest cities frown upon the use of ''mystery" or "teaser" 
 advertising. 
 
 In Albany the committee in charge felt that the war chest 
 idea was a complicated one and that it needed a great deal of 
 educational work to make the public get the real logic of the 
 war chest, and not content itself with simply making a gift, but 
 make a subscription, which would represent the maximum 
 monthly payment possible. This is a great undertaking, and 
 in many cities it has been evident that even at the close of the 
 campaign there were many people who did not have a clear 
 idea of exactly what it was all about. In Albany therefore the 
 advertising was not put on the basis of a "stunt", but a complete 
 program was laid out, all timed to inform the public. The 
 four-minute speeches in the theatres, newspaper stories, and 
 advertising were all dovetailed in together on each day in order 
 to develop the idea before the public as clearly as possible. It 
 was built around the notion that there should be no mystery 
 and that there should be no threatening and no "knocking." 
 As one of the officials in the war chest put it graphically, "We 
 did not use black-jack or lead pipe, but got everybody boosting." 
 
 Rochester had a series of half-page advertisements which 
 were run in the newspapers in order to develop the idea of the 
 war chest. The titles indicate the nature of the education. 
 Th first was "How Much?" There followed in order "How 
 Little?", "Advice to Slackers", "Stand Up and Be Counted", 
 "Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor", "The Bud- 
 get", "The Schedule of Individual Giving", "The Spirit of Giv- 
 ing", "Let's Quit Kidding Ourselves and Dig In", "Have We Got 
 To Give", "Fix the Amount Yourself", "Your Measure", "Cam- 
 paign Expenses", "Are You Satisfied?" 
 
 Because of the size of the problem, Philadelphia used 
 a great deal of poster advertising and some of these were ex- 
 tremely well done and unusually effective. 
 
 These serve as reasonably tj^pical illustrations of the meth- 
 ods which were used in different cities. It is impossible to 
 make any categorical statement about which method is best. 
 So much depends on the advertising genius of the individual 
 who has the matter in charge, that no system can be universally 
 applied. 
 
 35 
 
Another permanent committee of great importance is the 
 supply committee. Its function is to determine the quantities 
 of material, buttons, window cards, and whatever else may be 
 required, and to honor requisitions from the publicity committee 
 for materials which that organization may need. The supply 
 committee should also undertake the task, which is perhaps the 
 most difficult of the entire campaign to achieve without friction, 
 namely, the proper distribution of supplies to the workers and 
 to the subscribers. This requires a great deal of foresight and 
 energy: it also requires space. Usually altogether too little 
 attention has been paid to the physical problem involved. For 
 example, in one large city all supplies were given out through 
 a single door, the consequence being that workers had to wait 
 frequently for more than an hour. A small outlay of money in 
 erecting temporary shelves and railings, and the organization of 
 an adequate clerical force will contribute as few other things 
 can toward improving the spirits and temper of workers. 
 
 There is one other caution to this committee. It is aston- 
 ishing how nearly unanimous cities are in reporting that they 
 ran short of this, that, or the other piece of material. It is 
 better to over-buy even at the expense of some waste, because 
 nothing checks a campaign more thoroughly than to have some 
 vital item of supply missing. Even trivial items of supply are 
 important, for human nature is such that it causes a great deal 
 of complaint if people have to subscribe without receiving a 
 badge or a window card. 
 
 Another permanent committee is the statistics and records 
 committee, sometimes called the expense and audit committee, 
 or office management committee, all these names being employ- 
 ed in various cities to designate committees with virtually the 
 same functions. During the drive the statistics committee must 
 organize a plan for rapidly reporting the subscriptions which 
 are taken, for auditing the statements of all workers, and for 
 tabulating the returns. After the drive its responsibilities ex- 
 tend to the organization of an office force and the installation 
 of a system of bookkeeping and accounting which shall be ade- 
 quate to the needs of the community. 
 
 Too much emphasis cannot be put upon the necessity for 
 securing men of the largest calibre to serve on the executive 
 committee and as chairmen of the other permanent committees. 
 Such men cannot be secured without effort. They should not 
 be asked over the telephone or casually, but a particular appoint- 
 ment should be made and the scope and importance of the task 
 laid before them with a view to having them devote their whole 
 time to the war chest. This was done in almost all the impor- 
 tant cities. Springfield, Mass., in its published booklet stated 
 the case well. 'The executive committee," it said, "should 
 consist of trained executives who shall be able to set aside their 
 regular vocations until completion of the campaign," — and 
 
 36 
 
again, ''We recommend concentrated authority in small commit- 
 tees composed of members conscious of their responsibility and 
 fitted by training and experience to administer the work placed 
 in their hands." 
 
 One rather important matter is the advisability of seeing 
 to it that each committee has a docket for each meeting. Insist- 
 ence upon this will ensure, in the first place, a tremendous 
 saving of time through the orderly conduct of business and, in 
 the second place, will make it possible for the executive com- 
 mittee to know precisely what matters are before its subsidiary 
 bodies for consideration, and thus keep an effective check upon 
 their activities. 
 
 The further the war chest movement develops the more it 
 comes to rely upon the assistance of women in conducting the 
 campaigns. In a great many instances women have been made 
 the chief factor in the house-to-house work and often have had 
 complete charge of that end of the work. Frequently, too, they 
 have been used in making up the census. Again, they have 
 undertaken the follow-up campaign for new subscriptions, a 
 woman being put in charge of a small district in which she is 
 to notice and report those who move away, getting the new ad- 
 dresses if possible, and to solicit newcomers promptly, thus 
 being responsible for an area which she is to keep as nearly as 
 possible one hundred per cent, subscribed. Frequently, too, 
 women have assisted materially in office work. In one case, 
 at Albany, there was a woman's parade in which seventeen 
 thousand women marched. In Albany, also, the women arrang- 
 ed some very unusual window displays, demonstrating the value 
 and character of the work of the several agencies which the war 
 chest proposed to assist in supporting. 
 
 In view of these things it seems obvious that the wise plan 
 to follow is to have the women represented on the executive 
 committee and also on the campaign committee, if the two are 
 separate. They should be very largely in charge of the house- 
 to-house solicitation and should possibly have the prospect cards 
 of the wealthy women givers, so that they will not have a purely 
 subsidiary position, but will have opportunity to report some 
 gifts of considerable size. Experience has shown them to be 
 effective solicitors. 
 
 The representation of Labor in the government of the war 
 chest is another item which should never be overlooked. There 
 has been criticism in some cities to the effect that the war chest 
 was in the hands of bankers and manufacturers. Occasionally 
 in consequence there have been reports of friction and in one or 
 two instances labor unions have organized war chests of their 
 own independently and have caused trouble in that way. Occa- 
 sionally, too, tactless appropriations for local purposes have 
 been planned which caused friction to develop — for example, 
 appropriations for local Home Guard units in districts where 
 
 37 
 
that body was believed by the labor element to be chiefly organ- 
 ized to prevent or put down strikes. 
 
 It should never be lost to sight that the workingmen have 
 almost invariably done their full share, that their support has 
 been larger than anticipated in almost every instance, tRat the 
 unions have shown willingness in many cities to make collec- 
 tions, and that workingmen generally have signed authoriza- 
 tions requesting their employers to deduct the amounts of their 
 pledges from their pay envelopes, which is asking a great deal 
 from some points of view. In consideration of all these things 
 it is obvious that care should be taken to see that the working- 
 men are represented upon the executive committee and are 
 given a voice in the determination of policy, the management of 
 the campaign, and the disbursement of the funds. 
 
 Campaign Organization. 
 
 In describing the campaign organization the same policy 
 must be followed as in describing the permanent organization, 
 namely, to draw only the broadest lines of common practice, 
 omitting reference for the most part to features individual to 
 particular cities. 
 
 There is a growing tendency to make the campaign organ- 
 ization permanent, to organize the workers as did Albany into 
 a ''Loyal Legion", or as did Syracuse into a "County Defense 
 League," etc. This is done in order to create a more or less 
 trained body of workers available for every sort of war propa- 
 ganda. The tendency, also, is to enlist larger and larger num- 
 bers of persons and at the same time to organize them more 
 thoroughly and instruct them more completely, making the task 
 of the individual solicitor less in extent but more intensive in 
 quality. 
 
 The first item in the conduct of the campaign is the organ- 
 ization of a prospect list. This is done in most cases through 
 a prospect committee. In several cases, as indicated elsewhere 
 in the report, it was done through a census committee in the 
 first instance and the final stages were put in the hands of two 
 other committees, namely, a transfer committee and a revision 
 and classification committee; the function of the census com- 
 mittee being to gather material, the transfer committee having 
 as its task the copying to individual cards of the names which 
 appear on the census sheets, the revision and classification com- 
 mittee having as its problem the final sorting and rating of the 
 cards. 
 
 Sometimes even when there is no census the rating commit- 
 tee is separate from the prospect committee. As explained 
 elsewhere, the work of the rating committee in a city of any 
 
 38 
 
size must be very largely executive in character, the actual work 
 being done by a large and fluid group, though the responsibility 
 for organization and results must always remain with the rat- 
 ing committee. 
 
 When the prospect cards have been made up there arises 
 the problem of distributing them among the teams. The first 
 step is to make distribution among divisions — for example, put- 
 ting all the cards of persons to be solicited at their homes in 
 one division, all to be solicited at factories, etc., in another divi- 
 sion. Distribution within the divisions is then put in the hands 
 of the general in charge who is to operate under rules devised 
 by the executive committee. 
 
 Within the homes division it appears that the distribution 
 is almost always made on a geographical basis. Sometimes 
 there is added to this the attempt to make the district equal 
 either in number of persons, in size of area, or in value of pros- 
 pects. Occasionally where the cards are distributed without 
 reference to any of these plans, individual teams are given 
 quotas, or the contest among them is put on the basis of the 
 percentage of prospects who become givers. All these various 
 plans have been developed with a view to creating and stimulat- 
 ing competition. 
 
 Within the industrial division the cards are ordinarily 
 divided among teams by factories. Rochester, N. Y., and 
 Springfield, Mass., developed a system of group rating. The 
 cards were distributed so that in Rochester all the teams had 
 relatively equal numbers of employees to see and relatively equal 
 prospect values as based upon the rating with reference to the 
 aggregate pay-roll. 
 
 Frequently, as will appear later, employees are classified 
 rather carefully and distribution is made according as they are 
 industrial employees, public employees, utility employees, etc. 
 
 The most critical problem comes when the effort is made 
 to assign the cards of the so-called individual subscribers. This 
 has been achieved in great numbers of ways. The first method 
 is by making very careful classification of vocations, giving all 
 physicians to one team, all clergy to another, all undertakers to 
 another, all lawyers to another, etc. Where any vocation has 
 an unusually large number it is divided, merchants being divid- 
 ed, for example, into dry-goods merchants, grocery merchants, 
 etc. Such a method of distribution of the individual prospect 
 cards is relatively simple if the census has been carefully made 
 or if there is an up-to-date classified directory by which one' can 
 speedily sort out all the jewelers or all the plumbers, etc. Where 
 this is done however it means that the team competition must 
 be based upon percentage of prospects reached, or attainment of 
 a group quota, and not upon either the number of subscribers 
 or amounts of subscriptions. 
 
A second method of distributing these cards is to assign 
 them geographically. This was done in Youngstown, Ohio. All 
 the individual subscribers in one block were given to one team. 
 On the whole this method, though used by many cities, is one not 
 entirely advisable. It develops neither the group stimulus of 
 the method immediately preceding nor does it give equal num- 
 bers or equal values of prospects. The competition must be 
 based, therefore, as it was in Youngstown on the percentage 
 of prospects actually seen irrespective of results. 
 
 A third method is to assign the cards to teams arbitrarily 
 without reference to location or any other consideration save 
 their prospective value, making an attempt to see that each 
 team has prospect cards whose totals are virtually equal. 
 
 A fourth method is to compile a list of the prospects and 
 make them available to team captains or entire teams and allow 
 them after scrutinizing the list to put in requisitions for such 
 cards as they desire with the statement of the reasons. On the 
 basis of these requisitions, which are presumed to be made in 
 the belief that the team can advantageously approach the desig- 
 nated prospect, the assignment of cards is made. Of course 
 some names will be requisitioned by many teams. In such 
 cases the committee must decide which has showTi the better 
 reason for desiring a given name. On the other hand, some 
 cards will not be requisitioned at all. These should be assigned 
 by the committee in inverse ratio to the number and value of 
 cards which the team already has, unrequisitioned cards being 
 used as a reservoir to ensure each team roughly an equal num- 
 ber and an equal value of prospects. 
 
 Inevitably solicitors will wish to ''swap" cards no matter 
 how carefully assignments may be made. Care must be used, 
 if a master list is maintained, to see that these cards are not 
 exchanged without proper record of the transaction. Else it 
 will be impossible to trace them. For this purpose Springfield, 
 Mass., issued a card control book which was put in the hands 
 of the secretary of the team, members of teams being allowed 
 to exchange prospect cards only at the noon lunch and only when 
 the secretary of the team had noted the transaction properly, in 
 order to make any necessary change in the master file. Ex- 
 changes between members of the same team are relatively sim- 
 ple, but exchanges between different teams must be noted at 
 headquarters. 
 
 Some solicitors will fail to reach people whom others might 
 reach. The personalities of solicitors are so various that it is 
 impossible to prevent many refusals which new approaches 
 might convert into subscriptions. Certain individuals, more- 
 over, will give too little and will need to be re-interviewed in 
 order to remind them of their responsibilities and secure gifts 
 more in accord with them. This involves the problem of re- 
 
 40 
 
assignment, one which should not be left for solution in im- 
 promptu fashion but carefully provided for in advance of the 
 campaign. Rochester dealt with this by passing around, 
 toward the last of the campaign, lists of persons who had 
 subscribed small amounts or had refused to subscribe and allow- 
 ed teams to requisition names for re-canvass. Salem, Mass., 
 had this matter taken care of by each captain as the prospect 
 cards came back either with no pledge or with a pledge that was 
 clearly less than the proper amount. Syracuse, N. Y., organized 
 a special committee to handle the matter. Springfield, Mass., 
 used its original revision and classification committee which 
 studied the subscription file and the refusal file with a view to 
 determining whether it was advisable to re-assign cards to new 
 solicitors who might make a more successful approach. 
 
 The conclusion reached from a study of this problem is that 
 the re-assignment should be in the hands of the original rating 
 committee because it is most familiar with the problem and 
 because it can anticipate events. The members of this commit- 
 tee should not attempt to make the re-solicitations themselves 
 but should limit themselves in the course of the campaign to mak- 
 ing re-assignments. But it would frequently be advisable for 
 them to be permitted to assign these names at their discretion 
 entirely, not limiting them to members of teams but simply 
 letting them use their best judgment as to the most effective 
 way of producing desired results. 
 
 Overlapping. 
 
 In every intensive campaign there arises the problem of 
 dealing with duplication and overlapping in the work of solicita- 
 tion. 
 
 A number of cities make no effort to avoid this. Meriden, 
 for example, had the factory and business solicitation first and 
 everyone subscribing at his place of employment was given a 
 special receipt card which he was supposed to leave at his home. 
 Later the canvassers of the homes division went out with the 
 census cards as prospect cards and solicited at the homes. When 
 a receipt card was presented the census card was marked 'T" 
 against that name, which was the symbol for a factory pledge. 
 When no receipt card was presented the persons were solicited 
 and the names marked "HP" for home pledge. The idea was 
 that the solicitor should account for every name on the census 
 card before the campaign was over. Torrington, also employed 
 this method. As is brought out elsewhere, this is a thorough 
 but somewhat slow method for communities of large size. Al- 
 bany, N. Y., in like manner allowed the homes division to over- 
 lap without making any particular effort to prevent double so- 
 licitation. 
 
 41 
 
Cleveland met this problem by having a form letter which 
 read : 
 
 "The campaign committee has just made official assignment of 
 names to be solicited for contributions to Cleveland's War Fund quota. 
 Your name has been assigned to me. In order to conserve the time 
 of the men working for our various teams and to avoid duplication of 
 work, this letter has been prepared by the campaign committee and 
 each team worker has been requested to mail a copy of it to various 
 individuals and business interests assigned to him. I shall, therefore, 
 take pleasure in calling upon you during the week of the campaign and 
 trust you will hold your subscription for me." 
 
 Each worker sent a copy of the letter to every one assigned to 
 him so that while the individual might be called upon by another 
 solicitor he would be in no doubt to whom his solicitation belong- 
 ed, and serious overlapping and cross-solicitation was avoided. 
 
 A common device, employed in Philadelphia, for example, 
 is to have the card soliciation take place in the early part of the 
 week and the house-to-house solicitation after the card campaign 
 is completed. Under this plan the people who have already 
 subscribed may have window signs up so that the solicitor can 
 readily avoid duplication of effort. There is however one dif- 
 ficulty in this method, namely, that one member of the house 
 may have subscribed at his place of employment and put up 
 the card while other members have been missed. Thus the 
 window card may serve as a preventative of their being solicited 
 at all. 
 
 Rochester, N. Y., avoided cross-solicitation by making out 
 "stop cards" instructing the solicitor in the geographical sec- 
 tion whom not to see. 
 
 Still another plan was devised in Columbus, Ohio, and used 
 in other Ohio cities, namely, to check on the census cards before 
 the campaign those who were to be seen at their homes. These 
 were readily sorted since they were for persons who had no 
 business addresses but who were nevertheless employed, such 
 as chauffeurs, maids, etc. All others, i. e., those who were to be 
 seen at their places of business, were left unchecked, and a 
 booklet was printed containing a list of the names of those to 
 be approached by the individual subscribers division. The 
 homes division solicited only those whose names were checked 
 on the census cards. The factories division and the other di- 
 visions which went for groups avoided cross-solicitation by ref- 
 erence to the pamphlet list. It may be suggested that this is 
 not a very thorough-going or simple manner of preventing cross- 
 solicitation as between the individual subscribers division and 
 the factories division, though it is effective as between the 
 homes division and all others. 
 
 York, Pa., avoided overlapping by publishing certain class- 
 es which were to be avoided, as lawyers, doctors, the poor- 
 house, lodges, women, etc. 
 
 42 
 
Of course the most certain and complete method of avoid- 
 ing cross-solicitation and conflict is to have a separate prospect 
 card for every individual as did Springfield, Mass. 
 
 Team Structure. 
 
 The properly organized team consists of a captain, and in a 
 big drive usually also of a secretary or auditor, and a number of 
 lieutenants, or whatever the workers may be called. In a well- 
 planned drive the captain should not do much of the work of 
 solicitation himself but should be an overseer of the work of his 
 team, in a position to direct and help his men and to convey to 
 them the orders from higher campaign officers. All orders to 
 workers should be transmitted through him; he should be the 
 spokesman to and for his men. He should be thoroughly in- 
 formed so that he may answer questions and he ought to be a 
 source of inspiration and encouragement, keeping a check on 
 what each individual is doing and seeing to it that he does not 
 fall down. The captains' manual published by Cleveland and 
 Indianapolis called upon the men who assumed that responsi- 
 bility to devote their whole time between nine a. m. and four 
 p. m. exclusively to the work of the campaign. 
 
 The team secretary is usually the active man. The cap- 
 tain needs to be in one place where he can be readily found and 
 should be freed from clerical work. The team secretary is in 
 the position of the captain's adjutant. He should have posses- 
 sion of the card control book, should check over the returns with 
 prospect cards, calling important cases to his captain's atten- 
 tion, should audit the reports of the individual workers, and in 
 general should do whatever is clerical in character. 
 
 The team itself may be of any convenient size. If there 
 is thorough organization with a captain and secretary there is 
 no reason why the team should not be fairly large with fifteen 
 or twenty members. Where there is less thorough organiza- 
 tion with only a captain, the team should be small, certainly 
 with not over eight or nine members. 
 
 If success is to be achieved there must be discipline. It 
 is important therefore to carefully instruct the workers to go 
 first and always to the captain with questions and to take orders 
 from no one else. Toledo carried this further and insisted that 
 verbal orders should not be given or received, but provided 
 blanks after the fashion of telegraph blanks on which all or- 
 ders were to be written. 
 
 It is equally important that the captain should at all times 
 be able to get in touch with his workers and that majors, 
 colonels, or generals should be able to reach their respective 
 captains. To that end a number of cities have worked out 
 regular directory forms. For example, Coshocton, Ohio, had 
 one form to cover the township organization, another for the 
 
 43 
 
homes division, etc., showing the names, addresses, and 'phone 
 numbers. The campaign manager should have a similar direc- 
 tory. All these ought to be made up under two arrangements : 
 first, in alphabetical order and, second, under the "military" 
 plan. 
 
 In many districts under the drive system the practice has 
 developed of having separate teams for the various racial groups 
 within the community. This plan has occasionally been followed 
 in war chest cities. Generally speaking, it has not been adopted 
 and largely for two reasons; first, because of the fact that the 
 organization of the campaign ordinarily does not facilitate it, 
 and, secondly, because of the fact that an effort is made to make 
 the campaign a strongly American propaganda and it is desired 
 to discourage the use of Italian teams, Irish teams, or any other 
 brand of team which will not carry a strictly American impli- 
 cation. 
 
 There is, however, one phase of this matter that should not 
 be overlooked and that is that in taking the census it is necessary 
 to use, if not racial teams, at least racial auxiliaries if the names 
 are to be gotten accurately ; it is necessary, in the second place, 
 if persons of foreign birth are to be rated, that individuals ac- 
 quainted with their circumstances should be used in making up 
 prospect cards; and, finally, in some cases teams will need to 
 have interpreters, the solicitation being made by two people, one 
 of them acting as interpreter. 
 
 Check up on Workers. 
 
 For the effective control of a campaign there must be an 
 opportunity to check up what the workers are achieving. This 
 is essential, also, to proper discipline and is a problem to which 
 relatively few cities have given adequate consideration. 
 
 Youngstown, Ohio, by means of its peculiar prospect card, 
 which carried not one but sixty names and which had a space 
 to indicate after each name what had been done with it, made 
 it possible for the captain to see each day, almost at a glance, 
 how much each one of his workers had done. This made it 
 possible for him to spur them on, to give them aid or to do what- 
 ever was needful. The workers were further stimulated by 
 receiving a 100% button as soon as all the names on the pros- 
 pect card had been accounted for, and whenever all the names 
 assigned to one team had been reported upon, that team was 
 given a 100% flag. 
 
 A project sketched out in Syracuse, though whether de- 
 veloped to completion I do not know, was to have a series of 
 charts. This idea, carried to its logical conclusion, would re- 
 sult in a system something as follows. The war cabinet or 
 campaign manager would have a chart showing the various 
 divisions, the number of cards assigned to each division, and 
 
 44 
 
the total amount of the prospect cards assigned to each. At 
 the close of the diay, on the basis of the returns, the total num- 
 ber of pledges and the total amount from each division should 
 be entered, as well as the percentage of the expected totals which 
 they represented. This would allow the manager to see how each 
 division was measuring up to its responsibilities as a whole. 
 The head of each division, in turn, would have a similar chart 
 showing the total number of cards and the total amount of pros- 
 pects in the hands of each team. At the close of the day, on 
 the basis of the returns, it could be filled out in exactly the 
 same manner to show him how each team was meeting its re- 
 sponsibilities, where encouragement was necessary, where stim- 
 ulus was requisite, etc. In similar manner each captain would 
 have a chart presenting the same data for the members of his 
 team, which could be prepared for him by the team secretary 
 or auditor. 
 
 This plan gives a complete check from the top to the bottom 
 showing each executive officer in turn where weaknesses have 
 developed and locating the responsibility exactly. It has an 
 advantage beyond simply making it possible to bolster weak- 
 nesses, for the very fact that the workers know there is such 
 a chart makes them appreciate their responsibilities and spurs 
 them on. Springfield, Mass., had a check-up system through 
 its card control books in the hands of regimental secretaries 
 and through its file of master cards which were arranged alpha- 
 betically by classes. These master cards were carbon duplicates 
 of the prospect cards and were kept in what was known as file 
 No. 1. File No. 2 consisted of the original of the prospect cards, 
 when returned with a pledge card attached, and sorted into 
 boxes which represented the teams. File No. 3 was made up 
 of original prospect cards of those who refused to make any 
 subscription. Thus it was possible for team secretaries to see 
 what workers had achieved and also for the revision and class- 
 ification committees to make reassignments. 
 
 The ideal system would, perhaps, be a combination of the 
 chart system described above and the method employed in 
 Springfield. Other cities have developed other plans, some of 
 them based on a review by the captain of the census card for 
 his district, but in general they do not have the features essen- 
 tial to building a simple and smooth-running machine. 
 
 100% Organization. 
 
 The esprit de corps of the campaign organization depends 
 on the completeness of its integration, upon the discipline main- 
 tained, upon the thoroughness with which it is checked up, and, 
 lastly, upon its enthusiasm and conviction. One must recognize 
 the fact that an organization of this kind is essentially a body 
 of salesmen and the first requisite of a salesman is that he 
 
 45 
 
shall believe in his own goods. With the intention of develop- 
 ing a body of workers convinced of the value and wisdom of 
 the plans they are trying to execute, several cities, among them 
 Albany, Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Syracuse, made an effort 
 to have a 100% organization, that is, to have every solicitor 
 himself a subscriber to a sacrificial extent — in accordance with 
 the published schedules, if possible — before he went out to ask 
 others to subscribe. In Syracuse the reports on the first night 
 had reference solely to the subscriptions by the solicitors them- 
 selves. The result of this plan is to give an organization which 
 is committed to the idea, and fully committed. It weeds out 
 the faint-hearted, the half-convinced, and gives the solicitor an 
 approach which nothing else can do. 
 
 Badges. 
 
 Another important point to bear in mind is to see to it 
 that the solicitors have proper badges. As one writes about it, 
 it seems a very trifling point, but experience has demonstrated 
 that there is a great psychological effect in a badge. Albany 
 used large pins which were numbered and had a space in which 
 draftsmen printed the name and title of the worker. Each pin 
 was recorded very carefully with the thought of impressing 
 the matter on the workers. Much the same thing was done in 
 Syracuse and Rochester, with similar results. The pins were 
 prized, they gave the solicitors recognition for their work, made 
 them readily recognizable, and thus avoided opportunity for 
 fraud on the part of impostors. These and other cities testi- 
 fied that the badge became a very strong feature of the cam- 
 paigns. 
 
 Campaign Divisions. 
 
 In the organization of campaign divisions, the first is the 
 individual subscribers group. This varies in size in accordance 
 with its inclusiveness. Sometimes it includes all those who are 
 to be solicited individually and not as factory or other groups 
 or in the home. Sometimes it is a relatively small group and 
 persons ordinarily included are differentiated into other divi- 
 sions. For example, a number of cities including Akron and 
 Youngstown, Ohio, and Rome, N. Y., had a special division for 
 corporations, which made it its sole business to get subscriptions 
 from boards of directors. 
 
 No standard has developed with regard to the solicitation of 
 corporations. Some cities put a good deal of emphasis upon this 
 feature of their campaigns. In one prominent instance it is said 
 that about 45% of the total amount of the war chest was con- 
 tributed by corporations. On the other hand, a number of cities 
 do not countenance this sort of solicitation, usually upon grounds 
 which when analyzed come back to one main reason, namely that 
 
 46 
 
the solicitation of corporations in some instances amounts to a 
 double solicitation and in other instances gives individuals op- 
 portunity to hide behind a group and dodge their personal re- 
 sponsibilities. Some communities on this ground have made a 
 distinction between partnerships and corporations and have so- 
 licited corporations but not partnerships, calling on the imper- 
 sonal bodies to give but not asking people who can readily be 
 reached as individuals to subscribe as business firms. 
 
 A prominent instance of refusal to solicit corporations is 
 Detroit, which went on the assumption that it might permit 
 some persons to escape their obligations. Those in charge of the 
 war chest allowed corporations to make subscriptions unsolic- 
 ited and their subscriptions amounted in all to about $300,000, 
 relatively a very small percentage of the total. Detroit did, 
 however, substitute for this a request that the corporation 
 should underwrite or guarantee the pledges of their workmen. 
 Rochester, N. Y., in like manner laid particular emphasis upon 
 not soliciting corporation gifts but insisted that "individual 
 gift" should be the keynote of the campaign. In one or two 
 cities a distinction was made between corporations which were 
 owned within the area of the war chest and those which were 
 called ''foreign corporations." There was no solicitation of 
 those whose owners lived within the district and could be reach- 
 ed individually, but solicitation was made of the foreign-owned 
 corporations which is was felt owed something as entities to the 
 community. Some cities have changed their minds on this im- 
 portant topic and one or two which did not take corporation 
 subscriptions have now decided that it would have been better 
 to have done so. 
 
 By far the larger proportion of the war chests did ask cor- 
 porations to make subscriptions. It was estimated in Spring- 
 field, Ohio, that the corporations ought to produce 30% of the 
 total gift. Other cities have varied this somewhat, calling for 
 either more or less. It has been very common to rate the cor- 
 porations. In Springfield, Ohio, it was argued that 5% of the 
 earnings of corporations was not an unfair amount. In Ken- 
 osha, Wis., business houses and corporations were asked to 
 give as a firm gift an amount equivalent to that of the employ- 
 ees, excepting the office forces and the executive forces. This 
 plan was followed by Attleboro, Batavia, and Michigan City. 
 In other places corporations were asked to give one-half of 1% 
 of their annual sales. Still others asked for a percentage based 
 on the number of employees, etc. 
 
 On the whole there seems to be no good reason why corpo- 
 rations should not in most cases be asked to make contributions. 
 In certain instances where the owTiers all live in the communi- 
 ty r.i:d are known there, it is perfectly proper for them to make 
 their contributions as individuals. In many, if not all, Con- 
 necticut communities, however, there are a number of corpora- 
 
 47 
 
tions owned by outside interests, which owe something to the 
 communities in which they operate and which normally will be 
 glad to contribute to war chests. It must be remembered in 
 the case of banks that they have to designate their gifts under 
 the ruling of the Comptroller of the Currency. 
 
 Again, a number of cities, Glens Falls, Rochester and Syra- 
 cuse for instance, had a small number of cards in the hands of 
 the executive committee. These usually are the cards of the 
 largest subscribers. 
 
 Some cities had separate divisions for the merchants. 
 Syracuse had a merchants' division, and the teams within were 
 composed of jewelers, dry-goods men, etc. Still others had a 
 separate division for manufacturers, for example, Glens Falls, 
 N. Y., and Kenosha, Wis. Others had a separate division for 
 professional men, for example, Cambridge and Chillicothe, Ohio, 
 with special teams for physicians, bankers, lawyers, dentists, 
 etc. 
 
 A survey of practice in a large number of cities makes 
 it seem advisable on the whole to put all of these in two divi- 
 sions ; the first, which is frequently called the executive commit- 
 tee division, to include the corporations and the very largest 
 givers; second, an individual subscribers division, to cover all 
 the rest of those who have prospect cards which call for solici- 
 tation neither in the home nor in factory or other groups. There 
 seems to be a good deal of question about the desirability of 
 separating the vocational, professional and mercantile teams. 
 Speaking generally, better results are obtained by simply assign- 
 ing the names carefully among properly chosen teams rather 
 than following the vocational lines — though it ought to be said 
 that cities which have used that plan have often succeeded. 
 Some of them, however, have indicated that despite that fact 
 they should not follow the plan again. 
 
 The third division, under the composite scheme here out- 
 lined, is one which is almost universally used, namely, the divi- 
 sion of factory employees. As indicated elsewhere, the assign- 
 ment in this division should be on the basis of group rating 
 among teams, substantially according to the plan employed by 
 Rochester. That city had five factory groups and the assign- 
 ment was so well made that the results of the competition were 
 extremely close. It is worth while to detail them by way of 
 illustration. The northwest division had 11,609 subscribers, 
 the northeast division 10,675, the southwest 10,936, the south- 
 east 10,310, and the central 10,310. Reduced to percentage, 
 these are respectively: 99.9%, 92%, 96%, 99.4%, and 93.7%. 
 Computation shows that the assignment among the sections 
 was extraordinarily even and scrutiny of the production figures 
 shows that there was developed a close competition. Substan- 
 tially, the same result was produced in Springfield and other 
 cities by analogous methods. 
 
 48 
 
The fourth division takes care of public utility employees. 
 It includes, of course, the railways and in some cases conduc- 
 tors, brakemen, engineers, firemen, and shopmen were reached 
 through separate teams. It includes also the street railway 
 employees and those of the telephone, express, electric light and 
 gas light companies. Among these the competition must be in 
 terms of percents, unless they are distributed to teams on the 
 group rating plan used in connection with the factory employees. 
 
 The fifth division is that of public employees which may 
 be differentiated into federal employees, including mail car- 
 riers, custom house clerks, internal revenue officers, etc. ; second, 
 state employees; third, county employees. Usually state em- 
 ployees and county employees require only one team apiece, 
 except in capital cities. Last of all there are the city employ- 
 ees which may be in several subdivisions ; schools, public works, 
 public safety — including firemen and policemen — parks, en- 
 gineering, etc. 
 
 The sixth division is made up of retail employees and this 
 may be divided, either as are the factories on the basis of group 
 assessment, or geographically, or both; or they may be divided 
 according to various sorts of retail employees with special teams 
 for each, working the matter out in as great detail as seems 
 desirable. On the whole, the first method suggested appears 
 decidedly the better. 
 
 A great deal of variance in emphasis upon the solicitation 
 of persons at their homes has been developed. Some cities have 
 gone so far as to make no house-to-house solicitation on the 
 ground that it means simply double solicitation, since the per- 
 sons in the home are not producers, are without income, and 
 in consequence ought not to be asked to subscribe, especially 
 inasmuch as most of them belong to the families of workmen 
 who give all they ought to give through the shops. In such 
 cases an effort is usually made to discover those persons who 
 have no places of employment and yet have incomes and to 
 reach those who can afford to give without undue sacrifice. A 
 survey of the towns which paid no attention whatever to a 
 house-to-house solicitation shows that for the most part they do 
 not have the most successful war chests. 
 
 The next to the least emphasis on the house-to-house solici- 
 tation came in cities where this was used as a sort of a clean-up 
 campaign to catch loose pennies. Such was the idea involved 
 in the Cleveland plan. It was also the Kenosha idea for in 
 that city the house-to-house solicitation was left to Boy Scouts, 
 who very naturally are not expert salesmen. 
 
 It does stand to reason that if the solicitation through em- 
 ployment is made sufficiently comprehensive the house-to-house 
 canvass is largely duplicative and to that extent undesirable, 
 especially if the greatest care has not been used in the prepara- 
 tion of the prospect list. 
 
 49 
 
This division is occasionally subdivided by the creation of a 
 woman's division, organized wholly separately. 
 
 It seems advisable, however, that all this work should be 
 turned over to the women's teams and that there should be no 
 women's division. This division should be divided according 
 to wards, precincts and blocks. Its activities should be post- 
 poned until after the campaign has been thoroughly started. 
 This makes it much easier to handle the organization, because 
 it is not necessary to distribute so many supplies or to instruct 
 so many people all at once. It lets the work move on more 
 evenly. Also it indicates, what ought to be the case, that the 
 homes division is not the main reliance of the campaign, the 
 work being in the nature of gleaning. This is true because 
 seeing people in the homes is a much slower and much less 
 certain process than seeing them at their places of business, 
 and because there is less group or other stimulus in solicitation 
 in the homes. Experience has demonstrated this beyond ques- 
 tion as is pointed out elsewhere. 
 
 The question whether pupils in schools should be solicited 
 is one which has been debated very earnestly and opinions are 
 almost always very positive one w^ay or the other. 
 
 The argument against the solicitation of children in the 
 schools is that the war chest should approach only the producer 
 and that for the most part school children do not earn money. 
 The solicitation of pupils, therefore, is simply a demand upon 
 the wage earner that he give twice. This puts an unusual' 
 burden upon the man of small income who is subject to a good 
 deal of pressure developed by his fellow workmen to give in his 
 shop. To ask him in addition to give something through the 
 schools is unfair, for it means nothing to the rich man to let 
 his children give a small amount. 
 
 Cities which object to the solicitation of pupils frequently 
 allow schools as a whole to make pledges, the pupils agreeing 
 to earn the amount. In one case the graduating class of a 
 school turned over to the war chest the money which it had 
 intended to put into a class gift, a precedent which speedily 
 found emulation in the other schools of the city. 
 
 The argument is frequently offered too that it is better 
 to allow only the Junior Red Cross within the schools because 
 that has great educational force. This argument certainly is 
 not without a great deal of merit. The amount of money in- 
 volved is small and the sentimental and educational value is 
 relatively large. 
 
 Cities, on the other hand, which have solicited the pupils 
 feel that the plan has very definite value because it links up 
 the children in a great community movement. Springfield, 
 Mass., for example, did not intend to solicit students but the 
 demand for the campaign came from the pupils themselves. 
 Some cities, on the other hand, made very elaborate prepara- 
 
 50 
 
tions. In Attleboro, Mass., pledge cards" were furnished for all 
 school children, including those in the parochial schools, and 
 there was a special school children's day on which all the pledges 
 were turned in, prizes being given for the first ten rooms to 
 make 100% enlistments and cards bearing "100%" put up in 
 those schools which reached that amount. Likewise each week 
 they have a ''soldier's hour" on Wednesday at ten o'clock when 
 whistles are blown, bells are rung, and special exercises are 
 held, a plan which seems to have been originated in Kenosha, 
 Wis. 
 
 There has been some question as to the advisability of 
 school solicitation from the standpoint of bookkeeping and ac- 
 counting. The handling of small pledges is difficult and ex- 
 pensive and one or two cities which canvassed the schools have 
 since regretted it because of the bookkeeping entailed. The 
 only proper way to handle this difficulty is after the manner 
 of Attleboro where the parent's signature is required on each 
 pupil's pledge card, which means that there has been consulta- 
 tion and consent at home; where the teachers retain the pledge 
 cards and post the payments on them each week; where the 
 payments are made not throughout the year but only during 
 school weeks; and where the payments are made to teachers, 
 not to the war chest office. It is not possible to be as rigid in 
 the matter of delinquencies, etc., in the school pledge and at 
 best a great deal of flexibility and decentralization must be al- 
 lowed and the only war chest account should be a school account. 
 
 The conclusion that a survey of the evidence induces is that 
 the schools had perhaps better be canvassed but that special 
 effort should be made not to allow the amount to be burdensome. 
 Moreover it should not be allowed to interfere with the Junior 
 Red Cross movement. This can be achieved either by a special 
 solicitation for that purpose or by emphasizing in the schools 
 the nature and value of the Red Cross and insisting, as did 
 Columbus, on the performance of such duties and exercises as 
 will demonstrate a real interest in Red Cross work, the payment 
 of the fee being made from the war chest. Of course, any 
 pupil who did not contribute to the war chest could join the 
 Red Cross on payment of the proper amount. 
 
 The last division is composed of the townships, or the re- 
 mainder of the county, and is variously named. Usually this 
 division is rather loosely organized — each town, save for a 
 certain central guidance, building its own campaign structure 
 and reporting as a unit to the central headquarters. Frequently 
 it has been too loosely organized, which explains in part the 
 failure of the rural districts to produce in proportion to their 
 capacity. 
 
 Occasionally there have been farmers' divisions and com- 
 muters' divisions. These seem unnecessary, and even unwise, 
 and should be merged in the township or county division. 
 
 51 
 
Sometimes, too, there have been fraternal divisions designed to 
 reach men through their lodges. This is a duplicative feature 
 because the men are seen either as individual subscribers or as 
 employees. It is, therefore, a cross solicitation and should in 
 consequence be omitted. 
 
 Score Boards. 
 
 Every city has its own idea with regard to a proper score 
 board. In Cleveland the board did not show team amounts, 
 the only thing put on the board was a gold star, if a team had 
 raised its proportion of its quota for that day. Each team had 
 a daily quota, the first day to raise 25%, the second day 15% 
 and so on. If a team raised more than the quota, the captain 
 could hold that much back for next day. The consequence was 
 that at the close everyone of the thirty-six teams had a full set 
 of stars. This eliminated all soreness and teams which did not 
 have as good prospects as others were given an equal chance to 
 shine. 
 
 One of the most striking of the score boards was that of 
 Rochester, which took pains to make the board big enough so 
 that every name and figure could be easily read. One whole 
 side was given to the factory employees division. Factories had 
 after them only marks of percentage, a most impressive sight to 
 see the enormous number of factories with 100% after the 
 name. After each team the board showed also the total amount 
 of pledges, the total number of pledges and the total percentage 
 of employees. The other side of the board showed the work of 
 the county division, expressed in terms of amounts and show- 
 ing the total amount and total number of pledges, the utility 
 employees division, the public employees division, the retail em- 
 ployees division, and the individual subscribers division, all 
 showing the same data — save that under the individual sub- 
 scribers division there was a separate heading for the team 
 workers' subscriptions. The center of the board accumulated 
 the grand totals, at the left the amount of pledges and at the 
 right the number of pledges. 
 
 The ordinary type of score board gives for each team the 
 amount raised during the day, the number of subscriptions dur- 
 ing the day, and the total of both up to that time, accumulating 
 grand totals at the end for each team and for each division. 
 
 It is not necessary to describe other score boards. The 
 only comment that is desirable is that they should be made as 
 clear as possible by building them sufficiently large. 
 
 Instructions to Workers. 
 
 There is the greatest divergence in practice among cities 
 with regard to instructing the workers. Some cities have is- 
 sued separate instructions for captains, some separate instruc- 
 
 52 
 
tions for homes division workers, factory employee workers, 
 etc. Some have limited the instructions to plain directions as 
 to procedure, others have incorporated a catechism of question 
 and answer designed to assist the war chest worker in under- 
 standing the problem himself and to facilitate his work in an- 
 swering questions. The range of topics dealt with is great in 
 extent. 
 
 Perhaps the briefest and most serviceable way of dealing 
 with this topic is to build a composite set of instructions, which 
 might read as follows: 
 
 1 — Badge. Always wear the badge telling your name and 
 number when soliciting. Positive instructions have been issued 
 to the public not to receive workers who do not wear these offi- 
 cial buttons. 
 
 2 — Salesmanship. You are going to sell subscriptions to 
 the war chest and a good salesman should know his line from all 
 angles. Therefore, study the booklet, "What is a War Chest", 
 and other literature. Subscriptions are not secured by hypnosis 
 or begging, but by tactful, business-like and convincing presen- 
 tation of the needs and objects of the war chest. 
 
 3 — Tact and Persistence. Be tactfully persistent — ^those 
 who refuse to subscribe at first will often do so on the second 
 and third call. Do not be easily discouraged. Keep after them, 
 this is patriotic work. Tactfully and persistently showing there 
 is no real reason for his not subscribing, explain how easy the 
 extended payments make the matter and urge him to a generous 
 decision. Don't accept a refusal on a first call — ask him to 
 think it over and say you will come again and be sure to do so. 
 When an answer is given which seems final, accept it thankfully, 
 though the subscription be small and gracefully, if it is a re- 
 fusal, leaving him at least a friend of the war chest. 
 
 4 — Work in pairs. Whenever possible solicitors should 
 work in pairs, as experience has shown that in a matter of this 
 kind more effective soliciting can be achieved in that manner. 
 
 5 — Thoroughness. Everyone in the city must be solicited. 
 Everyone must be given an opportunity to take a share in the 
 war chest. Cover every prospect assigned you — no one should 
 be missed. 
 
 6 — Discipline. If you desire information or anything at 
 all, apply to your immediate superior. Never go over his head 
 unless it is impossible to reach him. 
 
 7 — Attendance. In order to avoid mistakes, to understand 
 your task, and to do your work effectively, it is essential that 
 you attend all meetings and luncheons. One hundred per cent, 
 attendance is the goal. Are you going to be the one to prevent 
 its attainment? 
 
 8 — Punctuality. Whatever you do, be on time. The late 
 arrival of one man discommodes many and often upsets the 
 working of a whole team. It is unfair to your associates. 
 
 53 
 
9 — Trespassing. Talk and boost the war chest wherever 
 you go, but do not solicit or accept subscriptions from those not 
 assigned you. Annoyance will result if this caution is disre- 
 garded. If there is special reason, accept the subscription and 
 turn it over to the worker to whom it was assigned. Be gener- 
 ous in the matter. 
 
 10 — Use of Telephone. Never solicit over the telephone. 
 When telephoning to learn if a man is in, avoid a discussion 
 of the war chest. Do not allow him to make up his mind until 
 you have seen him personally. 
 
 11 — Use of Scale or Rating, (a) Under no circumstances 
 do we want to advise anyone what he shall do. Never allow 
 yourself to be caught in making a suggestion, even. Any 
 amount including $1.00 and more will be entirely satisfactory 
 from anyone (Terre Haute). 
 
 (b) Each card authorizing solicitation will contain in the 
 upper right-hand corner an amount showing the class in which 
 the prospect has been placed by the revision and classification 
 committee, for convenience in distributing the cards. The so- 
 licitor must not use the amount suggested on the cards in mak- 
 ing solicitation. This is a free-will offering. Every contribu- 
 tor must feel that no pressure is to be brought upon him by 
 anyone to say what he shall give (Springfield, Mass.). 
 
 (c) The solicitor should suggest to the contributor to sub- 
 scribe in the ratio suggested upon the patriotic quota card, but 
 if such per cent, of his income is in excess of the amount the 
 contributor can afford, then the contributor should be urged to 
 subscribe to the limit of what he can afford within the year 
 (Indianapolis). 
 
 (d) Solicitors must not accept a subscription from any in- 
 dividual or firm unless sure that it is in accordance with our 
 schedule (Racine). 
 
 12 — Return Calls. Call back again if you are unable to 
 secure an interview the first time. Subscription blanks left 
 behind are seldom signed. See him personally the second time 
 without fail. 
 
 13 — Forms of Pledges. (These should be very explicitly 
 explained.) 
 
 14 — Signatures. Prospects themselves must sign all sub- 
 scriptions with ink or indelible pencil. Do not sign for any 
 subscriber. 
 
 15 — Clearness and Legibility. Carefully go over the sub- 
 scription card in the subscriber's presence. In printed letters 
 rewrite the name on the line provided and also rewrite on the 
 back of the card whatever is not clear. This means dollars to 
 the war chest by elimination of work and avoidance of errors. 
 
 16 — Your Owni Signature. Be sure to sign your name and 
 the number of your team to each subscription card. If you are 
 working with any member of your team, both names should 
 
 54 
 
appear. This is frequently extremely important for the treas- 
 urer at the close of the campaign. 
 
 17 — Completeness. Failure to fill out any blanks on the 
 .pledge cards is certain to cause trouble. Do not fail to see that 
 they are complete. 
 
 18 — Return Prospect Cards. Under no circumstances neg- 
 lect to return the prospect card with the proper notation of 
 the results; give either the amount of the subscription or the 
 reason for refusal. 
 
 19 — Cash, (a) If you receive cash on any pledge enclose 
 it with the pledge card in the envelope provided for the purpose 
 and seal. Do not fail to enter the amount paid on the pledge 
 card. 
 
 (b) Under no circumstances is a worker to receive cash or 
 check with a subscription. Pledges only are allowable. 
 
 20 — Report. Have your report ready when you reach the 
 luncheon. Check it over carefully before turning it in to the 
 secretary in order to lighten his burden as much as possible. 
 List subscriptions legibly. 
 
 21 — Supplies. Your supplies should contain instruction 
 sheet, badge, pledge cards, cash envelopes, report envelopes, 
 window cards. Check up the contents at once and if anything 
 is missing, report to your team secretal"y. Always apply to him 
 for supplies. 
 
 22 — Sportsmanship. Remember that we are volunteers, 
 that no one can foresee every contingency and that the success 
 of this campaign is built upon your interest, your cheerfulness, 
 your enthusiam, your generosity, and your sportsmanship. Do 
 not allow small things to irritate you. 
 
 Each of the topics included occurs in the instructions issued 
 by a large number of cities. Frequently the passage is taken 
 bodily; occasionally it is a composite; in a few instances it has 
 been drafted with a view to expressing an idea common to many, 
 but without using their words. 
 
 55 
 
CHAPTER THREE 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 One of the most serious problems in laying out the work of 
 a war chest campaign arises from the need for a prospect list 
 in order effectively to cover the territory and to make proper 
 distribution of the work among the solicitors. This is abso- 
 lutely vital to success and as a rule, though subject to certain 
 exceptions for special reasons, the more complete the prospect 
 list the more successful the war chest campaign is likely to be. 
 
 Census. 
 
 The first method of developing a complete and accurate 
 prospect list is by means of a patriotic census. Often this cen- 
 sus has a value and is intended to have a value beyond the war 
 chest campaign. It is frequently made to serve as a foundation 
 for later Liberty loan canvassing, for recruiting Red Cross 
 workers, for war savings propaganda, for fuel and food con- 
 servation work, etc. In many instances, therefore, if not in 
 most, the census must be regarded not only from the point of 
 view of its usefulness in the war chest campaign but it must be 
 judged also from the point of view of its general usefulness 
 in the community for other war activities. In one city, for 
 example, the war savings director reported that twice as many 
 War Savings Stamps were sold as a result of the census, and 
 the Liberty loan chairman regarded it as one of his most val- 
 uable assets. 
 
 The purposes of the patriotic census therefore are, first of 
 all, to gain a list of people active in war work or willing to be- 
 come active, secondarily to furnish the foundation for a prospect 
 list, and finally to serve as an educational feature. In Terre 
 Haute this latter was emphasized in the instructions to war 
 chest workers which said: 
 
 "The importance of this movement will be more thoroughly im- 
 pressed on the family in resident districts if the lieutenant first of all 
 requests a census of the household, including all men and women over 
 eighteen years old. This method gives the lieutenants an opportunity 
 to meet all the members of that household and to talk over and explain 
 thoroughly the object of this movement." 
 
 56 
 
In Springfield, Mass., the census was made a great patriotic 
 affair. Advertisements published in the newspapers gave the 
 following reasons for the census : 
 
 "Unity in organization constitutes the working strength of a great 
 cause and the more profoundly it appeals to us the greater the neces- 
 sity of getting together. This war must be prosecuted not only by 
 the men who come to the colors but by the united, steady, and adequate 
 support of all the people behind them. Mass meetings call out a part 
 of the people, but what is needed is a plan by which all can be included, 
 every man and woman, boy and girl, who is willing to help the Govern- 
 ment and the soldiers and sailors. No obligation is involved in this 
 novel registration, only the expression of a desire to assist the Govern- 
 ment in whatever way one can do it. The service we can render will 
 vary greatly and it cannot be measured in dollars and cents. The 
 widow who gives her mite or voluntarily adds to the burden of her 
 toil, or sends her boy to join the colors, is rendering a service which 
 cannot be measured in gold. 
 
 "This census is a roll of honor in its truest sense. It will be as 
 nearly as it is possible to make it an accurate enrollment of the men, 
 women, and children of Springfield who are loyal to their country and 
 who stand ready to do their share to win the war." 
 
 These statements of the purpose of the census show the very 
 broad character and comprehensiveness of its intentions. Per- 
 sonal obsei'vation in Springfield made it perfectly evident that 
 the census did result in a tremendous awakening on the part of 
 the public to a realization of the war and to a quickening of a 
 sense of responsibility on the part of individuals with regard 
 to their relation to the war. Also the census resulted in a great 
 stimulus to all patriotic activities. 
 
 When one approaches the task of describing the methods 
 employed in taking a census, the questions asked, and the uses 
 to which the information has been put, it becomes speedily 
 evident that cities have developed a great deal of originality in 
 these matters. 
 
 Among the first to use the census was Terre Haute, where 
 the sheets were made in triplicate by means of carbon on a very 
 simple blank. The second copy was retained by the census- 
 taker, the first copy was retained by his captain, and the orig- 
 inal was sent to the office of the war chest. In that case the 
 census was used, so far as the war chest was concerned, not so 
 much for the purposes of building a prospect list as for follow- 
 up work after the campaign had closed. It was designed to 
 make opportunity to check back from the membership pledges 
 so ?.". to discover who had not signed in any particular household 
 and to go over the ground again as often as necessary, "preach- 
 ing patriotism and loyalty to those who need it most." 
 
 Another of the earlier attempts at a census was made in 
 
 57 
 
Rome, N. Y. The blank used in that city called for the names 
 of the occupants, places of employment, estimate of income, and 
 any other remarks. The column with regard to income was to 
 be filled out not in response to a question by the census-taker, 
 but on the basis of the census-taker's judgment as to the circum- 
 stances of the family. While this appears to have worked well 
 in Rome, attempts on the part of other cities to use it brought 
 difficulties, because census-takers incautiously asked the in- 
 comes, not having been sufficiently instructed. Moreover the 
 judgment of the census-taker with regard to income would have 
 value only with regard to the income of the head of the house, 
 not with regard to others in the same family who might be 
 employed. Then, too, the judgment of the census-taker with 
 regard to the income of the head of the house as based on man- 
 ner of life, etc., might very likely be inaccurate and consequently 
 misleading to the rating committee. These criticisms apply to 
 the attempts on the part of other cities to copy the Rome plan, 
 for as already indicated it was a success there and was regarded 
 as having paid for the effort involved because of its advertising 
 value alone and because of its educational qualities. 
 
 Another community which developed the census idea was 
 Pittsfield, Mass., which had a .card providing for the name; a 
 symbol to denote whether the individual listed was the head 
 of the house, wife, son, daughter, boarder, employee, or relative ; 
 the occupation; the place of employment; the number in the 
 family; and the dates of birth of children of five years and 
 under. So far as reports have come from cities, Pittsfield 
 originated the use of the symbols to indicate the position of 
 the individual in the family, which of course had a very distinct 
 bearing upon the proper making-out of prospect cards. 
 
 Still another type of census appears to have been originated 
 in Springfield, Mass., and is at once the most elaborate and 
 broadest in character. It called, first of all, for the careful 
 identification of the census-taker and the census sheets were 
 arranged in accordance with addresses. There was a series of 
 columns of generous size so that writing would not have to be 
 cramped. The first column was headed ''Mrs. or Miss", the 
 second column was for the family name, the third for the given 
 name, and the fourth for the initial. The fifth column was 
 for entering the ages of members of the family from sixteen to 
 twenty-one; the sixth the number of children under sixteen. 
 Then there were successive columns for the home address by 
 street and number, place of employment, nature of employment 
 or occupation, number of persons from the household in Govern- 
 ment service, and finally, in some respects most important, the 
 questions: "Are you doing patriotic service? If so, what?'' 
 The idea was that in this column persons could enter whatever 
 they were doing, such as knitting, Red Cross work. Home Guard 
 service, etc. It was suggested after the census had been taken 
 
 58 
 
that it would be a distinct addition if there were another column 
 with the heading: **What service would you be willing to do?" 
 
 This census was taken on one Sunday afternoon and in a 
 population which is variously estimated from 110,000 to 125,000 
 the persons accounted for numbered 96,807. Considering the 
 number of persons likely to be out on any given afternoon, this 
 was extraordinary, and in the course of the following week 
 several thousand namies were added by voluntary enrollment. 
 There were only 129 people in the entire city who refused to 
 answer the questions. 
 
 An idea which was utilized in Springfield, but which could 
 well be extended considerably, is to have the letter-carriers serve 
 as heads of divisions. They are peculiarly familiar with the 
 names, can readily decipher those v/hich are illegible, and can 
 correct those which are misspelled. Moreover this gives an 
 opportunity to a body of men who seldom have opportunity to 
 express their civic spirit and their interest in the community. 
 
 The census sheet as developed in Springfield was used in a 
 very much simplified form by Meriden and Torrington, both of 
 which omitted the column with regard to patriotic service and 
 substituted a column in which there could be marked a symbol 
 to indicate whether the individual earned wages or had an 
 income from other sources. This, however, made the census 
 much more nearly a war chest affair and to that extent narrow- 
 ed its scope. 
 
 The War Chest Association of the Tarrytowns used sepa- 
 rate forms for various classes of population, one form being 
 for physicians, la^vyers, clergymen, and professional people in 
 general, another for other classes of occupation, the form of 
 the blank being altered in order to meet the requirements of 
 different classes. This appears to be a needless complication 
 and one which, unless it is desired to divide names among teams 
 on a vocational basis, requires more effort than is worth while. 
 Certainly in a large city it is sufficiently difficult to instruct 
 the public and the enumerators with regard to one blank with- 
 out making the situation any more complex. 
 
 The census was also used in certain Ohio cities, usually in a 
 form rather simpler than any of those described, provision being 
 made simply for the names of adults and wage-earners and their 
 addresses. 
 
 To achieve successful results in one day's effort requires 
 much thought beforehand, careful organization, and persistent 
 instruction both of the public and of enumerators. The most 
 elaborate instructions to census-takers were published by 
 Springfield, Mass. It may be said in general that the ideas 
 which have proved most successful in practice are to have an 
 extremely large number of census-takers so that each will have 
 relatively few to see — thirty being a maximum, perhaps; in 
 the second place to see to it that the enumerators are carefully 
 
 59 
 
drilled in the manner of filling out sheets as well as in the prob- 
 lem of avoiding friction with householders; and in the third 
 place to avoid duplication and gaps by making the area which 
 each individual is to cover so explicit that mistake is virtually 
 impossible. 
 
 This last problem was met by Meriden through the use of 
 a guide card, an oblong card about six inches by three inches 
 with the name of the street written at the top, and pasted upon 
 it a section of the city directory covering the houses that that 
 census-taker must reach. This not only instructed him precise- 
 ly what houses to approach but also gave the census-taker in 
 printed form the names, so that if a family had not moved 
 recently the matter of spelling was made very much easier and 
 the results more accurate. Other cities added to the guide card 
 the feature of having pasted on the reverse side a blue-print 
 map of exactly that part of the city which the census-taker in 
 question was to cover. 
 
 The use made of the census after its completion by different 
 war chests may be said to be of four types. 
 
 The first is to build a prospect list. This was done in most 
 complete form by Springfield, where the names of persons with 
 occupations away from home were first checked on the census 
 sheets by the transfer committee. Then stenographers, who 
 had been loaned without charge to the war chest by their em- 
 ployers, drew off these names onto individual cards made in 
 duplicate. There were 32,000 such. The census sheets were 
 then turned over to the revision and classification committee 
 which put a red check against the names of individuals who had 
 no occupation away from home but w^ho, nevertheless, had in- 
 comes. This was the first operation which required the exer- 
 cise of judgment, and it required a good deal. The red-checked 
 names were then taken off onto cards made in duplicate of a 
 form slightly different from that used for the blue-checked 
 names. Finally the remaining names were taken off onto Home 
 Guard cards, of which there were 27,000, these also in duplicate. 
 Thus there was created a prospect list covering substantially 
 everyone in the city. At least it was intended to be all-inclu- 
 sive and probably came as near being so as was possible. 
 
 The second method of making use of the material on the 
 census sheets is that practiced by Terre Haute and Meriden. 
 Under their plan the census was used as a means of checking up 
 the work of solicitors, the material gathered through the census 
 not being transcribed onto cards. The details of this use in 
 Meriden may be found elsewhere. It should be said perhaps 
 at this point that this plan does not conduce to speed and ease 
 of operation during the campaign week and that while the 
 Springfield plan involves much more preliminary work, which — 
 unless it is volunteer — is very expensive, it does simplify the 
 task during the w^eek of the campaign. 
 
 60 
 
The third method, employed where the whole emphasis was 
 laid upon house-to-house solicitation and where the division 
 among teams was purely geographical, was to use the census 
 sheets themselves as prospect cards. In view of what is said 
 elsewhere with regard to reliance upon house-to-house solicita- 
 tions, this is deemed an unwise practice. 
 
 The fourth method of using the results of the census is what 
 may be called, for convenience, the Ohio method, the census 
 being intended to serve a purpose primarily educational. The 
 only use made of the cards during the campaign was that after 
 scrutiny a committee placed a check against the names of such 
 persons as had incomes but no places of emploj^ment away from 
 home. This built up a list of prospects for the homes division. 
 Their census enabled them to reach this relatively small but 
 none the less important group and served as a valuable basis for 
 checking up results after the campaign was over. 
 
 The census is without question the most complete and accu- 
 rate method of building a prospect list. It must not be supposed 
 however that even in its fullest development it has no short- 
 comings. It requires a tremendous amount of energy and time, 
 and, unless great care is exercised, expense. It needs to be done 
 long enough before the war chest campaign begins so that the 
 solicitors and public will not be tired when the main event takes 
 place, and so that there is plenty of opportunity for transcription 
 of names, etc. It requires a great deal of preliminary organiza- 
 tion and energetic guidance as well as emphasis upon accuracy 
 and thoroughness, if it is to have any value. For unless the 
 census is almost one hundred per cent, complete it is worse than 
 useless. Poorly done, it is an obstruction to success rather than 
 a help. 
 
 At best, mistakes are certain to be numerous because of 
 errors on the part of the census-takers and errors in transcrip- 
 tion due to illegible writing and to stenographers' errors. Fur- 
 thermore, cities which have a commuting body of workers cannoti 
 reach through the census all who ought to contribute. Many 
 who work in the city but do not live there should make contribu- 
 tions to the city war chest, since their income is derived from' 
 that source and also because they can be more effectively 
 reached at their places of employment. ' This means that one of 
 tv/o things, and sometimes both, must be done in order to over- 
 come the difficulty. Either the war chest should be mfeide inclu- 
 sive of suburbs and surrounding country, or the census should 
 be supplemented and corrected by the use of the pay-rolls of 
 factories and stores. Both are advisable. 
 
 In some localities, moreover, the problem of taking the cen- 
 sus is almost insurmountable-. In one city with a large body of 
 unskilled labor, made up chiefly of aliens, it was found necessary 
 to have the police department take the census sheets to the 
 boarding-house proprietors and notify them that they would be 
 
 61 
 
held responsible for properly filling out the blanks. Even when 
 that had been completed it was found that between the 5th and 
 20th of May there had been, among that element of the popula- 
 tion, a thirty per cent, removal. This astonishing percentage 
 more or less seriously impaired the value of the work which had 
 been done in making up the census. In view of this it was 
 suggested that the work of ''blue-checking" off the names of 
 those with employment away from home by the transfer com- 
 mittee should be done with somewhat more discretion, that only 
 those employed away from home in establishments so small that 
 they would not be approached as groups should be blue-checked 
 and transcribed onto prospect cards, and that the remainder 
 should be green-checked, instead of blue-checked, and not tran- 
 scribed, the solicitation being made on the basis of the factory 
 pay-roll as a prospect list. This would largely obviate the dif- 
 ficulty with regard to commuters, would prevent labor turn-over 
 from destroying the usefulness of some prospect cards in the 
 period between the census and solicitation, and would save an 
 immense am.ount of transcribing without impairing results. 
 
 Other Methods. 
 
 Various methods have been developed for making out a 
 prospect list by means other than the patriotic census. A num- 
 ber of cities have built their prospect lists on the basis of the 
 city directory, using in addition the telephone directory, club 
 lists, etc. This has the result in most cases that only the house- 
 holder is listed and it is necessary to inquire at the time of the 
 campaign whether there are others in the home who should 
 contribute. If properly done, the results under this plan are 
 successful. It is of interest, however, to remark that in one 
 city where there was a new up-to-date directory, which was 
 supposed to be accurate, there were as a matter of fact so many 
 errors that at the close of the campaign, when suggestions were 
 called for, one of the most popular was that an up-to-date direc- 
 tory be used. This indicates the fact that the directory method 
 is, under the best of circumstances, defective. 
 
 A second method is to build a prospect list on the basis of 
 those who have given to previous funds. This was done perhaps 
 as carefully as anywhere in Cleveland, which began preparations 
 in November for a campaign that was to be staged in May. The 
 system of prospect cards, moreover, had been in process of de- 
 velopment for two years, so that they were both accurate and 
 relatively complete. Northampton, in like manner, built its 
 prospect list largely on the basis of those who had given to the 
 Red Cross — either for its war fund or for its local chapter — and 
 to the Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., K. of C, War Camp Community 
 Service, Armenian and Syrian Relief, Polish Relief, Jewish 
 Relief, the local churches, and also those who had purchased 
 
 62 
 
Liberty bonds. This plan facilitates recording on the prospect 
 cards what a man has done previously, which serves as an index 
 to the rating committee, if not of what he ought to do, at least 
 of what he may be expected to do. 
 
 The third method is to build a prospect list for the war chest 
 on the basis of Liberty loan campaign cards, which, in some 
 communities, have been very thoroughly worked out and which 
 form, therefore, a complete index of those who may be expected 
 to give individually outside their places of employment. 
 
 The fourth method was developed by a mid-western city 
 which found it necessary to act in haste. The committee sent 
 out a letter to all the employers of the city — over two thousand 
 in number — and requested that a list be sent in of all officials 
 and employees who earned $1,800 or more annually. This list 
 was supplemented by reference to those who had contributed in 
 the previous money-raising campaign. 
 
 Prospect Cards. 
 
 The material carried on the prospect cards differs consider- 
 ably in different localities, some being very much more elaborate 
 than others. The prospect card of Youngstown, Ohio, carried 
 only the name and address. These names and addresses were 
 not entered on individual cards but in an enrollment book which 
 was made out in duplicate and numbered, one copy going to the 
 captain and one to the worker. There were spaces for" sixty 
 names, all for which any single worker was supposed to be 
 accountable. These were made out by the captains before the 
 campaign opened, over 1250 such cards being made. 
 
 The prospect card of Albany carried, beside the name and 
 address, the 'phone number, and the business address of the 
 prospect. Coshocton, Ohio, had a prospect card showing the 
 name and address, place of employment, whether married or 
 single, number of dependents without income, taxable property,' 
 estimated net worth, yearly income, and a place for remarks. 
 Batavia, N. Y., carried beside name and address, whether owner 
 or tenant, number of acres, occupation, name of employer, 
 annual income, property both real and personal, where born, 
 whether naturalized or not, the name of the wife, number of 
 boys and girls and ages, church affiliation, lodge affiliation, 
 Liberty loan subscriptions, and donations to previous war relief 
 funds. 
 
 Springfield, Mass., had two types of prospect card. The 
 first, for the homes division, was made up to show the ward and 
 precinct, street and number, the class and serial number, with 
 spaces for eight names with the surname, then the first name 
 and initial, age, and a column to report subscriptions. This was 
 signed by the solicitor together with his team number and divi- 
 
 63 
 
sion and was made out with carbon duplicate on the typewriter. 
 Those who were to be solicited in groups had a card which 
 showed the class and serial number, the place of business, name, 
 address, occupation; previous subscriptions to Red Cross, 
 Y. M. C. A., K. of C, Jewish Relief, and local hospitals; and 
 space to record the sulDScription or the reason for refusal; also 
 the name of solicitor, his team number and division. There was, 
 beside, a space in which a rating could be put. 
 
 When one approaches the problem of answering the ques- 
 tion what a prospect card ought to carry, it is obvious that the 
 more personal information as to a man's name, address, occupa- 
 tion that appears, the more valuable it is to the solicitor in seek- 
 ing a subscription. It is well to have it carry some class or 
 serial number or both for convenience in recording, so that the 
 office force will not have to copy so many names in recording 
 which team is responsible for certain prospect cards. It should 
 also carry space for the solicitor's name and team number, for 
 the amount of the subscription secured and for the reason for 
 refusal. The question whether it should carry a space for a 
 rating is dealt with in the subsequent section. It is practically 
 certain that if it carries a rating it ought not to carry a record 
 of previous subscriptions. It is quite proper for the record of 
 those subscriptions to be collated for the use of the rating com- 
 mittee, but it is not desirable that they should be recorded on a 
 card which goes to the solicitor. The difficulty in not doing so, 
 however, is a physical one, namely, that it would mean the mak- 
 ing out of two sets of cards, one for the use of the rating com- 
 mittee and another for the solicitor. 
 
 In the homes division there is not the same need for elabora- 
 tion because, as already indicated, the work here is chiefly the 
 work of the gleaner and large results cannot be expected. There 
 is no reason therefore that this card should not cover a whole 
 household, save for those to be reached at their places of employ- 
 ment, particularly since the assignment is purely geographical. 
 
 The prospect card should always be made out on a type- 
 writer with a carbon duplicate to serve as a master list. 
 Rochester had a double master list, one made up of the names 
 printed alphabetically on sheets fastened on a long counter so 
 that workers could see whether names of friends had been 
 requisitioned by anyone else. The second master list consisted 
 of the duplicates of the cards themselves which were kept in the 
 hands of the team secretary. 
 
 Springfield, Mass., had a double master list system. In the 
 first place the prospect cards assigned to each team were 
 charged against that team at headquarters and in the card con- 
 trol book of the regimental secretary. In the second place the 
 carbon duplicates were filed alphabetically according to their 
 classes in large trays which were built for the purpose. 
 
 64 
 
Rating. 
 
 The discussion of what the prospect card should carry leads 
 inevitably to the question whether it should bear the amount 
 which the individual is expected to contribute — that is, whether 
 the prospective givers should be rated. Difference of opinion 
 on this topic is sharp. 
 
 Some cities strongly disapproved the practice. Columbus, 
 Ohio, did not use a system of rating and those in charge there 
 feel that it created a great deal of good feeling not to do so. 
 They believe that the atmosphere created by rating will be bad. 
 The method employed in that city was to call in to group meet- 
 ings on successive days those who might be expected to give 
 fairly large amounts. These were addressed by the vice- 
 president of the war chest, Mr. Fred Miller, who pointed out to 
 them in a remarkable address the problem which the com- 
 munity faced and brought home realization of the fact that if 
 Columbus was to succeed in raising $3,000,000 persons of large 
 means would have to give at least in accordance with the pub- 
 lished scale. Nevertheless, even in Columbus, the prospect 
 cards were looked over with the solicitor, who was given some 
 idea of how much the man might give, though he was specifically 
 and definitely instructed not to mention that amount save inso- 
 far as he might do so on the grounds of personal intimacy or in 
 response to a confidential question. 
 
 The method was not widely different in Albany. In Albany 
 rating was resorted to, but it was done onlj^ as an aid to the 
 solicitor rather than as a suggestion to the prospective sub- 
 scriber. The idea underlying this was that the solicitor is a 
 salesman and that he ought to have some guide as to what his 
 customer can afford or is likely to want. This information was 
 regarded as confidential and was not to be understood as an 
 assessment or the levy of a tax. 
 
 In other cases the rating was used very largely as a method 
 of classifying the cards in order to assist in the creation of 
 competition. This was notably the case in Springfield, Mass. 
 The committee in that city discovered that the problem of team 
 competition had been growing more difficult. The cards were 
 rated, therefore, but not for the purpose of making an assess- 
 ment nor even primarily for the use of the solicitor, but in 
 order that the teams might have a relatively equal chance in 
 competition with one another. Thus the committee on revision 
 and classification divided the prospect cards into classes from 
 A to F, Class A being made up of large corporations which 
 were expected to give $3,000 or more; Class B of banks; Class 
 C of individuals of large means v/ho might be expected to make 
 contributions of $3,000 or more; Class D of individuals such 
 as managers of businesses, superintendents, foremen, mer- 
 chants, lawyers, etc., and also small firms, partnerships, and 
 
 65 
 
small corporations which might be expected to give less than 
 $8,000; Class E of employees of large manufacturing, mercan- 
 tile, contracting, and banking establishments grouped as a unit 
 under the name of the firm; Class F of men and women living 
 at home with no places of business outside. This classification 
 obviously assisted the work of rating and the larger givers 
 were assigned to the so-called *'Navy", making certain that each 
 ''fleet" got equal amounts of prospects. In like manner indus- 
 trial plants were divided so that an equal amount of prospects 
 went to each team. This involved a tremendous amount of la- 
 bor, but analysis of the totals discloses the fact that it succeed- 
 ed in restoring keen competition. 
 
 Springfield not only rated individual cards but also made 
 group ratings, which is a very much simpler process. The 
 method used was to learn the number of employees and the 
 amount of the weekly pay-roll in any given establishment and 
 then virtually to apply the sliding scale to the average pay in 
 that factory or shop. Thus, a concern with five hundred em- 
 ployees who received a total of $10,000 a week and a concern 
 with a thousand employees who received only $10,000 a week 
 would have an equal group rating, which would mean that the 
 employees of the first would be called upon to give an average 
 of, say, $24.00 a year while the employees of the second would 
 be called upon to give an average of only $12.00 a year. When 
 the ratio of employees to the pay-roll was so low that the wages 
 were obviously unusually high the employees were called upon 
 to give a larger amount in proportion. This, again, was done 
 chiefly for purposes of assignment of prospects among teams. 
 It was frankly stated that ''there will be variations in the re- 
 sults obtained of course, as this is not a government assessment 
 but a voluntary offering. If, however, the same general ratio 
 method is used in assessing all factory groups the spirit of com- 
 petition which we desire to foster will be preserved and en- 
 couraged between the teams to which these group cards 
 eventually go." Experience justified that prediction. 
 
 Utica, N. Y., rated the cards on the basis of a group system, 
 sorting them into classes and marking in the corner of each the 
 minimum amount which members of that class should contri- 
 bute. Some of the individuals there felt that this was not the 
 best practice to follow on the ground that class rating has a 
 tendency to emphasize the low^est figure within the class, and 
 if a man sees that he is in the $5.00 a month class and the next 
 above is a $10.00 a month class he is more likely to give $5.00 
 a month than $7.00 or $8.00 as he perhaps should. 
 
 The method of reaching the amount which is to be suggest- 
 ed on the prospect card differs as widely as the practice of rat- 
 ing itself. Sometimes the amount is suggested by the census- 
 taker on the basis of his observation of living conditions, etc. 
 
 66 
 
Sometimes it is done by collating the records of previous con- 
 tributions and taking a total for the year and adding somewhat 
 thereto because of the increased demands. This has the effect 
 of rating a man according to his previous generosity or parsi- 
 mony rather than his ability. Sometimes it is done by the 
 executive committee on the basis of personal acquaintance and 
 impressions. The most complete and accurate method was 
 used in cities which had a special committee which regard- 
 ed the work not as something which they were to do themselves 
 but which they were to supervise. In several cities this com- 
 mittee enlisted the assistance of bankers, credit men in the 
 stores, tax assessors, and numerous others in position to have 
 inside information. In consequence, the ratings suggested by 
 these experts, which were checked with what the individuals had 
 done in previous drives, were extraordinarily accurate. 
 
 Emphasis should be laid at this point upon the fact that 
 where rating is done it ought to be done in relation to some total 
 — specifically that part of the amount to be raised which the 
 wealthier group should contribute. Mr. H. E. Freeman of 
 Springfield, Ohio, in the preliminary studies for the campaign 
 in that city decided that on the basis of the experience of other 
 localities the fund should be raised in approximately the follow- 
 ing proportions: 40% from wage-earners, 30% from larger in- 
 dividual givers, and 30% from corporations. On this basis he 
 analyzed somewhat further and, estimating the number of in- 
 comes between various figures, he built a sliding scale which 
 would produce the proper percentage, namely, 30% of the quota. 
 This work was done equally carefully in certain other cities, 
 as will be shown in a subsequent section, but this case illustrates 
 the manner in which, if rating is to be done, it should be done, 
 that is, with a definite goal in mind and not simply arbitrarily 
 or in an effort to get the largest possible amount irrespective of 
 what others are called upon to do. 
 
 Where the group quota is fixed thus accurately and where 
 the individual ratings are done expertly, there is very little to 
 complain of. Indeed most givers, as experience indicates, wel- 
 come a suggestion as to what their proper shares may be. A 
 published scale of giving is an assistance, but unless it is made 
 too complicated to be generally understood it cannot make pro- 
 vision for the personal circumstances of an individual. On the 
 other hand, rating if done confidentially by able men, is much 
 better than a scale because individual circumstances can be 
 taken into account. 
 
 My conclusion with regard to this practice is that it must 
 be done very tenderly. At best it is making somewhat free 
 with a man's private concerns — if there are private concerns 
 any more. If done it involves an obligation that the card when 
 rated by intimate business associates on the basis of confiden- 
 tial information shall not be promiscuously handed about but 
 
 67 
 
shall be assigned only to a discreet person, preferably a friend. 
 This involves a very careful program of requisition and assign- 
 ment of prospect cards. 
 
 Furthermore the rating should be used primarily for pur- 
 poses of distributing the cards among teams ; secondarily as an 
 assistance to the solicitor in making his sale; and finally, and 
 only finally, as a helpful suggestion to the individual. It should 
 never be regarded as an assessment or tax. This does not mean, 
 of course, that a person notably and conspicuously failing to do 
 his share shall not be asked to do more, but it does mean that 
 the solicitor shall not insist upon the individual giving the 
 amount for which he is rated. 
 
 Suggested Amounts. 
 
 Not everybody can be rated. It is only fair to those who 
 are that others should be made acquainted as definitely as pos- 
 sible with their responsibilities if the goal of the campaign is to 
 be reached. To this end many cities have published a sliding 
 scale to serve as a guide, by the use of which the individual 
 may determine his equitable share of the community gift. 
 
 As nearly as one can judge these scales have ordinarily 
 been based simply upon a general notion of what various classes 
 of income ought to produce in the way of gifts. Occasionally 
 however an attempt has been made to find a rational basis for 
 the scale which is published. In Columbus the committee had 
 statistics from the Ohio Department of Labor which showed 
 various groups among wage-earners, etc. On the basis of these 
 they figured that if everybody in every factory gave at the 
 ratio of ''one to thirty-one" — i. e., roughly 4% — it would pro- 
 duce $720,000. They did not expect everyone to give, nor did 
 they expect that all who did give would give 4%. Therefore 
 they set the quota of the wage-earners at $400,000. The quotas 
 of the other classes were not figured with equal care and the 
 results did not entirely justify the estimates which had been 
 made. Dayton, Ohio, attempted after having fixed a war chest 
 goal to make a distribution among the various classes of the 
 community on the basis of wealth, earnings, and other data. 
 
 Detroit took great pains in producing a schedule. The 
 committee did no rating at all but depended solely upon the 
 published schedule. They made estimates on the basis of mat- 
 ter gotten from banking institutions, from factory pay-rolls, 
 from Dun and Bradstreet, from the tax list, and from other 
 sources of information. From these investigations they esti- 
 mated that the income of Detroit was about $350,000,000, that 
 about $150,000,000 went to those who earned over $3,000 a year 
 and $200,000,000 to the wage group. It was then decided that 
 a fair share for the v/age-earners, if the total demand was $7,- 
 000,000, would be $2,000,000— that is, about 28.6% of the total. 
 
This is to be contrasted with the 40% figure mentioned in the 
 previous section for Springfield, Ohio. When this total of 
 $2,000,000 was applied to the wage income it appeared that it 
 was roughly 1%, but inasmuch as it was impossible to hope that 
 every wage-earner would give, and since it was certain that 
 some could not give as much as 1%, the committee, in order to 
 reach a 1% average gift for the total wage group, set 2% as the 
 norm and published a scale accordingly. This left $5,000,000 
 out of $7,000,000 as the share of the capital group, and having 
 statistics as to the sorts of income in that group, they made a 
 graduated table making no provision, it ought to be pointed 
 out, for corporation gifts, which the Springfield, Ohio, estimate 
 expected would produce 30% of the total. Youngstown, Ohio, 
 after making estimates figured that the pay-rolls amounted to 
 about $60,000,000 a year and dividends to about $60,000,000 a 
 year. The committee then decided that the wage group should 
 pay about 33 1-3% of the total and the capital group 66 2-3%. 
 This amounted, roughly, to 1% of the pay-roll and 2% of the 
 dividends, but there was not the same effort as in Detroit to 
 graduate the scale accurately among the various classes of the 
 capital group. 
 
 It is interesting to check these estimates with what was 
 actually produced. In Columbus the wage group produced 
 something like 36% of the total amount and the average gift 
 appears to have been about 2% of a normal wage, or a trifle 
 under. In Rome the wage group produced 22% of the total 
 gift, 80% of the total number of givers, and the average gift 
 appears to have been something like 1.3% of a normal wage. 
 In Rochester the wage group produced 27% of the total amount, 
 72% of the number of givers, and the average gift was about 
 1.5% of an average income. In Utica 36% of the total gift came 
 from employees. In Springfield, Ohio, 48% came from employ- 
 ees, as against an expectation of 40%. Corporations, however, 
 appear to have produced not over 20%, as against an expecta- 
 tion of 30%. Dayton, Ohio, set the expectation from wage- 
 earners at about 35% and the realization was about 54% in 
 amount. 72% of the number of givers were in the wage group. 
 Anaconda, Mont., produced 62% of the total amount of its gift 
 from the wage group. These figures thus thrown together are 
 obviously not precisely comparable, because different cities de- 
 fine the term ''wage-earners" somewhat differently, though in 
 general they include factory, store, utility, and public employ- 
 ees. Variations in the figures, m.oreover, are caused by the 
 different types of communities. In som.e communities the wage 
 group is far more predominant than in others. Again, the dif- 
 ferences in the figures reflect the variant distribution of de- 
 mand upon the several classes of the giving public in different 
 cities. Nevertheless, despite their rough character and despite 
 the fact that many allowances have to be made, the figures have 
 
 69 
 
a real significance for cities which are planning war chests and 
 serve as an index to expectation. 
 
 It may be worth while also to give a tabulation of sub- 
 scriptions by amounts in one or two cities in order to furnish 
 some index of normal distribution. In Syracuse the result of 
 tabulation as of July 2, 1917, was as follows : 
 
 Subscriptions 
 
 Number 
 
 Amount 
 
 $ 0.25 
 
 97 
 
 $ 24.25 
 
 .50 
 
 139 
 
 69.50 
 
 1.00 
 
 530 
 766 
 
 530.00 
 
 Total 
 
 $623.75 
 
 $ 1.20 
 
 88 
 
 $105.60 
 
 1.80 
 
 7 
 
 12.60 
 
 2.00 
 
 164 
 
 328.00 
 
 2.40 
 
 96 
 
 230.40 
 
 3.00 
 
 952 
 
 2,856.00 
 
 3.60 
 
 3 
 
 10.80 
 
 4.00 
 
 27 
 
 108.00 
 
 4.80 
 
 109 
 
 523.20 
 
 5.00 
 
 520 
 
 2,600.00 
 
 6.00 
 
 1,769 
 
 10,614.00 
 
 7.20 
 
 46 
 
 331.20 
 
 9.00 
 
 260 
 
 2,340.00 
 
 12.00 
 
 22,336 
 
 268,032.00 
 
 13.00 
 
 2,058 
 
 26,754.00 
 
 Total 
 
 28,435 
 
 $314,845.80 
 
 $ 15.00 
 
 77 
 
 1,155.00 
 
 18.00 
 
 134 
 
 2,412.00 
 
 24.00 
 
 1,620 
 
 38,880.00 
 
 30.00 
 
 81 
 
 2,430.00 
 
 36.00 
 
 246 
 
 8,856.00 
 
 Total 
 
 2,158 
 
 $ 53,733.00 
 
 $ 48.00 
 
 275 
 
 13,200.00 
 
 60.00 
 
 865 
 
 51,900.00 
 
 72.00 
 
 23 
 
 1,656.00 
 
 84.00 
 
 7 
 
 588.00 
 
 96.00 
 
 79 
 
 7,584.00 
 
 120.00 
 
 412 
 
 49,440.00 
 
 Difference 
 
 in Odd Amounts 
 
 8,028.98 
 
 Total 
 
 1,661 
 
 $132,396.98 
 
 70 
 
Subscriptions 
 
 Number 
 
 Amount 
 
 $ 144.00 
 
 53 
 
 7,632.00 
 
 200.00 
 
 54 
 
 10,800.00 
 
 240.00 
 
 60 
 
 14,400.00 
 
 300.00 
 
 130 
 
 39,000.00 
 
 323.20 
 
 1 
 
 323.20 
 
 360.00 
 
 6 
 
 2,160.00 
 
 400.00 
 
 3 
 
 1,200.00 
 
 420.00 
 
 2 
 
 840.00 
 
 480.00 
 
 7 
 
 3,360.00 
 
 500.00 
 
 20 
 
 10,000.00 
 
 Difference 
 
 in Odd Amounts 
 
 8,028.98 
 
 Total 
 
 336 
 
 $ 97,744.18 
 
 $ 600.00 
 
 42 
 
 % 25,200.00 
 
 700.00 
 
 1 
 
 700.00 
 
 800.00 
 
 2 
 
 1,600.00 
 
 900.00 
 
 6 
 
 5,400.00 
 
 1,000.00 
 
 17 
 
 17,000.00 
 
 Total 
 
 68 
 
 $ 49,900.00 
 
 ? 1,200.00 
 
 39 
 
 46,800.00 
 
 1,303.30 
 
 1 
 
 1,303.30 
 
 1,500.00 
 
 2 
 
 3,000.00 
 
 1,800.00 
 
 5 
 
 90,000.00 
 
 2,000.00 
 
 5 
 
 10,000.00 
 
 2,400.00 
 
 9 
 
 21,600.00 
 
 2,500.00 
 
 2 
 
 5,000.00 
 
 3,000.00 
 
 8 
 
 24,000.00 
 
 3,600.00 
 
 2 
 
 7,200.00 
 
 4,000.00 
 
 1 
 
 4,000.00 
 
 4,800.00 
 
 2 
 
 9,600.00 
 
 5,000.00 
 
 4 
 
 20,000.00 
 
 Total 
 
 80 
 
 $161,503.80 
 
 ? 6,000.00 
 
 7 
 
 42,000.00 
 
 7,000.00 
 
 1 
 
 7,000.00 
 
 7,500.00 
 
 2 
 
 15,000.00 
 
 8,650.00 
 
 1 
 
 8,650.00 
 
 9,000.00 
 
 1 
 
 9,000.00 
 
 10,000.00 
 
 2 
 
 20,000.00 
 
 Total 
 
 14 
 
 $101,650.00 
 
 71 
 
Subscriptions 
 
 $12,000.00 
 24,000.00 
 25,000.00 
 30,000.00 
 
 Total 
 
 Number 
 
 9 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 
 Amount 
 
 108,000.00 
 48,000.00 
 25,000.00 
 30,000.00 
 
 13 
 
 Special Bank Dividends 
 Grand Total 
 
 $211,000.00 
 36,000.00 
 
 $1,159,397.01 
 
 In Salem, Mass., the result as of May 31, 1918, for monthly 
 subscriptions only, was as follows: 
 
 Amount 
 
 ) 290.25 
 
 267.50 
 
 1.50 
 
 6,756.00 
 
 Subscriptions 
 
 Number 
 
 $ .25 
 
 1161 
 
 .50 
 
 535 
 
 .75 
 
 2 
 
 1.00 
 
 6756 
 
 Total 
 
 8454 
 
 $ 1.25 
 
 9 
 
 1.50 
 
 57 
 
 1.75 
 
 1 
 
 2.00 
 
 332 
 
 2.50 
 
 38 
 
 3.00 
 
 73 
 
 3.25 
 
 2 
 
 3.33 
 
 2 
 
 3.34 
 
 1 
 
 3.50 
 
 2 
 
 4.00 
 
 39 
 
 4.50 
 
 2 
 
 4.70 
 
 1 
 
 5.00 
 
 204 
 
 6.00 
 
 11 
 
 7.00 
 
 3 
 
 7.50 
 
 1 
 
 8.00 
 
 9 
 
 8.50 
 
 1 
 
 10.00 
 
 84 
 
 12.00 
 
 2 
 
 12.50 
 
 8 
 
 $ 7,315.25 
 
 11.25 
 
 85.50 
 
 1.75 
 
 664.00 
 
 95.00 
 
 219.00 
 
 6.50 
 
 6.66 
 
 3.34 
 
 7.00 
 
 156.00 
 
 9.00 
 
 4.70 
 
 1,020.00 
 
 66.00 
 
 21.00 
 
 7.50 
 
 72.00 
 
 8.50 
 
 840.00 
 
 24.00 
 
 100.00 
 
 Total 
 
 882 
 
 $ 3,428.70 
 
 .72 
 
Subscriptions 
 
 Number Amount 
 
 
 15.00 
 
 19 285.00 
 
 ' 
 
 16.00 
 
 2 32.00 
 
 
 20.00 
 
 14 280.00 
 
 
 20.75 
 
 1 20.75 
 
 
 21.00 
 
 1 21.00 
 
 
 25.00 
 
 35 875.00 
 
 
 30.00 
 
 6 180.00 
 
 
 35.00 
 
 4 140.00 
 
 
 37.50 
 
 2 75.00 
 
 
 40.00 
 
 2 80.00 
 
 
 45.00 
 
 1 45.00 
 
 
 Total 
 
 87 $ 
 
 2,033.75 
 
 $ 50.00 
 
 17 850.00 
 
 
 60.00 
 
 3 180.00 
 
 
 75.00 
 
 2 150.00 
 
 
 100.00 
 
 13 1,300.00 
 
 
 125.00 
 
 1 125.00 
 
 
 Total 
 
 36 $ 
 
 2,605.00 
 
 $ 200.00 
 
 3 $ 600.00 
 
 
 250.00 
 
 '4 1,000.00 
 
 
 300.00 
 
 3 900.00 
 
 
 500.00 
 
 3 1,500.00 
 
 
 Total 
 
 13 $ 
 
 4,000.00 
 
 
 Difference in Odd Amounts $ 
 Grand Total $ 
 
 419.00 
 
 
 19,801.70 
 
 In making up scales it is probably not possible, nor is it 
 advisable, to have absolute uniformity among communities 
 which adopt war chests. In each individual case there should be 
 a careful statistical study along the lines suggested in the cases 
 of Springfield, Ohio, and Detroit. This requires a man or 
 group of men of large ability and much patience. In the sec- 
 ond place, care must be taken to set the demand upon labor low 
 enough and the demand upon capital high enough so as not to 
 alienate the mass of givers. It should be remembered, too, that 
 this scale ought to be drawn on such a basis that in the pres- 
 sure for 100% subscriptions among working men no serious 
 hardship will be wrought. There is no benefit — there is indeed 
 real harm — in taking subscriptions for larger amounts than 
 the subscribers ought to give. It is further desirable and nec- 
 essary when a schedule is published that it be made absolutely 
 
 73 
 
clear that it is not an income tax but simply a helpful sugges- 
 tion ; and it is unwise to incorporate in the pledge card a state- 
 ment to the effect that the pledge is such and such a per cent, 
 of the individual's income because that would be inequitable 
 in certain cases. Instead the plan should be followed which has 
 been used in many cities, namely, to make an explicit statement 
 that the table is for suggestive purposes only. York, Pa., pub- 
 lished a scale of great flexibility, showing for example that 
 earnings from $65.00 to $100.00 a month should produce in 
 normal cases from $8.00 to $18.00 a year and the committee 
 published with the scale the following statement: 
 
 ''Remember that we do not mean to fix contributions from indi- 
 viduals, employers, or employees. That would be absurd or at least 
 subject to just resentment. But we do mean that contributions by 
 employees, employers, and people of independent means will have to 
 average something like what is indicated in order to obtain the full 
 quota due from York and York County for war relief work.* * * Due 
 allowance must always be made for large families of small children, 
 and for sickness-, and sometimes for both. So that many who have 
 fewer dependents will necessarily have to give generously and patriot- 
 ically more than would otherwise be their proportion." 
 
 Ordinarily the published statement is not quite so explicit but 
 the York statement furnishes a fair example of what does per- 
 vade most and should pervade all. Rochester covered still an- 
 other point by saying at the end of its scale: 
 
 "It is perfectly well known to the comnmunity that there are many 
 people in Rochester who have been giving in larger proportions than 
 the above standard and will continue to do so. The public should there- 
 fore distinctly understand that the contribution list when published 
 does not furnish a key to the subscriber's income." 
 
 There has been a good deal of discussion concerning wheth- 
 er schedules ought to be put at a higher figure than the normal 
 contribution can be expected to be or whether they should pre- 
 sent an accurate reflection of the statistical studies. It has 
 been insisted by some that the "one to thirty-one" slogan, which 
 calls for 4%, is a mark to be shot at rather than a practicable 
 ideal. As already indicated, the workmen of Columbus appear 
 to have given an average of about 2% of their wages, which 
 would tend to substantiate to that extent the argument that 
 the "one to thirty-one" slogan represents a very heavy demand. 
 On the other hand, the advocates of the 4% basis feel that it has 
 good psychological value, that it lends itself so remarkably to 
 the appeal that it ought to be retained, and that it is, moreover, 
 a move in the direction of bringing the public to understand the 
 sacrifices which are going to be necessary as the war assumes 
 for America a more acutely personal stage. 
 
 74 
 
On the other hand, Detroit, Rochester, and certain other 
 cities attempted to build scales, not as marks to be shot at, but 
 as practical possibilities. From this point of view it seems 
 fair on the basis of experience to say that the 2% minimum is 
 realized in practice better than the 4%. 
 
 Springfield, Mass., in publishing a sliding scale did not do 
 it entirely officially. At the beginning of the campaign there 
 was no such scale, but a group of individuals got together, drew 
 up a scale and signed it. It was then published with the state- 
 ment. 'The undersigned, with the sole desire of establishing 
 for himself and for others an equitable basis of giving, endorses 
 the following schedule and in his ovfn case agrees to be bound 
 to give the percentage of his income as called for in this table." 
 It was drawn by a group of men of large means, and scrutiny 
 of it will demonstrate that it rises at a fairly rapid rate, so that 
 they cannot be accused of attempting to dodge their responsibili- 
 ties. This plan was effective in giving the scale prestige and 
 reality. The same end has been attained in other cities by hav- 
 ing all those who became solicitors agree to give in accordance 
 with the schedule. It is worth while, wherever possible, to 
 adopt some such means as these to give the scale greater authori- 
 ty or influence than its simple publication will ensure. 
 
 When one attempts to collate the various scales which have 
 been published it appears that there is a great variety. Look- 
 ing first at the minimum request, which may roughly be said 
 to be that which is asked from the wage-earner, it appears that 
 there is variation all the way from 1/2% to 4%. Kalamazoo 
 called for only %%, Sheboygan for %%. Most of those which 
 reported used 1%, Ashland 114% and two cities 1V2%- A 
 number of cities, including some of the most successful, among 
 them Detroit and Rochester, adopted 2%. Kane, Pa., used 3% 
 and several, including Columbus, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, 
 Springfield, Mass., and Springfield, Ohio, 4%. 
 
 A study of the relative speed with which these various 
 schedules rise shows that there is as great difference in this 
 matter as in the matter of the minimum. Some cities have 
 simply a flat rate. Albuquerque, N. M., appears to have asked 
 for 1% from everyone whatever his income might be. Ely, 
 Minn., appears to have asked everyone, irrespective of income, 
 to give $1.00 a month. Norwalk, Ohio, called for an hour a 
 week, which is not a flat rate only if it is assumed that people 
 of higher income work a less number of hours than those of 
 less income. 
 
 In order to get a rough standard one may say that those 
 are slow-rising which reach 5% at $20,000. Such cities are 
 Akron, Ambridge (which has a 3% maximum). Anaconda, Bur- 
 lington, Crawfordsville, Dayton, and Detroit. Others are very 
 much more rapid in the ascent and call for 10% at $10,000. 
 
 75 
 
Such are Albany, Ashland, Indianapolis, Meriden, Rome, Salem, 
 and others. These are mentioned simply as examples, for there 
 are many more. It indicates, however, the diversity which is, 
 with all proper allowance for variant conditions in individual 
 localities,- somewhat greater than the situation warrants if the 
 burden is to be equitably distributed.. 
 
 In many cases a special .effort has been made to give a 
 separate index with regard to what farmers should do. Albion, 
 Mich., fig'ured that the farmers should give 20c a month on 
 each $1,000 worth of property, but reported after the campaign 
 that this figure had not proved wholly satisfactory in operation. 
 Coshocton, Ohio, called upon the farmers to give 1% of their 
 total taxable property. Crawfordsville, Indiana, stated that 
 "where the income from farm land cannot be distinctly deter- 
 mined the contribution shall be not less than 25c per acre.'* 
 Houghton, Mich., published a scale on the basis of acreage which 
 read as follows: 
 
 "Forty acres partially cleared, 25c.; forty acres cleared and culti- 
 vated, 50c.; forty to eighty acres partially cleared, 50c.; forty to eighty 
 acres almost all cleared and cultivated, 75c.; eighty acres or over par- 
 tially cleared and cultivated, $1.00. The above amounts- are the mini- 
 mum subscriptions expected and pledges for more than $1.00 per month 
 will be welcomed." 
 
 Newberry, Mich., called for farmers to give at least $5.00 a year 
 and an additional amount in proportion to the valuations of 
 clearings, which was to be set by each local committee for its 
 own group. Sheboygan published the statement that "farmers 
 are to contribute on the basis of their assessed valuation of prop- 
 erty and other sources of income, after making due allowance 
 for special conditions and indebtedness, at a rate of percentage 
 to be determined by each township." 
 
 Inquiry as to the number of individuals who lived up to the 
 scale in making their subscriptions shows that in general — as 
 would be expected — the more conservatively drawn scales 
 brought larger percentages of those who gave as much or more 
 than the scale called for than did those v/hich were more radical 
 in their drafting. 
 
 There is one objection to the publication of a schedule 
 which is urged in many cities, namely, that it has a tendency if 
 drawn on the basis of calling for amounts which may be reason- 
 ably expected in normal cases to put the emphasis on the min- 
 imum in each group. A number of cities have warned that 
 carelessness in the statement with regard to the schedule had 
 led people whose circumstances were such that they were able 
 to give beyond it to neglect to do so. On the other hand, cities 
 which were more careful in their statements indicate that this 
 difficulty can be avoided. 
 
The general conclusion therefore must be that the sliding 
 scale is valuable in proportion to the care exercised in its draft- 
 ing, the tact with which it is presented, and the manner in which 
 it is combined with other methods, whether memberships, or 
 ratings, or appeals on the basis of time. 
 
 Basis of Pledge. 
 
 Closely integrated with the subject of suggested amounts 
 is the matter of the basis of the pledge. 
 
 Many cities, as indicated in the previous section, publish 
 sliding scales. Normally this is done only as a suggestion. 
 Occasionally, however, subscribers are asked to make a pledge 
 that they are giving in accordance with the published schedules, 
 which makes them not merely suggested amounts but actual 
 bases for pledges. Where this has been carried to its logical 
 conclusion it has reduced the matter practically to becoming 
 a tax. Fortunately this is done in only very few cities. 
 
 Some war chests ask their subscribers to make their pledges 
 on the basis of time, the ordinary time being one-half hour or 
 one hour a week. Those using an hour are, among others, 
 Akron, Ohio, Billings, Mont., Cumberland, Md., Lockport, 
 N. Y., Rochester, N. Y. Among those using one-half hour are 
 Batavia, 111., Burlington, Iowa, Butte, Mont., Elkhart, Ind., 
 Kenosha, Wis., Michigan City, Ind., Newberry, Racine, Wis., 
 Sycamore, 111., Tonawanda, N. Y., and Youngstown, 0. One 
 community, Newark, N. Y., uses one and one-half hours as the 
 basis of its giving. These of course are readily reduced to 
 percentages. Roughly speaking, the one-half hour represents 
 1%, an hour 2%, and an hour and a half 3%. Most 
 of the cities which use this time advertising do it only as a 
 suggestion or in combination with other plans. But a few 
 make the pledge rest upon this exclusively and in such cases it is 
 no longer a suggested amount but the real basis of pledge. 
 
 A few cities have used the time slogan expressed in terms 
 of days. Columbus originated the "one to thirty-one" slogan, 
 which calls upon a man to give one day's pay each month. That 
 plan has been followed by most of the cities which make their 
 appeals on the basis of days, for example, by Newark, Ohio, 
 Oil City, Pa., Philadelphia, Sidney, Ohio, and Springfield, Vt. 
 Ambridge, Pa., used the idea of four days a year, one day a 
 quarter, i. e., "one to ninety-one." These, like the hour slogan, 
 are readily translated into percentages; one to thirty-one being 
 practically 4% and four days a year being 1%, roughly. Usual- 
 ly these are simply employed as methods of suggesting amounts. 
 Only rarely is either of them made the real basis for the pledge. 
 
 Many cities make the basis of their pledge an agreement 
 to join a membership association. These memberships are nor- 
 mally $1.00 a month, though there are a few instances, as for 
 
 77 
 
example Montpelier, Vt., and Westbrook, Me., where the mem- 
 bership fee is 50c. a month. In all but one or two cases the 
 pledge consists in an agreement to take out a certain number 
 of memberships. In one case however a person was asked to 
 take out only one membership. 
 
 Usually when an individual takes out a number of mem- 
 berships he receives only one vote in the association, regardless 
 of the number of memberships for which he may have sub- 
 scribed. Occasionally, however, every individual is given as 
 many votes in the association as he has memberships. 
 
 In several instances the membership plan is the sole re- 
 liance of the organization. Ordinarily, however, where this is 
 made the basis of the pledge some other means of suggesting 
 the amount which the individual ought to give is adopted, either 
 a sliding scale showing percentage of income, or an amount of 
 time, or a rating. In such cases as these latter there is occa- 
 sionally no definite membership fee but all subscribers become 
 members. Illustrations of such cases are Attleboro and Spring- 
 field, Mass. 
 
 Other cities have adopted other names, which amount prac- 
 tically to a membership basis of the pledge. Brattleboro, Vt., 
 calls its memberships "enlistments'". Ilion and Mohawk speak 
 of ''shares". These all amount in practice to the membership 
 plan. 
 
 A few cities had special memberships for children. For 
 this Attleboro worked out a somewhat elaborate plan. In 
 Springfield, Mass., the idea was improvised during the cam- 
 paign. Some, for example Sheboygan, set a minimum subscrip- 
 tion for children from six to twelve years of 50c. a year and 
 from twelve to sixteen years of $1.00 a year. The Tarrytowns 
 had a junior membership for those under twenty-one years of 
 age of $4.00, no other amount being allowed, either more or less. 
 Westbrook, Maine, had a children's membership of 50c. One 
 or two have had a sliding scale by which those in the higher 
 grades paid more than those in the lower. 
 
 Many cities have adopted none of the foregoing bases for 
 their pledges but simply call for an offering without relation 
 to memberships, percentages, or any other fixed plan. They 
 may publish appeals of various sorts with amounts suggested 
 but they have no basis on which the pledge is taken. 
 
 The conclusions which have been reached as a result of 
 the study of the material which has come in on this subject are, 
 in the first place, that the straight membership plan is on the 
 whole one of doubtful value, particularly when used exclusively 
 and with a definite amount, although it ought to be said at once 
 that Syracuse succeeded under those circumstances. It seems, 
 however, that there is a tendency under this plan, which was 
 revealed even in Syracuse the first year and which has been 
 
 78 
 
evident in other places, to over-emphasize the $1.00 subscrip- 
 tion. It is not, on the other hand, a bad plan to have a mem- 
 bership association on the plan adopted by Attleboro and Spring- 
 field, Mass., where all subscribers became members. This 
 opens the way for popular control for which, though it does 
 not yet appear to have been needed in any city, it is wise to 
 provide. Under this plan all members should have equal vot- 
 ing privileges irrespective of the amount subscribed. 
 
 The conclusions with regard to the wisdom of publishing 
 a sliding scale as a suggestion for giving have been set forth in 
 detail under the preceding section. It may be said that such 
 a scale has not the same value as the basis of pledge. Its use 
 in that manner reduces the subscription virtually to a tax, pre- 
 cludes proper variation for individual circumstances, and for 
 these and other reasons which readily suggest themselves is 
 distinctly unwise. The use of time or a number of days as a 
 suggestion for giving has the advantage of being a simple way 
 of expressing percentages. It lends itself readily to advertis- 
 ing and publicity generally. When, on the other hand, it is 
 used as a basis of pledge it opens the way for the patriotic half- 
 hour or hour of special exercises in the schools and serves as 
 a method of keeping public interest alive. It makes for uni- 
 formity in everyone's giving, though this is of doubtful value 
 because it involves the abandonment of the principle of grad- 
 uated giving, unless the half-hour or hour or day slogan is used 
 simply for the wage earners and careful rating or a sliding scale 
 is used for those with incomes above those of the wage earning 
 class. This plan has, moreover, the weakness that in some in- 
 stances it will fail to allow sufficiently for individual circum- 
 stances. Where adopted, therefore, caution must be exercised 
 to see that it is not pushed too far. In one Middle Western city 
 this caution was neglected in a few factories, the consequence 
 being that some subscribers later asked the war chest officers 
 to allow them to reduce the amounts of their subscriptions, 
 requests which were promptly acceded to. The use of this plan 
 also develops certain problems of bookkeeping and collecting — 
 for example how to figure out the amount of money made in a 
 given hour, etc., which is dealt with under the heading, "The 
 Patriotic Half Hour." 
 
 The question of whether or not a minimum amount should 
 be set has been very much debated. Those in control of the 
 war chest in Syracuse feel very strongly that whoever cannot 
 afford to give $1.00 a month ought not to be asked to give at all, 
 though they may be permitted to do so. Some cities will not 
 even permit a gift of less than $12.00 a year. On the other 
 hand, the matter of a minimum was very thoroughly thrashed 
 out in Rochester and the conclusion was reached that in many 
 cases, particularly those of girls employed in department stores, 
 telephone exchanges, etc., who are already buying Liberty Bonds 
 
and War Savings Stamps, it is unfair to ask them to give $1.00 
 a month or in some cases even 50c. a month. Yet the commit- 
 tee did not want to deprive them of participation in the great 
 community enterprise and, in consequence they set no minimum. 
 It seems to be a reasonable conclusion that collection at the 
 source, which renders delinquency practically impossible and 
 which also simplifies bookkeeping, makes it less necessary for 
 the enforcement of a minimum among the wage group. For 
 the general public it is perhaps wise to have a published mini- 
 mum but to accept gifts for less amounts from those who can- 
 not afford to give that much and to accept no other gifts, every- 
 one giving as much as the published minimum being required to 
 make out his subscription card. Those who give less than 
 $12.00 should have neither button nor window card nor be en- 
 rolled as memxbers. This plan avoids encouragement of too 
 small giving, yet does not exclude those of slender means from 
 participation. 
 
 Form of Contribution. 
 
 Broadly speaking, there are just two forms of contribution 
 to the war chest. The first is an outright gift and the second 
 a subscription. A number of places have forbidden the accept- 
 ance of gifts under the operation of the slogan "stand up and 
 be counted." Some cities have gone so far as to return anony- 
 mous gifts because they believe if people are allowed to dis- 
 charge their obligations without putting themselves on record, 
 the result would be that many would fail to do all they should. 
 This practice was followed by Albany, Cleveland, Rochester, 
 Springfield, 0., and few other places that reported. In general, 
 however, cities have allowed gifts to be mxade, though a few 
 of them reported that they did not regard it as desirable and 
 regretted having done so. One city allowed gifts from those 
 who were not regular residents. Others ''threw the town open" 
 in the last day or two of the drive and accepted gifts. Cleve- 
 land was an instance of that. Easton, Pa., took up general 
 collections at the big war chest set up in the square. One day 
 the big chest was put on a truck and sent around the city and 
 towards the latter part of the campaign girls with miniature 
 war chests stood on the streets to accept gifts. Other cities 
 allowed gifts from clubs and lodges. This is a plan of extremely 
 doubtful value because it gives individuals an opportunity to 
 say they have subscribed through their club, though they may 
 have done very little. In other cases it makes men subscribe 
 twice. It is not improper to use clubs, etc., as collection agen- 
 cies but all subscriptions should be individual subcriptions, save 
 in the cases of corporations or businesses. Two or three cities, 
 notably Syracuse and Dundee, allowed gifts only from those who 
 could not afford one dollar a month. They did not want to 
 deprive such people of a part in the community effort and while 
 
 80 
 
such givers were not enrolled as members of the association 
 and were not given a pin or window card, the gift was neverthe- 
 less gratefully accepted. 
 
 Occasionally there is a person who wishes to make a really 
 sacrificial gift but who does not wish to sign a subscription 
 paper or have the matter known. The number of legitimate 
 cases of this sort in any town is usually very small. Neverthe- 
 less a few cities took pains to meet the desires of such by allow- 
 ing them to put the pledge card, when filled out, in an envelope 
 marked ''confidential", which was not to be opened by the solici- 
 tor nor was the name to be published, though the amount had 
 to be known to the executive committee and might come under 
 the hand of the revision committee who, in turn, might take up 
 the matter with the subscriber. Another city, Racine, did not 
 take quite such elaborate means but had a space on the pledge 
 card where a person who objected to having his name put in the 
 paper might put a cross to indicate his desire. 
 
 A study of the evidence convinces one that the emphasis 
 should be put on subscription and not on gifts. This does not 
 prevent one from making his entire payment at once but it does 
 mean that it should be possible for the executive committee, at 
 all events, to know the names of contributors and the amounts. 
 To that end it is advisable to prohibit gifts save in such in- 
 stances where a person is not able to give the minimum amount, 
 if one is set. In such cases a gift should not be solicited but 
 should be permitted. 
 
 A large number of cities take weekly subscriptions and a 
 few limit all subscribers to the weekly plan. On the whole, 
 this seems undesirable because it involves a great deal of book- 
 keeping and considerable nuisance to individuals who make 
 payments with a consequent tendency to delinquency. 
 
 Practically all war chests provide for subscriptions on a 
 monthly basis and a considerable number do not allow any other 
 form. The reasons advanced for the use of monthly payments 
 exclusively are, first, that in every case a man will be able to 
 give more if his payments are distributed throughout the year 
 than if he makes but a single payment or two or four payments. 
 This argument is unsound since persons who derive their in- 
 comes from investment frequently find themselves better able 
 to pay quarterly, semi-annually or even annually. The second 
 reason for employing monthly pledges exclusively is that in case 
 more money is raised by the war chest than necessary, the 
 executive committee may suspend payment in any given month 
 until demand catches up to supply and in order to have this 
 operate fairly in every case there must be a single uniform 
 method of subscription. 
 
 To some extent it may be argued that the same is true if 
 a war chest finds its resources inadequate and is compelled to 
 make a new campaign within a year. It seems sufficiently 
 
 • 81 
 
clear, however, that those who adopt annual, or semi-annual, or 
 quarterly payments are those best able to give and that, con- 
 sequently, no very severe injustice will be wrought. There is 
 therefore no adequate reason why subscriptions should be taken 
 exclusively on a monthly basis, especially since the Crawfords- 
 ville plan of omitting a payment has not been extensively follow- 
 ed and is not likely to be, particularly when the duration of the 
 pledge is but a single year. It should be noted that this report 
 recommends that over-subscriptions be made in case there is a 
 surplus which practically destroys the basis for this practice. 
 
 Very few^ war chests have laid any emphasis on semi-an- 
 nual payments but several have put a very large amount of 
 stress on annual payments. Usually in this latter case the 
 subscriptions have been taken on some other basis and then a 
 campaign staged, after the subscription lists have been com- 
 pleted, to encourage all those who can to pay up the entire face 
 of their subscriptions at once, both to simplify bookkeeping and 
 to prevent any possibility of delinquency. Various odd periods 
 of payment have been adopted, such as ten equal payments or 
 two installments, but not semi-annual, or four installments, 
 but not quarterly. These are simply sporadic instances. 
 
 Broadly speaking, it seems that when the emphasis is put 
 on subscription as against gift, a great deal of latitude should 
 be allowed between monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual 
 payments. The more payments are broken up in this way, the 
 simpler the bookkeeping will be because the number of trans- 
 actions will be materially reduced. 
 
 Pledge Forms. 
 
 There is no uniform or standard pledge. While one may, 
 by careful sorting, discover certain families among the pledge 
 cards each running back to some common ancestor among the 
 earlier war chests, individuals within these families show mark- 
 ed differences in fomi and spirit. Pledges may roughly be 
 grouped into three categories; first, those which constitute a 
 binding legal obligation, second, a simple subscription, and 
 third, those of an enlistment type. 
 
 It develops that the legal form of pledge has been used in 
 only a small percentage of cities, among them, however, Cleve- 
 land, Dayton, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and others almost as 
 well known. This form has certain advantages. It has the 
 advantage of making the subscriber understand at the outset 
 that he is undertaking a real obligation ; it has the advantage at 
 the other end of calling to the mind of any who may have signed 
 subscriptions in bad faith that they are not entirely free to re- 
 pudiate their pledges. 
 
 Some of these pledges of legal form can be collected from 
 a man's estate in case he should die before the expiration of the 
 
 82 • 
 
period mentioned on the face of the pledge. Others of them, 
 however, make a definite statement that they shall be cancelled 
 in case of the death and occasionally, also, the removal of the 
 subscriber. 
 
 Turning to the second general form, namely, a straight 
 subscription, it may be said that a sm.aller percentage use this 
 than would normally be expected, perhaps, because committees 
 have been eager, even in the matter of pledge forms, to empha- 
 size the patriotic character of the war chest. 
 
 A good many of this type carry the privilege of cancellation 
 as do one or two of those of legal form and some of the enlist- 
 ment type. This practice of allowing an individual to sign a 
 card which specifically reserves the privilege of cancelling his 
 pledge, emphasizes the voluntary nature of the subscription and 
 destroys any shadow of serious pressure in most cases. Pledge 
 cards which provide for cancellation are, among others, Attle- 
 boro, Lexington, Melrose, and Northampton, Mass., Kenosha 
 and Racine, Wis. 
 
 The third form, the enlistment type, frequently reads some- 
 thing as follows: '*I hereby pledge my patriotism and service 
 to the cause of my country and my moral support to the ob- 
 jects and aims of the war chest." This type is distinctly the 
 most popular and shows the greatest similarity among the va- 
 rious forms in which it appears. 
 
 There is as much variation in detail as there is in the gen- 
 eral form of pledge cards. It appears that perhaps one half 
 contain an authorization to the executive committee or other 
 body to expend the amount subscribed as their judgment may 
 dictate. The wording is varied somewhat in different cities 
 but normally runs about as follows: *T hereby authorize the 
 executive committee of the war chest to expend my subscrip- 
 tion for such war needs as to them seems best." If proper by- 
 laws have been drawn up in advance, any such authorization is 
 unnecessary, particularly if the war chest is organized as a 
 membership association, but it is by no means unwise to include 
 it. 
 
 The pledge card always ought to carry conspicuously on its 
 face the varieties of payment which are possible for the indi- 
 vidual. Perhaps a majority provide such an option. Occasion- 
 ally it is done by having a separate pledge form for each man- 
 ner of payment. Frequently it is done simply by leaving a 
 blank, a plan which is not v/holly to be commended inasmuch 
 as the purpose of the blank is not always obvious to many sub- 
 scribers and many more are careless in filling in blanks. Some 
 cards have the various possibilities — annually, semi-annually, 
 quarterly, and monthly — printed along in a straight line in or- 
 dinary type, and request the subscriber to cross out those which 
 are not needed. This has the disadvantage of not being suf- 
 ficiently conspicuous; subscribers too frequently neglect to do 
 
 83 
 
as asked. Probably the best method, one used in a large num- 
 ber of cities, is to print this option separately in a conspicuous 
 position where one can checkmark one of the four possibilities. 
 
 One or two allow only weekly payments, a number only 
 monthly, one or two only quarterly, and one semi-annually. As 
 pointed out elsewhere, the best plan is to allow an option among 
 annual, semi-annual, quarterly, and monthly payments but to 
 exclude weekly payments. 
 
 A large majority of the cities provide on the face of one 
 or other of their pledge forms an authorization to the employer 
 to deduct the amount of the pledge from the employee's pay 
 envelope. Two or three cities have adopted the plan of having 
 separate coupon for this authorization attached to the regular 
 pledge card. This was done in Amsterdam and Utica. In the 
 latter city some of those in charge believed it would be wise in 
 adopting this plan to use good stock and rule the back of the 
 authorization coupon so that it could be used as a record card 
 to be kept by the factory. This idea is one of considerable 
 merit because, in the first place, it allows the war chest head- 
 quarters to keep the original pledge card in its own file and 
 at the same time leave to the factory a proper card on which 
 it may record the deductions so that in case a man leaves their 
 employ and the factory record is sent to the war chest office 
 as part of the labor turnover program, all such cards will be 
 uniform. In the second place it is conspicuously fair because 
 it requires separate signature on the part of the workman and 
 there is no chance that he will overlook the authorization in the 
 considerable body of printing on the regular pledge card. 
 
 Some of the pledge cards specify how often the deduction is 
 to be made. Most of them state that it is to be made weekly, 
 a few monthly, and some give an option. The matter of proper 
 practice in this regard is dealt with elsewhere but in general 
 it may be said that if the deduction is to be made each pay day 
 and the money sent to the war chest but once a month, careful 
 statement is requisite because of the fact that in some months 
 there are more than four pay days and it is not wise to ask 
 the factories to deduct one fifth each week in those months. 
 The statement needs therefore to be sufficiently explicit so the 
 w^orkman will not be led to think there will be a deduction fifty 
 two weeks in the year instead of forty eight and so that the 
 paymaster, on the other hand, will not be left in doubt whether 
 he must take out one fifth of the monthly pledge each pay day 
 in those months or simply one quarter on four of the pay days 
 and nothing on the fifth. The pledge therefore should be on 
 the monthly basis, the deduction made each pay day, save when 
 there are five in the month, in which case there should be four 
 deductions. 
 
 Certain of the pledge forms provide for collection by labor 
 unions. The form for this requires no comment as the practice 
 
 84 
 
of making use of unions as collection agencies is dealt with in 
 another place. 
 
 A number of cities have printed on their pledge forms a 
 percentage or period of time as the basis of contribution. For 
 reasons set forth in other places in this report, that practice 
 is not desirable. Its operation has been somewhat limited but 
 it is fair to say that some successfully conducted war chests 
 have used it. 
 
 A relatively small number of war chests offer on the pledge 
 form an option between subscribing for the period of the war 
 or for one year. In view of the discussion elsewhere in this 
 report to the effect that taking pledges for the duration of the 
 war is unwise, this needs no further comment. 
 
 Occasionally the matter of Red Cross membership is in- 
 corporated on the pledge card. In one or two instances the 
 statement is made that the first dollar paid is to take care of 
 the membership; in another case the statement is made that 
 membership shall follow after the third dollar is paid. In one 
 instance for every two dollars paid an individual may designate 
 membership for someone, presumably a member of his family. 
 In view of what is said elsewhere, it seems wise to leave any 
 reference to this off the pledge card. 
 
 A very considerable number of cities have ruled the backs 
 of the pledge cards in order to use them as ledger cards. The 
 objections to this plan are set forth elsewhere and need not be 
 reviewed here. Still other cities have used the backs of pledge 
 cards as prospect cards, a plan which is not advisable since they 
 may carry confidential information which it is not always de- 
 sirable that the prospect should see, and because they may need 
 to be used again in other connections where it would be distinct- 
 ly undesirable to pass out pledge cards lest they be lost or rum- 
 pled. On the whole, therefore, it seems better to have a pros- 
 pect card separate from the pledge form. 
 
 A few cities have numbered their subscription cards from 
 various motives, one using an attached coupon with identical 
 number as a receipt for money collected, others plan to use them 
 for ledger cards. The use of numbered cards, however, par- 
 ticularly in cities of considerable size, involves a great many 
 difficulties and is not worth the effort involved. It may be- 
 come desirable to number them for various purposes after the 
 subscription has been taken, but there appears to be no good 
 reason for sending them out numbered. 
 
 Many cities provide for making a carbon copy of the pledge, 
 either in order that one may be kept by the subscriber as a 
 memorandum, or in order that one may be deposited with the 
 bank or factory through which collections are to be made; the 
 other copy in every case goes to the war chest office. 
 
 Detroit, instead of having a separate pledge card for each 
 employee within a factory, had simply a sheet with an appro- 
 
 85 
 
priate pledge form at the top, authorizing the employer to 
 deduct the face of the pledge. Below there was space for 
 names and addresses. This plan made it possible for employ- 
 ees to see what their fellov/s had done and readily centered 
 attention upon any who refused to subscribe or subscribed in 
 meagre amounts. In a city, however, which does not intend 
 to use the Detroit underwriting plan, there are serious disad- 
 vantages in this method, and its only value in such cases comes 
 from its usefulness for purposes of exerting moral pressure in 
 the direction of subscribing and subscribing adequately. 
 
 Some pledge forms are so unique that they call for separate 
 mention. Deer Lodge County war chest fund, with headquar- 
 ters at Anaconda, Montana, had a card providing space at top 
 for name, address, telephone number, factory number, occupa- 
 tion, place of business, whether married or single, and number 
 of dependents. Beneath was a pledge form with four options — • 
 the amount to be deducted by employer, agreement to pay at the 
 war chest headquarters, authorization to a bank to make pay- 
 ment, agreement to pay through a union. The space for signa- 
 ture was below and then blanks for recording Liberty bond pur- 
 chases up to the twentieth issue, also for war saving stamps, 
 and a space for remarks. At the bottom of the card there was 
 recorded the division, district supervisor, the captain, and the 
 lieutenant who took the pledge. The back of the card was a 
 ledger form. 
 
 Boyd County, with headquarters at Ashland, Ky., had a 
 pledge in the shape of a booklet, the front cover of which carried 
 a pledge form with date, residence and business 'phones, resi- 
 dence and business addresses, witness, and number. The back 
 page had authorization to the employer to substitute a coupon 
 each month for that part of his pay which the individual had 
 subscribed, and an authorization to a bank to honor one of the 
 coupons each month. The inside of the booklet was a sheet 
 of coupons on which the amount of the payment and the number 
 could be stamped. This could be left with the employer to put 
 in pay envelopes as a substitute for part of the subscriber's 
 wages, or could be left with the bank to enclose with his state- 
 ment, or could be taken by the subscriber who paid direct to 
 the war chest office. 
 
 Nutley, N. J., conducted a mail solicitation and the pledge 
 form was on a postcard which carried the subscriber's name, 
 address and a list of amounts, around one of which the sub- 
 scriber might draw a circle to indicate the amount of his sub- 
 scription. 
 
 A great many had separate forms for individual subscrib- 
 ers, employees, bank pledge cards, union cards, percentage 
 cards, etc., some cities having as many as six or seven forms, 
 becoming very complex indeed. Generally speaking, both from 
 
 86 
 
the point of view of handling supplies and from the points of 
 view of economy and public understanding, it is better to have 
 as few forms as possible. 
 
 A few cities had a special form known as the employer's 
 equal giving card. That used by Attleboro read: "Beginning 
 June 1, 1918 we hereby agree to deposit weekly with the Attle- 
 boro war chest all money deducted by us from our employees 
 wages on account of war chest pledges, together with an equal 
 amount as this company's contribution to the fund. We will 
 endeavor to secure a pledge from each person in our employ 
 now and those we may employ for the duration of this agree- 
 ment, furnishing the war chest office with a list of the names 
 and total amount paid weekly." As pointed out elsewhere, 
 this pledge has the weakness of making the employer's pay- 
 ments vary, a practice which does not facilitate clear or simple 
 bookkeeping. One or two cities, notably Burlington, Iowa, in- 
 corporated in their pledge form, which was presented to em- 
 ployees, a statement that the subscription was conditional on 
 the subscription by the employer of an amount equal to the 
 total subscripion of all his employees. 
 
 Springfield, Mass., had the employer retain the pledge 
 cards of his employees and send to the war chest a letter of 
 advice giving a list of the contributors and amounts. This 
 letter of advice was made in duplicate and contained an agree- 
 ment ''to use our best efforts to collect these pledges and remit 
 monthly to the treasurer" with the understanding, however, 
 that "liability is limited to the safe transmission of the funds 
 collected by us and that no responsibility for the payment of 
 the pledges is assumed by us." The actual pledge card was sent 
 to the war chest office only when the employee left his service. 
 
 Three or four cities, notably Mitchell, South Dakota, and 
 Racine, Wisconsin, incorporated in the pledge form an affirma- 
 tion either that the pledge was not less than the individuaFs 
 fair share or that the subscription amounted at least to a cer- 
 tain percentage of income. 
 
 There are just two or three things that experience has 
 indicated ought to be carefully avoided in making up pledge 
 cards and which, though in themselves trivial, may cause a good 
 deal of trouble. In the first place, do not use blue pledge cards 
 because of the difficulty of reading them. One city which used 
 that color reported many dollars lost as a result of wasted time. 
 In the second place many pledge cards fail to make absolutely 
 clear whether the amount which the subscriber enters is the 
 amount of a monthly payment or the total amount of the pledge ; 
 for example, one pledge card read as follows — "I agree to pay 
 
 monthly for one year to the treasurer the sum of dollars. 
 
 I agree to make my payments monthly, quarterly, semi-annually." 
 Many subscribers put the monthly amount in the blank, many 
 others put the yearly amount in the blank, the result being that 
 
 87 
 
it was impossible to tell what any individual subscriber actually- 
 intended. In every case the pledge card should state distinctly 
 the total amount of the pledge and the method of payment. It 
 is not necessary that it should state the amount to be paid at 
 each installment. Some cities have urged that more will be 
 subscribed if the total does not appear. If that augument ap- 
 pears sound, communities ought to provide a separate card for 
 each manner of payment — whether monthly, quarterly or semi- 
 annual — otherwise many will agree to pay five dollars but 
 despite everything will neglect to state whether it is five dollars 
 annually, quarterly or monthly. In the third place it is very 
 wise indeed to have the solicitor re-write the name of the sub- 
 scriber, though he may not write any better than the sub- 
 scriber the chances of reading a name which is almost illegible 
 are better if you have two copies from which to guess. 
 
 A suggested pledge form follows : 
 
 Name . Clock No _. 
 
 Employer _ Installment $.. 
 
 Total Payable $ 'Phone 
 
 Address ...» Method _ 
 
 (Do not write above this line.) 
 
 As evidence of my interest in the work of the war auxiliary agencies, 
 and in consideration of the gifts of others, I agree to pay the total sum of 
 
 _ dollars to the Treasurer, within the period of one year in 
 
 ^qual installments, payable 
 
 annually ( ) 
 
 semi-annually ( ) (Mark X the manner of payment 
 
 quarterly ( ) you prefer.) 
 
 monthly ( ) 
 
 I hereby authorize the Executive Committee to expend my subscription 
 in accordance with the by-laws of the War Chest Association. 
 
 Signature _ 
 
 Residence 'Phone „ - Home address 
 
 Obtained by _ Firm name of Employer 
 
 Team No - _ Employer's business address. 
 
 Clock No 
 
 (Solicitor must print subscriber's name on above line.) 
 88 
 
COUPON 1. 
 
 I hereby authorize and request my employer to deduct equal install- 
 ments of the above pledge four times each month until the full amount has 
 been paid. 
 
 Name _ _ „ 
 
 (To be retained by employer.) Address ..- 
 
 Clock No 
 
 (Reverse side to carry ruled ledger form with 48 spaces.) 
 
 COUPON 2. 
 
 I hereby authorize the Bank to honor official receipts 
 
 for a total of.. _ - , payable each month in equal installments. 
 
 Name .._ _ _ 
 
 (To be retained by bank.) Address 
 
 'Phone - - 
 
 (Reverse side to carry ruled spaces for bank to check 12 payments. 
 
 COUPON 3 (County form) 
 
 I agree to pay the above pledges promptly on the first of each month 
 
 at 
 
 Name _ 
 
 Addre s s _ _ „ 
 
 'Phone _ 
 
 Designated Gifts. 
 
 One of the most frequently used arguments against the 
 war chest has been that persons have interests in individual or- 
 ganizations and that in consequence they will not heartily sup- 
 port a war chest. The executive manager of the Massachusetts 
 Committee of Public Safety argued as follows : 
 
 "Tom Jones may well wish to invest every dollar he can afford for 
 the benefit of the Y. M. C. A., while Charles Smith is equally anxious 
 that every bit of his savings go to forward the work of the Red Cross, 
 Knights of Columbus, the Young Men's Hebrew Association, or kin- 
 dred organizations. It is human nature for a man or woman to wish 
 to have something to say about where his money goes and just what 
 it is to be used for when he contributes it, * * * Therefore, if my 
 supposition is correct, people would contribute very much less through 
 the war chest than they would directly." 
 
 Mr. L. Wilbur Messer of the Chicago Y. M. C. A., stated that 
 under the war chest plan a man could not order his money 
 
''used for a special cause in which he is particularly interested. 
 He will merely contribute to a nebulous blanket of so-called 
 'good causes'." 
 
 The argument is really that the war chest has neglected 
 to understand the sentimental side of the matter of giving, that 
 the war chest movement overlooks the fact that the various 
 agencies have each their own constituencies, that there are some 
 people whose main interest is in the Red Cross, others who as 
 Catholics prefer to give their all to the Knights of Columbus, 
 etc. 
 
 So far as can be ascertained this argument has never pre- 
 tended to rest upon concrete experience but has always been 
 based upon a chain of reasoning from analogy, from psychology, 
 at all events never on anything save a theoretical foundation. 
 In the course of the investigation which is the basis of this 
 report a bona fide endeavor was made to gather the experience 
 of cities in this matter. 
 
 The results of that effort have been to demonstrate in the 
 first place that the indictment was drawn with too sweeping 
 a hand. It is by no means true that all cities prohibited the 
 designation of gifts. Many cities recognized this factor and 
 made provision for it. Detroit was particularly explicit. Its 
 publicity contained the following statement : "Subscribers may 
 designate the war or local organization to be benefited by their 
 contributions and the proportion each is to receive." And in 
 its "question and answer" publicity there appeared the follow- 
 ing: "Can the giver designate the organizations to which he 
 wishes to give? Yes." Cairo, Illinois, instructed those who 
 had objections to contributing money to any one or more organ- 
 izations included in the list to make their wishes known to the 
 board of control. Lexington, Mass., instructed its solicitors to 
 the effect that, while monthly pledges were preferred without 
 restrictions, if a member of the war chest association desired 
 to give to a special object he might write it on the pledge. 
 Northampton, Mass., in its publicity instructions said subscrib- 
 ers "can designate one or more objects where their contribu- 
 tions are to be used." Other cities while not so explicit in 
 advertising the matter, leaving the initiative in the matter of 
 designating a gift with the interested individual, did permit it 
 without objection. Still others, though they advised against it, 
 permitted it. For example, Nutley, N. J., had a line on the 
 pledge card marked "special", to be used by the subscriber "for 
 limitations to be put on the use of the subscriber's money — such 
 as 'for Red Cross only', 'for Y. M. C. A. or K. of C. only,' or 
 such limitations as *not to be used for Y. W. C. A.,' 'not to be 
 used for Red Cross or Boy Scouts, etc' Do not accept such 
 limitations on subscriptions if you can avoid it. This provision 
 is only made to be used in the event that a subscriber will not 
 
 90 
 
make a regular unlimited subscription." These serve as fairly 
 typical examples of the different practices which have been 
 adopted in cities which permitted the designation of gifts. 
 
 Rather than make any general statement about this mat- 
 ter it is deemed best to repeat at his point exactly what each 
 city reported on the subject in response to the question whether 
 designated gifts were permitted, and, if so, what was their 
 number and their value. Ambridge, Pa., replied "not many"; 
 Ashland, Ky., 'Very few — too small to notice" ; Attleboro, Mass., 
 "7900 pledges — three (one a national bank) designated, amount- 
 ing to $1800 cut of a total of $140,000." ; Billings, Mont., $5,000 
 designated by ten or twelve subscribers out of a war chest 
 amounting to $150,000; Burlington, Iowa, $100 designated; 
 Butte, Mont., "less than five per. cent."; Cairo, 111., "none"; 
 Dayton, 0., "number small, amount insignificant" ; Detroit 
 "certainly not over $100,000 in a war chest of $10,500,000."; 
 Granville, N. Y., "three gifts, $125.00 monthly"; Janesville, 
 Wis., "small per cent." ; Lexington, Mass.. "about ten, value less 
 than $500 out of a total of $63,000"; Lockport, N. Y., "very 
 few" ; Meriden "It will not amount to over 5:% of the total sub- 
 scriptions taken," part of this being national bank subscrip- 
 tions. Northampton, Mass., "not two per cent, of subscribers 
 designated the object"; Philadelphia, perhaps half a million out 
 about twenty millions, due to certain corporations and banks — 
 small in number not over one hundred cards being designated 
 out of about 600,000 subscribers ; Pittsfield, Mass., "not many — 
 will not reach 5%."; Osage City, Kan., $100 out of a total of 
 $21,00. Roanoke, Va., sent the following schedule: 
 
 For Red Cross, 
 
 . • 
 
 $ 8,098.02 
 
 For Y. M. C. A., 
 
 
 1,487.34 
 
 For Y. W. C. A., 
 
 
 426.96 
 
 For Associated Charities, 
 
 
 496.47 
 
 For Salvation Army, 
 
 
 547.80 
 
 For City Hospital, 
 
 
 5,057.64 
 
 For Colored Hospital, 
 
 
 122.00 
 
 For Free Medical Dispensary, 
 
 
 56.00 
 
 For Play Grounds, 
 
 
 1.00 
 
 For Travelers' Aid, 
 
 
 15.64 
 
 For War Camp Fund, 
 
 
 15.50 
 
 For Visiting Nurses' Association, 
 
 6.00 
 
 For Knights of Columbus (37 pledges). 
 
 390.83 
 
 Against Knights of Columbus 
 
 (28 pledges), 
 
 604.00 
 
 For Causes unable to apportion amounts, 
 
 1,750.00 
 
 Unconditional pledges, 
 
 
 212,225.87 
 
 
 $231,301.07 
 
 91 
 
Salem, Mass., answered *'none"; Savannah, Ga., *Very few, 
 value $5,000 out of a total of $310,000 ; Sheboygan ''some for 
 Red Cross only" ; Tonawanda, ''value $24.00 a year out of total 
 of $202,500."; Toledo, "extremely small, both as to number and 
 amount"; York, Pa., about 12 out of 15,000 subscribers, with a 
 total value of about $1,500 out of $400,000. 
 
 Cities which largely ignored the matter were Rome, N. Y., 
 in which no gifts were designated, Springfield, Mass., in which 
 perhaps $10,000 was designated, and Utica, N'. Y., in which both 
 number and amount were small. A number of other cities 
 which do not report whether or not designated gifts were for- 
 bidden, state that none were received. Among these are Che- 
 mung, N. Y., Coschocton, Ohio, Elkhart, Ind., Ely, Minn., Keno- 
 sha, Wis., Lansing, Mich., Newberry, Mich., Oswego, N. Y., and 
 Sycamore, 111. 
 
 One or two cities reported that they prohibited such gifts 
 and that some slight friction resulted. Vevay, Indiana, writes : 
 "We had three persons in the county that wanted their contri- 
 butions applied to the Red Cross only. We accepted |their 
 money on that condition, value $36.00." Lambertville, N. J., 
 reported that several large sums were contributed direct to the 
 Red Cross. Salem, Mass., reported that several people said 
 they would give to the individual agencies, and an effort is now 
 being made to discover whether they did as they said they would 
 or simply used this as an excuse. 
 
 It must be remembered in the cases of all the cities that 
 national banks are required to designate their gifts for the 
 Red Cross and the statistics above include many such cases 
 beside those which are specifically noted in the text. 
 
 Recognizing the incomplete and rough character of this 
 sort of a tabulation it remains, nevertheless, the best it has been 
 possible to make and appears to contain whatever there is of 
 data available which is based on actual experience. Impartial 
 scrutiny can lead to no other conclusion than that the theoreti- 
 cal arguments on the subject appear to lack confirmation in ex- 
 perience. On the contrary instead of indications that the mass 
 of people are interested in specific organizations we find it to 
 be more true that they are interested in the work rather than 
 in the organizations to which the work chances to be committed, 
 that they are concerned about the results rather than the agen- 
 cies which are to bring them about, that the welfare of the 
 soldier, physical, mental, and moral, is more in their minds than 
 the problem of which precise instrument shall carry forward 
 the ministry to that welfare. As one individual put it, "It is 
 undeniable that the Red Cross and Young Men's Christian As- 
 sociation had no such clienteles before the war as now are con- 
 tributing to the support of war work. The present body of 
 givers cannot be regarded as the clientele of any organization. 
 
 92 
 
They are the clientele of the American soldier. These agencies 
 are deriving their immensely increased support from the public, 
 not because of their individual merits but because they are of- 
 ficially endorsed by the Government as the instruments which 
 it has selected to assist in the maintenance of the morale of the 
 American army." While one may quarrel with that statement 
 of the case the root idea beneath it seems, in the light of exper- 
 ience, to be essentially sound. These agencies are appealing 
 to a new public. The smaller ones never reached more than an 
 imperceptible portion of the public before. The Knights of 
 Columbus never engaged in public solicitation before. The Red 
 Triangle appeals now to a vastly wider and largely different 
 public and for new and broader purposes than ever before. 
 Even the Red Cross never before approached the great mass 
 of people who have now become contributors. No one of these 
 agencies therefore, despite its breadth and size before the war, 
 places its main reliance upon its old clientele. 
 
 The experience in war chest cities would seem to indicate 
 that men and women find themselves puzzled by the multiplicity 
 of calls and recognize the fact that among agencies equally en- 
 dorsed by the highest officials of the nation they are not in- 
 dividually competent to discriminate as to relative values and 
 consequent need for support. 
 
 The arguments in question have a tendency to imply that 
 these agencies are competing. Certainly that would be most 
 unfortunate. It is true that all these agencies with direct gov- 
 ernmental endorsement are engaged in a work which has in 
 final analysis an identical aim, namely, the maintenance and 
 development of morale and the consequent upbuilding of the 
 efficiency of the fighting forces. But the Red Cross does not do 
 the work assigned to the Fosdick Com.mission. Within that 
 commission the tasks assigned to the Library Association and 
 those assigned to the War Camp Community Service and to the 
 Young Women's Christian Association are quite distinct. It is 
 true that the Young Men's Christian Association, the Knights 
 of Columbus, the Jewish W^elfare League, and the Salvation 
 Army are engaged in much the same work but they ought not 
 to be presented to the public as competitors. All have govern- 
 mental endorsement. The Salvation Army, though not under 
 the Fosdick Commission, had a letter from the President of the 
 LTnited States expressing his admiration for the work it had 
 done and his sincere "hope that it may be fully sustained." 
 Moreover much emphasis is put upon the cordial relations and 
 cooperation among these agencies. The Jewish work is being 
 carried forward in France as a branch of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association. The huts of the Knights of Columbus 
 and Young Men's Christian Association are open to the workers 
 of both. When their drives for money have been going for- 
 
ward they have exchanged speakers in many communities and it 
 is demonstrable that Protestants have contributed liberally to 
 the Knights of Columbus and Catholics to the Red Triangle. 
 In short, the common aim of all these organizations, the common 
 endorsement of all these organizations, and the broad catholicity 
 of spirit engendered by the war have all operated to break down 
 ancient prejudices so far that experiences, even outside of war 
 chest cities, has demonstrated that the argument in question is 
 unsound. 
 
 In view of all these things it is not surprising that prejudice 
 did not prove so strong as arguments from theory made it ap- 
 pear or that the people were unwilling to turn over the matter 
 of apportioning their gifts to an impartial and broadly repre- 
 sentative body. 
 
 Of course it must be recognized that prejudice has occa- 
 sionally made itself felt. In the fall of 1917 the disbursement 
 committee of the Syracuse War Chest made an appropriation 
 for the Knights of Columbus. Certain elements protested vig- 
 orously. A candid statement was made through the press by 
 Mr. D. E. Petit, the treasurer of the fund, and the agitation 
 subsided. As some gauge of the extent of the dissatisfaction 
 it may be pointed out that in its second campaign the amount 
 subscribed was more than double that of the first year. This 
 indicates that the whole question had ceased to agitate the pub- 
 lic mind. In another city different methods produced different 
 results. A policy of silence and refusal to explain allowed the 
 agitation to develop until it reached large proportions. Much 
 must depend upon the personnel of those in charge and upon 
 the tact and wisdom of their presentation of the question. 
 
 The conclusion which has been reached from the study of 
 the material on this topic is that the question is not so serious 
 as has often been supposed. Nevertheless it seems wise not to 
 prohibit the designation of gifts, while not on the other hand 
 encouraging them. The reasons for this conclusion are that it 
 destroys the excuse of the person who would like to use the 
 argument about designating where his money shall go in order 
 to avoid giving anything; in the second place, however few 
 there may be who have a distinct preference or prejudice, it is 
 their money which is being given, and while it is proper to 
 point out to them that the practice is not wholly desirable their 
 wishes ought to be respected; and in the third place, since the 
 amount is almost invariably small, it does not undulj?" compli- 
 cate the bookkeeping. It is perhaps not generally recognized 
 that much the same practice prevails in the matter of giving to 
 the Red Cross, that a person may, in making his subscription 
 to the Red Cross, designate the manner in which it is to be used, 
 but the results indicate that the experience of the Red Cross is 
 much the sam.e as in the case of the war chests. 
 
 94 
 
Competition. 
 
 It is usually believed and is unquestionably true that com- 
 petition of one sort or other is one of the most certain methods 
 of securing a large community gift. Some few cities reported 
 that they made no effort to have a contest of any kind on the 
 ground that there was no need to stimulate giving through 
 competition because the citizens of the community had been so 
 thoroughly roused to the needs created by the war. Among 
 these are some successful war chests but the most successful 
 ones are almost invariably those which have paid the most at- 
 tention to the matter of stimulating competition. 
 
 Competition may be of several sorts. The first kind is a 
 team competition. This is by no means universal but has been 
 made the keynote in certain instances, notably in Springfield, 
 Mass., where a great effort was made to render the competition 
 between the teams fair by careful rating, by impartial assign- 
 ment of prospect cards, and by the development of separate 
 groups — the Navy for the large givers, the Home Guard for the 
 persons in the home, the Army for the industrial givers, etc. — 
 each team competing only with the teams in its own group. 
 Thus at the cost of great pains the competitive feature was 
 given freest rein and the results were extraordinary in pro- 
 ducing close competition. 
 
 Many cities added to the team competition a factory com- 
 petition. Under this plan an effort was made to induce the 
 several departments to engage in rivalry to see which could 
 get the highest percentage of its members enrolled and a special 
 card was given to each department which secured 100% enroll- 
 ment, and sometimes a card for 75% enrollment or better. Like- 
 v/ise between factories the percentage of enrollment competi- 
 tion was stimulated. This has worked out as one of the very 
 best methods of securing pledges, and the results in cities like 
 Rochester, Utica and Columbus were nothing short of extraor- 
 dinary, as many as 97% of all the workers in some cities having 
 pledged to contribute to the war chest. The result has been in 
 many cases that of all the groups who participated in war chest 
 giving the industrial employees have done more in proportion to 
 their means than any other. 
 
 Several cities extended this type of competition to stores, 
 to newspaper offices, to public utilities, and in fact to any es- 
 tablishment where a group of people v.^as employed. As far as 
 possible various concerns which have a natural rivalry already 
 were thrown into competition by means of public bulletin boards 
 and subscriptions stimulated in that fashion. 
 
 Most of these schemes for devolping rivalry use a percen- 
 tage basis, rather than the amount pledged, as the keynote of 
 competition. In Albany, for example, this type of competition 
 was carried into the homes division, each major tried to see to 
 
 95 
 
it that his ward had a larger percentage of population enrolled 
 than any other. The emphasis was not put upon amounts, be- 
 cause of the differences in wealth in various parts of the city, 
 which would make that an unfair basis for competitive effort. 
 Toledo, Ohio, atte;:npted to reach something like the same result 
 by means of assigning each ward a quota. The competition 
 consisted in an effort to be the first to reach the assigned quota 
 and after that to oversubscribe the most liberally. This did not 
 work out as well as was expected. 
 
 Rochester succeeded in combining factory competition on 
 a percentage basis with team competition on the basis of 
 amounts raised, because of the care that was exercised in assign- 
 ing plants to teams in such fashion that each team had an equal 
 number of prospects, of a value equal to those of every other 
 team. This has the advantage that it stimulates not only uni- 
 versal giving but universal giving on a sacrificial scale. When- 
 ever competition can reasonably be put on a basis of amounts, 
 it produces larger giving as well as practically universal giving. 
 
 War chests which cover a number of towns have found it 
 advisable to have a competition among comm.unities embraced. 
 The war chest of Lewis County, New York, for example, gave a 
 banner to the town which first oversubscribed its quota. Phil- 
 adelphia had a flag competition between the various divisions 
 and counties. Each was given a quota and whenever that quota 
 was reached, a flag was awarded and for every 25% over-sub- 
 scription, a shield was attached to the flag. This was on the 
 same principle, of course, as honor flags in third Liberty loan. 
 
 In view of the experience of cities, it seems that an effort 
 should be made to have competition between teams in the homes 
 division on the basis of percentage of population enrolled. This 
 involves careful differentiation of the population of the homes 
 division from the total population in the area because of the 
 fact that many are reached in the industrial campaign. This 
 should be done only if it cannot be done without a great deal 
 of difficulty. Without a complete system of prospect cards or 
 at least a census, it is virtually impossible. Not enough money 
 is received from this division to m.ake it worth while going into 
 difficult and expensive competition in order to stimulate a con- 
 test in amounts. Usually there is no way in which, under the 
 system outlined above, a fair quota can be fixed for the different 
 wards covered by the homes division inasmuch as so many peo- 
 ple will be reached away from home that it would be necessary 
 to rate the stay-at-homes in order to reach such a quota. 
 
 As to other divisions, it is worth while to spend a great deal 
 of effort to stimulate rivalries through a percentage competition 
 and so gain a maximum number of subscribers; and also to 
 assign prospects on the Rochester, or Springfield, or some ana- 
 logous plan so that there will be a competition in amounts, as 
 well, for this stimulates large giving. 
 
 96 
 
Use of Pressure. 
 
 A discussion of the use of pressure belongs rather in a 
 treatise on campaign ethics than a report on war chest prac- 
 tice. It becomes necessary to deal with the subject because the 
 war chest makes the use of pressure easier and more justifiable. 
 The use of pressure becomes easier because of the possibility, 
 through concentration of effort, of building an intensive cam- 
 paign so that every individual can be reached, and can be reach- 
 ed in the company of his fellows, who if it seems desirable can 
 exert pressure. There is no question that in many cases pres- 
 sure has been used. In one city in some factories where only 
 one or two individuals refused to give, their associates demand- 
 ed their discharge and struck to enforce their demand. In an- 
 other instance a man was compelled by social pressure to leave 
 his employment. The matter went so far in one city that a few 
 of those who refused to subscribe were given a coat of yellow 
 paint, and rumor has it that elsewhere tar and feathers were 
 resorted to. 
 
 These instances are not typical — they are extreme — but 
 they illustrate the fact that under the war chest plan pressure 
 can be used if it meets the judgment of the committee and the 
 desires of the subscribers. 
 
 To condemn the war chest on the basis of such extreme 
 manifestations would be absurd because it would overlook en- 
 tirely the fact that other cities operating under the war chest 
 principle show equally extreme instances of refusal to use pres- 
 sure. An illustration in point is the warning given solicitors 
 in Terre Haute, quoted elsewhere, that they must not be found 
 even making a suggestion as to what any individual should do. 
 Coshocton, Ohio, specifically warned the solicitors that "no in- 
 timidation or coercion should be attempted" and stated "It is 
 desired to reiterate what has frequently been explained that 
 there are cases where people should be excused entirely from 
 giving because of financial distress or other extraordinary rea- 
 sons." The point under discussion is simply that the highly 
 organized character which the war chest may assume makes 
 it possible to use pressure if that is the desire of the community. 
 
 At the same time the war chest plan makes the use of 
 pressure more justifiable or more nearly justifiable, whichever 
 statement one may prefer. The question whether pressure is 
 ever justifiable in an effort to rouse people to giving is one of 
 opinion. Each moralist will settle the matter positively for 
 himself but for no one else. This report makes no effort to 
 express a judgment on that topic. It is concerned merely to 
 this extent that if pressure is ever justifiable it is proper in the 
 case of a war chest. If a man refuses to give to one agency 
 conducting a drive, on the ground that he prefers to give to 
 another organization, it is very difficult under those circum- 
 
 97 
 
stances to justify the use of pressure to compel him to give. 
 On the other hand, when under the war chest plan all patriotic 
 solicitations are merged, there is not the same reason why pres- 
 sure should not be used to induce a niggard to loosen his purse 
 strings, particularly if his prejudice is so far catered to as to 
 allow him to designate the use to which his gift may be put. 
 After all, these agencies come to the public with government 
 endorsement as vital to the effective conduct of the war. In a 
 sense, therefore, contribution to their support is a part of pa- 
 triotic duty. Contribution to Siiiy specific one of them is not a 
 part of patriotic duty but contribution to some of them certainly 
 is. The war chest calls upon a man to give to some few or 
 some one of them. It is a call, therefore, to performance of 
 patriotic duty. Surely, if pressure is ever justifiable in the 
 matter of giving it is under these circumstances. 
 
 It is extremely difficult to draw clear lines between rivalry, 
 stimulus, and pressure. Because of its efficient organization 
 and its broad character, rivalry is intensified under the war 
 chest, enthusiasm with its consequent stimulus is greater than 
 ever before, and pressure of that character as w^ell as of a moral 
 sort is, broadly speaking, greater than under the drive system. 
 
 The channels through which pressure, apart from that 
 spontaneously engendered by rivalry, manifests itself are chiefly 
 through the work of the revision committee and the publication 
 of names. 
 
 In one city those who had clearly failed to measure up to 
 their responsibilities were asked to visit the executive committee 
 in order that there might be a frank discussion of the matter. 
 This serves as a fairly typical example of the work done in 
 perhaps a dozen cities by bodies variously known as "headquar- 
 ters committee", "executive committee", or "the wrecking 
 crew." The methods of these committees vary from the most 
 thoroughly patient and helpful discussion with a view to open- 
 ing the eyes of the subscriber to his duty, to something perilous- 
 ly close to strong arm methods. It is absolutely impossible to 
 dogmatize about this practice because the differences in degree 
 are so great that they amount to differences in kind. 
 
 The second channel of pressure is through the publication 
 of names. This practice is not original with or peculiar to the 
 war chest. A great many war chest officials violently disap- 
 prove of the practice. It is probably fair to say the majority 
 disapproves. On the other hand, some committees in charge 
 of drives use this method. For example, the names of all the 
 subscribers to the second Red Cross War Fund in New Haven 
 are published together with the amounts. 
 
 The basis for this, whether used in a drive for a separate 
 agency or for the war chest, is that the publication of names 
 brings pressure only upon those whom it will ultimately benefit 
 by initiating them into the practice of giving. Committees 
 
 98 
 
often feel furthermore that in time of war people ought to be 
 willing to 'stand up and be counted' and frequently a war chest 
 is run with that as its slogan. 
 
 In one city the problem was stated this way: 
 
 "The question is whether you have reached the point where there 
 are no slackers. In some cities — for example, Toronto, Canada, — • 
 there would be no practical value in publishing names because the 
 community has become so thoroughly absorbed in the war that anyone 
 not wholly in sympathy has long since been brought into the open. 
 In most American cities, however, there are still a number who need 
 to have the nature and extent of their obligations brought home to 
 them with somewhat more vigor than they have yet had." 
 
 It must be said too that part of the objection to this prac- 
 tice rests upon the fact that large givers who in times before 
 the war allowed their names to be published inevitably found 
 themselves put on the ''sucker lists" of various charitable ap- 
 peals, and thus there developed a prejudice against the publica- 
 tion of either names or amounts. The objection on this score 
 does not apply with anything like equal force in time of war 
 because there are other considerations which are very much 
 more important. 
 
 One other thing ought to be said. So far as cities have 
 reported, none which adopted the practice of publishing names 
 would do otherwise in another campaign. On the other hand, 
 several cities which did not follow this idea, though they met 
 with success, said nevertheless that were they to campaign again, 
 names would be published. 
 
 Those who had charge of the war chest in Rochester, N. Y., 
 feel that this was one of the strongest features of their cam- 
 paign and that while there was a good deal of complaint at 
 the outset it speedily disappeared. Hudson Falls, N. Y., found 
 also that it became the source of some objection, particularly 
 because some few were too modest to have their names publish- 
 ed. Those, however, who objected most vigorously were those 
 who did not wish to do their share and the committee felt that 
 the publication of names and amounts was one of the most val- 
 uable features of their effort. Salem, Mass., published the 
 names and amounts and found the chief complaint came from 
 those who did not give what they ought. They found, on the 
 other hand, that certain of their larger contributors complained 
 at the outset, but on having it pointed out to them that by allow- 
 ing it they were helping to smoke out shirkers their opposition 
 was withdrawn. Lynn, Mass., decided upon this plan at the 
 last moment after many pledges had been taken. Some people 
 telephoned in and withdrew their pledges. The war fund asso- 
 ciation returned those subscriptions without comment. The 
 committee in charge feel, however, that fully ten times as much 
 
 99 
 
as was lost came in because the names of the givers were pub- 
 lished together with the amounts which they subscribed. Glens 
 Falls, N. Y., published each day a list of all the givers and the 
 amounts. It is believed there that they did not lose a single 
 subscriber, rather that they gained greatly both in numbers 
 and amounts. The directors, therefore, are substantially unan- 
 imous in the statement that it was a wise policy though at first 
 some of them opposed it with vigor. Albany decided to publish 
 the names and amounts after the campaign was launched. 
 There were some who objected but none withdrew their sub- 
 scriptions. On the contrary, after it became known that names 
 and amounts would be published a large number of people be- 
 sieged the war chest office in person and by telephone to in- 
 crease their subscriptions. 
 
 Frequently it is argued that this practice bears with un- 
 equal weight upon those who cannot give largely and who feel 
 some stigma attaching to them when their names are published 
 with meagre amounts after them. In practice — if reports from 
 the various cities are to be trusted — there was no objection on 
 the part of the small givers. In practically ever instance con- 
 tributors of this class took to the plan because they realized that 
 while they gave less it w^as often more in proportion than some 
 of the larger contributions and they knew that their associates 
 would recognize that fact. 
 
 A number of cities did not publish all names and amounts 
 but only those of the larger subscribers. This was not done in 
 order to make an invidious distinction or even because of fear 
 lest the small givers be mortified, but because of the physical 
 problem involved. It was found to be practically impossible to 
 get space enough to publish all names and amounts. Further- 
 more, they believed that the smaller givers did not need this 
 sort of stimulus inasmuch as they were subjected to sufficient 
 pressure through the desire of their fellows to have 100% fac- 
 tories or stores. Cities which followed this practice were, for 
 example, Cleveland, which published the names and amounts of 
 all who gave over $100.00; Detroit, which published the names 
 and amounts of all who gave $500.00 or more ; and Toledo which 
 published the names of those who gave largely. 
 
 Still other cities have adopted the plan of publishing the 
 names and amounts, not during the drive, but after it is over. 
 For the most part this is done simply because of the physical 
 problem involved, since pledges pour in at such a rate that it is 
 impossible to list them accurately for publication and because 
 of the fact that they take too much expensive space in the news- 
 papers. The only argument beyond that arising from the 
 physical problem is that publication of names after the cam- 
 paign includes only those who have fulfilled their pledges in 
 some measure at least and so gives credit only to those who have 
 demonstrated their good faith. 
 
 100 
 
A number of cities published simply the names but not the 
 amounts, on the ground that publication of amounts gave ad- 
 vertising to the large people and made invidious distinctions 
 between them and smaller givers, and also on the ground that 
 the publication of amounts encouraged a tendency to gossip as 
 to the size of the contribution of a given individual who was 
 popularly supposed to have more money than he actually had 
 and might result in some unnecessary humiliation. Cities which 
 published the amounts feel that these arguments do not apply 
 so seriously as some presume, but this at least was the basis on 
 which many committees reasoned. 
 
 A modification of this plan is found in the use of the honor 
 roll, which was employed, for example, in the Red Cross drive 
 in Hartford. Under this plan the names of those who contrib- 
 ute in any given factory or store or office are posted conspic- 
 uously, sometimes with and sometimes without the amounts. 
 This is practically the same as the publication of names, be- 
 cause it advertises a person to his own public, and whereas in 
 a long list his name might be overlooked by his friends, this 
 Ijlan brings the absentee into conspicuous prominence among 
 those with whom he has day-to-day contact. Occasionally this 
 is used in addition to newspaper publicity; more frequently, as 
 a substitute. 
 
 Still another practice which has developed is the publishing 
 of names of those who refuse to give in a "slackers' list." This 
 has been threatened in a number of cases but has been done in 
 relatively few. Part of the explanation comes from the fact 
 that cities have usually been happily surprised at the small 
 number who refused to subscribe and have felt in consequence 
 that it was not worth while to publish their names. As one 
 prominent war chest advocate put it in a city where this was 
 threatened, "Why destroy the joy of thousands by publishing 
 the names of a couple of slackers? It is far better to keep that 
 word from being heard at all either during or after the cam- 
 paign and to lay the emphasis upon the number of our patriots 
 and to stimulate people in that way, than to lay the emphasis 
 upon those who are slackers and depend upon clubbing them." 
 
 Escanaba, Mich., published not only the names of those 
 who refused to contribute but also the names of those who 
 sought to pay less than they should. It is perfectly obvious 
 that the publication of the names of those who refuse to give 
 is a more delicate problem than the publishing of the names 
 and amounts of those who do give and to publish the names of 
 those who do not give all they should is a task more delicate 
 still. Certainly if either of these two latter plans is follo^ved — 
 and neither is advised — the list should be very carefully checked 
 over and the individuals in question should be given repeated 
 opportunity to subscribe, because so much depends upon the 
 
 101 
 
personality and approach of the solicitor that injustice may 
 very easily result. 
 
 One or two cities are planning to publish books. Lynn, 
 Mass., projected a plan — whether carried to consummation or 
 not has not been ascertained — by which a book was to be built 
 up on the basis of the city's patriotic census. Every person in 
 the city was to be listed together with what he gave to the war 
 chest, and a statement wheher he had bought T liberty Bonds and 
 War Savings Stamps, whether he was a member of the Red 
 Cross, and what patriotic work he was doing. Copies are to be 
 sent to all the soldiers and sailors from that city in order that 
 they may see just which people back hom.e are supporting their 
 efforts and to what extent. 
 
 There is just one other practice in this matter of the pub- 
 lication of names which requires a word of comment, namely, 
 the proposal of certain cities to publish the names of delinquents. 
 This, if it is done at all, must be done with the most extreme 
 care. Some people will unquestionably be delinquent justifi- 
 ably because of sickness, accident, unemployment, or other 
 causes, and a very careful process of checking up and a very 
 discriminatory judgment will be requisite before delinquents* 
 names are sent to the press. 
 
 In conclusion it seems inescapable that, inasmuch as every 
 city which has reported that it followed the practice of publish- 
 ing names and amounts endorses it as wise, and since criticisms 
 come only from cities which have not tested the plan, the idea 
 is not without merit if one is a convert to the use of pressure 
 in any form. If, however, the plan is adopted it should be 
 clearly stated well in advance of the campaign, the reasons 
 should be candidly set forth, no exceptions made in practice, 
 and promises rigidly fulfilled. 
 
 The publication of names without the amounts has by no 
 means the same value. It stimulates only in the direction of 
 producing a number of givers, not in the direction of produc- 
 ing adequate gifts. The use of the honor roll is an effective 
 substitute for, as well as a valuable adjunct to, newspaper pub- 
 licity. 
 
 Publication of names after the campaign is over is less use- 
 ful than publication contemporaneously, but has the counter- 
 vailing advantage of being a test of the sincerity of pledges if 
 published after a few payments have been made. In many 
 cases, especially in large cities, this plan will have to be follow- 
 ed if the names are to be published at all. 
 
 The publication of the names of those who refuse to con- 
 tribute is less likely to be fair and wise and the publication of 
 those 'who contribute less than they ought requires so much 
 judgment and such intimate knowledge of the personal con- 
 cerns of so many people, that it seems to be distincly unwise. 
 
 102 
 
Follow-up Subscriptions. 
 
 Industrial — The war chests in several cities, but by no 
 means in all, have a well-developed system of handling the prob- 
 lem of getting new subscribers in* conjunction with their schemes 
 for taking care of labor turn-over. It is not necessary to go into 
 this in any detail. Distinctly the best plan is to have a perma- 
 nent organization within each factory and store and a worth- 
 while 100% sign for each establishment as well as for each 
 department within it. When a new employee enters he is so- 
 licited, and if he fails to subscribe his department and his fac- 
 tory lose their 100% signs, which has a tendency to center at- 
 tention upon the individual who is unwilling to help. This sys- 
 tem has a tendency also to help take care of the labor turn-over 
 problem, because it is more certain to get a report of incoming 
 employees to the war chest. It has the value, moreover, that it 
 keeps the idea of the war chest alive and continuously refreshes 
 the sense of responsibility among the men. In som.e cities this 
 work is done through the offices where men seek employment. 
 A better plan, and one which has been adopted in one Connec- 
 ticut city, is to have that office simply ask as one of its questions 
 whether the man is a subscriber to the war chest and if not, 
 give him explanatory literature, but to leave the actual solicita- 
 tion to some fellow-employee in the department in which he is 
 to work. 
 
 Personal — There are three kinds of follow-up work in the 
 field of personal subscriptions : first, reaching those who enter 
 a community after one war chest campaign and before the next 
 one, in order that they may not be immune from giving for a 
 long period of time; second, reaching those who refuse to give 
 in the first campaign ; and, third, increasing the subscriptions of 
 those who gave but not in the proportion they should from a 
 social standpoint. 
 
 The first problem, that of reaching the people who enter 
 the community, is of some importance both in order that deaths 
 and removals may be offset, so that the war chest shall not fall 
 below its anticipated fund, and in order that the absence of 
 drives may not permit newcomers to fail to integrate them- 
 selves with the community of war givers. The methods which 
 have been adopted for this are various. One plan is to havq 
 a permanent organization in which some individual is made re- 
 sponsible for a group of homes. When a new family appears 
 {the is expected to report them promptly together with the new 
 address of the family that moved out, if obtainable. PeiTQa- 
 nent organization along this line has been worked out in greater 
 or less detail in Albany, Glens Falls, and Syracuse, N. Y., Coal- 
 dale, Pa., Lansing, Mich., Plymouth, Ind., and Osage City, Kan. 
 Other communities learn the names and addresses of newcomers 
 in this manner but the actual solicitation is done by mail. What 
 
 103 
 
the advantages of this plan are it is difficult to see; certainly 
 they are not obvious. 
 
 Still others reach these people by means of a special com- 
 mittee, sometimes called ''the vigilance committee." For ex- 
 ample, a boy scouts' census may be taken once in three months, 
 the boys going systematically street by street and listing the 
 numbers of houses in which there are no war chest window 
 cards. The houses are then checked up and the people seen 
 by a special committee. One city is using the boy scouts en- 
 tirely, not merely to take a survey of houses without war chest 
 v/indow cards, but also to make the solicitations in such cases. 
 This is not likely to produce large results, for while the boys 
 are arduous workers, they are not skillful salesmen. The re- 
 ply to this argument is that not much is produced in any event 
 and that the reasons for doing the work are chiefly moral rather 
 than financial. 
 
 Still other towns propose to have supplementary canvasses, 
 about six months after their original drives, to reach newcomers 
 and those who refused. Dayton, Ohio, plans to make such an 
 effort in order to round up newcomers and others. Melrose, 
 Mass., has already worked out plans for a supplementary cam- 
 paign in September. Salem, Mass., is doing this on a somewhat 
 elaborate basis. The committee has about two thousand re- 
 ports of persons who refused to subscribe, many of whom said 
 that they intended to give to specific agencies. After the oppor- 
 tunity to give to those agencies shall have passed, the commit- 
 tee proposes to check up to see whether or not they have done 
 as they proposed and then to go back to them as well as to many 
 others in case of their failure. 
 
 It is a much more difficult problem to deal with those who 
 have made subscriptions but w^ho have not given adequately. 
 Broadly speaking, where the campaign has been thoroughly 
 organized in advance these people should be dealt with so far as 
 they are to be reached at all at the time of the campaign rather 
 than afterwards. However, where sufficient preliminary work 
 has not been done the revision committee must check over the 
 subscribers when the campaign is complete and do the best it 
 can by means of special visitations to induce more adequate 
 gifts. 
 
 It is interesting to notice the estimates which those in 
 charge of war chests have put upon the number who have failed 
 to give and to give in proper amounts. Coaldale, Pa., reports 
 that there is only one man who though able to do so has not 
 contributed and that they propose to send committees to him at 
 intervals until he does subscribe. 
 
 Crawfordsville, Ind., estimates that two hundred who were 
 able to do so had not given and that others had not given as 
 much as they could. These were to be solicited by a committee 
 of twenty-one. Elwood figured that about three hundred peo- 
 
 104 , 
 
pie had not done their part and proposed to go after them by 
 systematic effort. Glens Falls, N. Y., estimated that less than 
 1% failed to contribute and the number being small no effort 
 will be made to reach them until the drive next year. Gran- 
 ville, N. Y., reported about one hundred who might have given 
 but did not do so. These are to be visited by a committee of 
 five influential citizens. Herkimer, N. Y., estimates about five 
 hundred, but believes that they are gradually falling into line 
 voluntarily as the war progresses and its realities come home to 
 them. Houghton, Mich., believes there are only twelve or four- 
 ten who contributed nothing though able to make gifts. They 
 will not be disturbed further. In some cases the Houghton 
 war chest received subscriptions smaller than it deemed proper. 
 In such a case the subscription was simply returned with a re- 
 quest for an increase in amount, which was complied with in 
 numerous cases. Janes ville. Wis., reports that about one in 
 twentj^-five did not contribute as they should and the commit- 
 tee proposes to go after them "with yellow paint." Ambridge, 
 Pa., reports not more than fifteen or twenty who failed to sub- 
 scribe and that those who gave less than they ought are so few 
 that nothing will be done until the next campaign. Lexington, 
 Mass., believes that about five hundred failed to contribute as 
 they should. Lowville, N. Y., estimates 1% and the committee 
 plans to do nothing further on the ground that ''they feel worse 
 than we do." Michigan City, Ind., says about 1% did not give 
 and they are to be followed through the press, by mail, and by 
 personal solicitation. The highest estimate comes from Roan- 
 oke, Va., where is is said that 30% who could have contributed 
 failed to do so. These are fair examples of the reports which 
 came in, though the list is not absolutely complete. 
 
 The temper of the methods to be employed in securing sup- 
 plementary pledges shows the most striking variation. In sev- 
 eral Western counties the names of those who refused to give 
 or give adequately have been turned over to the county council 
 of defense, which in many places is closely identified with and 
 in some cases identical with the war chests. One of the report 
 cards reads as follows : 
 
 ''To the Executive Committee of the War Work Committee of Licking 
 County: 
 
 We desire to report the name of , 
 
 address „ , for such action as may be 
 
 deemed advisable for conduct detrimental to the welfare of this 
 
 community and our country, in that he without reason refused to 
 
 give information for the survey, refused to buy Third Liberty 
 
 Bonds, refused to contribute to the War Chest, made unpatriotic 
 
 remarks." 
 
 There is then space for the names of two workers and the team 
 
 captain as well as the division leader, so that the report is 
 
 thoroughly checked up before being submitted. 
 
 105 
 
The number of war chests which are able to employ the 
 county council of defense is relatively small. Most depend for 
 the work upon a committee, frequently called the "vigilance 
 committee" or ''follow-up committee." 
 
 Mail solicitation is not at all uncommon. A sample of let- 
 ters used in this effort runs as follows, after the introductory 
 statement : 
 
 "Generally speaking, the contributions by citizens have been gen- 
 erous. There are some, however, who do not seem to have appreciated 
 either the importance of the work or its necessity. Those who do not 
 pay to this fund or who do not contribute their full share of the 
 amount which must be raised are simply shifting upon their neighbors 
 and friends the burden of their own duty. After carefully examining 
 all the information we have been able to obtain, we are unanimously 
 of the opinion that the amount offered by you is :^;iot the share of this 
 duty which should be borne by you. We are, however, extremely de- 
 sirous that no injustice should be done and that the name of no person 
 should be published in a way to bring adverse criticism either by 
 reason of failure to contribute or by the inadequacy of the contribu- 
 tion, and we earnestly request before any further action is taken on 
 our part that you meet with this committee at our offices * * * and 
 frankly discuss with us the pressing needs of our country and our city 
 and your ability to meet those needs with generous loyalty." 
 
 The committee in charge reported that this letter brought about 
 three hundred revisions amounting to S40,000 for the war chest. 
 Another letter of the sort runs. as follows: 
 
 "In looking over the monthly pledge cards and comparing yours 
 with hundreds of others we are impressed with the idea that either 
 you were not properly approached in the matter or that you do not 
 correctly comprehend the supreme importance of the project. 
 
 "We need not argue the necessity of sustaining the Y. M. C. A. 
 and the Red Cross. They are recognized institutions, more important 
 to the moral and physical welfare of our boys in khaki than any other 
 feature of army life, and the sustaining of them by each of us in 
 proportion to our ability should be considered a privilege as well as a 
 duty.* * * It is* the judgment of this committee that your monthly 
 
 contribution to the cause should be $ , instead of $ ^. 
 
 We trust you will concur with us in this. It means much to our 
 worthy cause, to our community, and to yourself as a loyal, patriotic 
 citizen. 
 
 "Will you therefore please sign the enclosed card, which will 
 cancel any former pledge of a less amount, and promptly return it in 
 the enclosed stamped and addressed envelope?" 
 
 A letter used in a city which had done careful rating, re- 
 ferred first to the discrepancy between the quota assigned and 
 the subscription and went on to say: 
 
 106 
 
"The variance is so great between the two amounts that this com- 
 mittee feels there must be some misunderstanding somewhere for they 
 do not believe that you want to be classed as one of those not willing 
 to do their share in this conflict. * * * If you still feel that you cannot 
 make the pledge for the amount of the quota we should be very glad 
 to have you meet the committee during this week before a decision is 
 made with regard to the matter." 
 
 This letter brought very real results. 
 
 One of the most interesting and perhaps significant feat- 
 ures of these various letters is to be found in the fact that the 
 committees in charge frequently reported that the failure to 
 subscribe generously was due to misunderstanding, or to untact- 
 ful solicitation in most cases rather than to deliberate intention 
 to evade responsibility, and further that in many instances the 
 difficulty was caused by a failure of the rating committee, 
 which this plan allowed to be set right in a confidential fashion, 
 thus avoiding any possibility of public humiliation. 
 
 Another plan designed to increase subscriptions has been 
 CO use publicity of an appealing sort. Some have made a dis- 
 tinct program of continuous publicity with regard to the va- 
 rious agencies, their work, and their appeals, the intention be- 
 ing to arouse in the minds of contributors a full realization of 
 the vital character of the tasks undertaken by the war relief 
 agencies and to stimulate them through this means to voluntary 
 contributions without anv actual solicitation. 
 
 107 
 
CHAPTER FOUR. 
 
 COLLECTIONS. 
 
 The question of getting pledges is something less than half 
 the battle. In the excitement of a well organized campaign it 
 is in some instances almost as difficult to restrain some individ- 
 uals to their proper scale of giving on a sacrificial basis as it is 
 to get others to subscribe. The real key to the success of the 
 war chest, from the financial point or view, comes in the de- 
 velopment of successful and relatively frictionless methods of 
 collection. 
 
 Industrial Collections. 
 
 Three plans have been devised for making collections from 
 industrial groups. The first is to treat industrial employees 
 simply as individual subscribers and ask them all to make vol- 
 untary payment, either at the war chest office or through the 
 bank, precisely in the same manner as those who subscribe 
 through the homes division. The second method is to treat 
 them as a group, organizing them into clubs or associations, of- 
 ten with some catchy name, which shall have their own treas- 
 urers through whom payments are made. The third method 
 is to lay emphasis upon group collections through employers 
 who are authorized to deduct the amount from pay envelopes 
 and turn in the whole in one check at stated intervals. The 
 first plan is followed in relatively few cities of any large in- 
 dustrial importance. Perhaps the most conspicuous is Salem, 
 Mass., where all payments from whatever source are made 
 through one office. It is probably too early as yet to say exact- 
 ly what experience is going to develop in this instance though 
 thus far collections have been satisfactory. Easton, Pa., is also 
 using this plan, all subscribers, industrial as well as others, 
 paying ^t the war chest headquarters. 
 
 The most notable illustration of the use of voluntary clubs 
 or associations for industrial collections is Philadelphia. In 
 that city any plant with more than twenty five employees organ- 
 izes its own collection unit on a voluntary basis. A regular con- 
 stitution for each war chest society is furnished it by the com- 
 mittee in charge and reads as follows: 
 
 "This society shall be known as the War Chest Society. Its object 
 
 shall be to enroll every employee of as a member of the 
 
 War Welfare Council, and to obtain from each employee a pledge to con- 
 tribute a certain sum per month for a period of one year, beginning July 
 
 108 
 
1, 1918, for the objects and aims of the War Welfare Council of Philadel- 
 phia. Its further object is to secure and retain the house emblem for 100 
 per cent, membership offered by the Executive Committee of the War 
 Welfare Council. 
 
 The officers shall be a President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, who 
 
 shall be elected by the employees of on or before May 18, 
 
 1918. 
 
 The duties of the President shall be to preside at all meetings of the 
 organization and to assume direct charge of all its activities. 
 
 The duties of the Secretary shall be to keep correct minutes of all 
 meetings, to issue and post such notices as shall be necessary to further 
 the work of the organization, and to keep an accurate list of the members 
 of and the amount of their pledges. 
 
 The duties of the Treasurer shall be to keep an accurate duplicate 
 record of the Secretary's list of members and the amount of their pledges, 
 
 to collect each month from each member of the War Chest 
 
 Society the sum pledged, and to turn over to the Treasurer of the Wiar 
 Welfare Council (Drexel & Company, Fifth and Chestnut Streets) the ag- 
 gregate of such monthly collections. 
 
 Each and every employee of is by virtue of said em- 
 ployment a member of the War Chest Society until May 
 
 27, 1918, but forfeits said membership if by that date he has not signed a 
 pledge card of the War Welfare Council. Full membership privileges for 
 
 the year ending June 30, 1919, attaches to each employee of the 
 
 who is a pledged monthly contributor to the War Chest, and who from. 
 month to month keeps in good standing by making the pledged payments. 
 
 Should any one who is on May 27, 1918, a bona-fide member of the 
 
 War Chest Society leave to be identified with another 
 
 institution, he can retain his membership in the _ War Chest 
 
 Society by continuing his payments through said Society, or if he leaves 
 to accept employment with an institution where there is a War Chest 
 Society, he may at his option transfer his membership, and any person 
 
 entering the employ of the during the year ending June 
 
 30, 1919, may become a member of War Chest Society 
 
 by transferring his membership from some other War Chest Society, or by 
 
 paying through the War Chest Society any amount he has 
 
 pledged to the War Welfare Council. 
 
 The responsibility of the War Chest Society is indi- 
 vidual, and not joint, to the Treasurer of the War Welfare Council for the 
 amount pledged by said Society. 
 
 It is the duty of the organization through itS' officers to transmit to 
 the Treasurer of the War Welfare Council (Drexel & Company) an accu- 
 rate record of any changes in membership." 
 
 In that city the pledge cards signed by employees are kept 
 by the treasurer of the club, and a club pledge card stating the 
 total of individual pledges and the number of subscribers is 
 sent to the war chest headquarters. When the amount which 
 
 109 
 
is collected by the treasurer is more or less than the amount 
 which the club is supposed to pay that month, it is necessary that 
 a memorandum should accompany the payment to explain fully 
 the difference. If new subscriptions have been received the 
 number of subscribers and total amount must be stated in its 
 correct form. If subscribers have left an effort should be made, 
 not only to report the decrease in number and amount, but to 
 indicate where the person has gone and send in his individual 
 pledge card. 
 
 Other cites employ similar plans to some extent, though 
 not as their main reliance; for example, Columbus, which in 
 most instances, collects its industrial pledges through deduction 
 from payroll, found that in one or two cases the . concern was 
 unwilling to undertake the task or the employees objected for 
 some reason. In such cases the representatives of the war chest 
 went to the employees, explained to them the economy and sav- 
 ing resulting from group collections and the consequent increase 
 in the amount available to help the soldiers. The result was 
 that the employees, recognizing the force of this, selected an 
 individual as treasurer to whom they agreed to make payments. 
 Usually he was a person of prestige among them, one to whom 
 they looked for favors or advancement, and not simply a person 
 of neither standing or importance. Under these circumstances, 
 the results of collection have been surprisingly good, indeed 
 almost as good as under the plan of making the deductions from 
 the payroll. Meriden also has employed this idea in certain 
 instances and Seymour adopted this method in some factories 
 where the deduction scheme could not be installed. In many 
 cities there are enough Federal employees, so that it is very 
 desirable to have them grouped in units for purposes of collec- 
 tion. The Government, however, will not undertake the task 
 of making deductions from pay envelopes. Dayton, Ohio, there- 
 fore, organized these into voluntary collection units on the 
 Philadelphia principle and met with very good success indeed. 
 
 It is very naturally better to have a uniform and standard 
 plan of making industrial collections where possible, but the idea 
 of making deductions from payrolls is one which must be 
 definitely **sold". It cannot be left to inference or just merely 
 mentioned. It must be carefully explained to employee and 
 employer. The reasons must be carefully set forth, chief among 
 them economy, with emphasis upon the fact that the greater the 
 economy, the less money will be absorbed in expenses and the 
 more released for the agencies which the war chest is designed 
 to assist. However, if in a few plants it is impossible to install 
 the deduction system, the voluntary association is distinctly the 
 next best and should be employed. 
 
 Save for these few instances, there is practical unanimity 
 in industrial areas in the system of having collections made 
 through deductions from pay envelopes. 
 
 110 
 
Most cities have applied this plan to factories and public 
 utilities. There is no reason why it should not be applied to 
 stores, public employees, mines; in short it should be applied 
 to every possible group, for example, to teachers. For special 
 groups of considerable size the war chest can well afford to 
 make extraordinary provisions. In manj^ cities, for instance, 
 teachers are not paid twelve months in the year, but only nine 
 months or ten months. The deductions from their pay en- 
 velopes should be adjusted on that basis so that payments will 
 fall only within the period when salary is being drawn. Roch- 
 ester applied this principle with large success. 
 
 In the second place payments should be allowed at the most 
 convenient period in the month, for the factory employees of 
 different plants are paid on different days and at different 
 intervals. This should be taken into account since instead of 
 complicating the situation, as one might suppose at first glance, 
 it serves instead to distribute work at the war chest office more 
 evenly through the month and becomes a distinct advantage. 
 
 Many cities have made the mistake of thinking that it is 
 not worth while to organize group collections for less than 
 twenty-five people and that has been the usual minimum. The 
 experience of several cities, notably Columbus, Ohio, is that it 
 is decidedly worth while to make group collections from units 
 very much smaller than twenty-five, getting down in some cases 
 even as low as five. This plan reaches large numbers of people 
 and operates as a substantial guarantee against delinquency, 
 simplifies bookkeeping and proves a convenience both to the 
 individuals involved and to the war chest. 
 
 There has been only one city which reported serious friction 
 in connection with the deduction method of making collections. 
 This was a small community with a war chest which was ad- 
 mittedly imperfectly organized, and with one dominant industry 
 engaged in war work employing 7000 or 8000 men, many of 
 whom are not residents of the war chest community but are 
 commuters. Many others are unskilled laborers who boarded 
 in the community. At the time of the original campaign sub- 
 scriptions were taken and the officers of the factory agreed to 
 the deduction method. Shortly afterward large numbers of the 
 employees were discharged pending a decision from the Gov- 
 ernment as to the type of gun to be manufactured and for sev- 
 eral months work was slow. During this period the factory 
 withdrew its consent to make deductions from the payroll and 
 refused also to allow a re-canvass of the factory after new con- 
 tracts had restored full-time activity. This case seems to be 
 distinctly an exception to the general rule and one for which 
 local conditions are responsible. It does not seem that there is 
 any reason to believe that similar trouble will result in other 
 communities from the adoption of the deduction plan of mak- 
 ing collections. 
 
 Ill 
 
Frequency of Deductions. 
 
 Wherever employees are willing to authorize deduction of 
 their subscriptions from their pay, the problem must be faced 
 as to the frequency with which such deductions shall be made. 
 Most cities which report have weekly deductions, several 
 monthly deductions, a few provide for both weekly and month- 
 ly, giving an option between them, and two give the employee 
 free hand to designate precisely how he wishes the deduction 
 to be made. 
 
 The wisest practice in this regard is to have a deduction 
 made every payday with one exception, which will be dealt with 
 in a moment, — thus it may be monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly. 
 
 The exception comes in the case of weekly deductions and 
 rises from the fact that there are some months in which five 
 paydays occur. Inasmuch as not all factories pay on the same 
 day, these months are not uniform in any city. The deductions 
 in such months should be made only on four paydays, the fifth 
 having no deduction. This means that there will be forty- 
 eight equal installments, four installments being paid each 
 month. 
 
 The advantage of this plan is that it distributes the bur- 
 den as evenly as may be possible, so that the subscriber does 
 not feel the payments as severely as he would if deductions 
 were made only at infrequent intervals. The objection to it is 
 that it makes some work for the employer, but this can be reduced 
 to a minimum if the installments are all equal and if a proper 
 card is provided on which the paymaster can check the weeks 
 in which deductions are made. 
 
 The remittance from the factory to the war chest office 
 should be monthly and not at each payday. This is in order 
 that the war chest may not be given too much bookkeeping to 
 handle. This also furnishes another reason why the deduction 
 should be m.ade only four times in the month when there are 
 five paydays in the month, namely, that otherwise the amount 
 of money to be credited to any individual subscriber would vary 
 from month to month and make more elaborate bookkeeping 
 requisite. 
 
 The only disadvantage associated with this monthly remit- 
 tance, weekly deduction program is that a man may be partly 
 delinquent in some month. For example, if he should leave 
 the employ of the factory after two weeks of the current month, 
 or if he were out sick for a week, etc. This would necessitate 
 sorne slight complication of the bookkeeping in the war chest 
 office in posting to his account but does not make much extra 
 work for the employer, save as he has to make a memorandum 
 to the war chest office and a memorandum to deduct an extra 
 amount at the next time. 
 
 112 
 
In this connection it is proper to point out that many 
 cities have adopted the plan of having factories remit at differ- 
 ent times through the month in order to distribute the labor 
 involved in bookkeeping evenly. 
 
 Patriotic Half-Hour. 
 
 Kenosha, Wisconsin, developed the plan of taking sub- 
 scriptions- on the basis of what a man earned in half an hour 
 and then using a designated half-hour each week as a means 
 of keeping alive interest in the war chest and expressing the 
 determination on the part of the citizens to support the Gov- 
 ernment in the conduct of the war. On Wednesday of every 
 week the half -hour from 11.30 a. m. until noon is set aside by 
 proclamation of the mayor as the period when Kenosha is work- 
 ing for the soldiers and sailors. Factory whistles announce its 
 commencement and appropriate exercises are held regularly 
 in the schools at that time. 
 
 After somewhat more than six months operation, Kenosha 
 reports that this feature of the war chest has been a very de- 
 cided success and has served as a constant stimulus to patriotism 
 as well as to payments. It is unquestionably true that payments 
 on the industrial side are made more cheerfully and on the vol- 
 untary side are made more regularly if there is no let-up in the 
 educative campaign. This plan has been followed by a number 
 of cities, among them Attleboro, Mass., Burlington, Iowa, and 
 Elgin, 111. 
 
 Some cities use a patriotic hour instead of half-hour, the 
 reason being that the half -hour represents 1% of the average 
 individuals w^ages, which is thought by some to be an inadequate 
 amount, and they use, therefore, an hour which represents 2%. 
 The principle is the same in either case and the idea is equally 
 applicable. 
 
 The employment of this plan of having men subscribe the 
 wages earned in a patriotic hour or half-hour immediately raises 
 the question as to precisely how those earnings are to be figured, 
 whether it is to be taken literally and figured down to the last 
 odd cent, or whether in order to simplify bookkeeping an even 
 amount is chosen; whether, if a man w^orks on piecework, he 
 is to give the amount he earns in that specific half-hour or an 
 average half-hour. Practically all of the cities figure what 
 a man makes in the average half-hour, not in the specific one 
 which is set aside. Some carry it even further and figure the 
 monthly average. 
 
 There is the disadvantage in this plan that a man's pledge 
 is not for a uniform amount. When he works on piecework, 
 his w^ages will vary from week to week and his pledge as well, 
 thus it will bring in a few cents more one month or a few cents 
 less. In like manner if he is working for a fixed wage and 
 receives a raise, this brings an alteration in the amount of his 
 
 113 
 
pledge. These circumstances make it practically impossible for 
 the war chest office to keep separate accounts for these men. 
 It becomes necessary, if this plan is used, to carry an account 
 simply for the factory and to depend upon the carbon of the 
 factory receipt in order to check the total which the factory 
 returns to the war chest. 
 
 This is the more true because what actually happens is that 
 the factories deduct each payday. The factories have different 
 paydays and so the five-payment months are different in the 
 different factories. For the war chest office to attempt to 
 follow this in each factory and keep record of individual ac- 
 counts of the subscribers would involve an amount of book- 
 keeping that is practically prohibitive in some cases. 
 
 Occasionally when a time basis is used, the subscription is 
 worked out in overtime effort. This cannot, however, be made 
 in most cases a war chest policy, because certain unions will 
 not permit it and because some factories are not in a position 
 to use overtime labor now. 
 
 The conclusion which one comes to, after study of the 
 material submitted by cities using this plan, is that, in the first 
 place, it is satisfactory to those communities which use it and 
 that in the second place, it does have large educative and patriot- 
 ic effect. The difficulties have been emphasized because if 
 they are foreseen, careful planning may obviate them. The im- 
 portant point is to make certain that if this plan is followed, 
 no feature, whether of bookkeeping or other detail, is intro- 
 duced which is inconsistent with it. 
 
 Labor Turn-over — The problem of taking care of labor 
 turn-over is one which has been given a good deal of careful at- 
 tention by officials in charge of war chests and a number of 
 plans have been developed for obviating the difficulties that 
 arise from changes in the personnel of establishments. 
 
 It is possible to overestimate the importance of labor turn- 
 over just as it is possible to underestimate the importance of 
 this question. As one glances at statistics of factories and 
 notices a turn-over of fifty or even one hundred per cent, it 
 seems off-hand that the method of taking care of labor turn- 
 over, especially in view of the large number of employees who 
 subscribe, would become the most vital feature of a war chest, 
 and at the same time a problem of such complexity as to be 
 almost insoluble. As a matter of fact these statistics give a 
 false impression. Perhaps eighty per cent, of the employees of 
 most well-regulated establishments are stable. It is the other 
 twenty per cent, which turns over and over and produces the 
 large aggregate percentage. Moreover the twenty per cent, (a 
 factor which is extremely rough and selected simply for con- 
 venience) is that portion which gives the smallest amount of 
 money, because the turn-over is more rapid among the unskilled 
 help whose contributions are not large relative to the total. 
 
 114 
 
The experience of Syracuse illustrates this point. The war 
 chest did not develop in its first year of operation a complete 
 or thorough scheme for taking care of labor turn-over and there 
 was in consequence a shrinkage from this cause which amount- 
 ed to about 15%. 
 
 Now, however, a number of plans have been elaborated. 
 The most drastic is that which was developed in Youngstown, 
 Ohio. When a man gives notice that he is to leave the mill 
 the total unpaid remainder of his pledge is deducted from his 
 last pay envelope so that when he reaches his new employment 
 his account has been settled for the year. This plan appears 
 to be one which is likely to be effective but it seems doubtful 
 whether it will prove popular Avith the givers and whether it 
 will engender good feeling for the inevitable campaign the next 
 year. 
 
 The second method has been worked out in Detroit. In- 
 stead of attempting to follow the individual contributor from 
 one industrial concern to another through the office of the pa- 
 triotic fund, each factory has been asked to underwrite the sub- 
 scriptions of all its employees. Thus w^hen one man leaves the 
 factory and is replaced by another it becomes to the interests of 
 factory to solicit the newcomer. Otherwise it has to meet the 
 payments on the pledge of his predecessor. This method, which 
 is extremely simple, reduces the amount of bookkeeping which 
 the war chest has to handle and precludes all necessity for any 
 elaborate and more or less expensive scheme for following work- 
 ers from one employment to another. It has been applied to 
 about eighty per cent, of the factory subscriptions, the other 
 twenty per cent, being employed for the most part in small con- 
 cerns where labor turn-over is not great and has not, in conse- 
 quence, so important a bearing. Under this plan the factory 
 does not lose a great deal if it maintains its organization for 
 solicitation, and what it does lose is more than made up to it 
 from the fact that the corporations, as in Detroit, are not asked 
 for subscriptions as such, though individual members of the 
 firm are asked to make personal contributions. 
 
 The third method is the one which is employed in Torring- 
 ton. Under the plan in operation there virtually no effort of a 
 serious character is made to transfer a man's pledge when he 
 changes from one employer to another. Instead the entire em- 
 phasis is put upon obtaining a subscription from each person 
 who is hired — that is, to maintain each factory 100^;' su})scribed 
 to the war chest. The employment manager in the chief con- 
 cern in talking with new men asks them if they are willing to 
 sign pledge cards, but does not ask for signatures, though he 
 does pass them some of the explanatory pamphlets. When a 
 man goes to work the foreman of the department promptly ap- 
 proaches him with a pledge card. This does not mean that a 
 man will not be hired if he does not express his willingness to 
 
 115 
 
sign, but it does mean that he will have had time to think it 
 over and will understand the situation so that he will know what 
 the solicitation is about when he is approached. Experience 
 under this plan has been satisfactory. The largest concern in 
 the city had a 100% subscription at the time of the war chest 
 campaign and at present (August 14, 1918) is still 100% sub- 
 scribed despite a considerable labor turn-over. Other concerns 
 are doing as well. The net result is an inexpensive and yet very 
 efficient method of caring for this problem. Inasmuch as the 
 war chest office does not carry a separate account for every 
 individual subscriber but has a ledger account for each factory 
 only, the cancellation of pledges of those who leave the employ 
 of the factory does not unduly complicate bookkeeping. 
 
 The fourth method, like the third, is applicable to cities 
 which do not carry a separate ledger account for each of the 
 industrial subscribers but simply one account for each factory 
 or other unit. Under this system the treasurer has forms for 
 a transfer list. The factory reports on these forms those who 
 are leaving and sends in to the war chest the card authorizing 
 the employer to deduct the amount of the subscription and on 
 the back of which is a ledger statement of the account. When 
 that authorization card reaches the war chest office it is put in 
 a transfer drawer and the reports of factories are scrutinized 
 for the appearance of the name on some list of incoming em- 
 ployees. If the name fails to appear on the incoming lists a 
 form letter is sent. Utica, N. Y., sent a form letter which 
 read: 
 
 "We have been advised by the Company that you 
 
 have left its employ, and as payments to the War Chest Fund are now 
 due, we would thank you to advise us as to the manner in which you 
 desire to continue payments. For your information they may be made 
 in the following manner: deducted from your wages by your present 
 employer in accordance with the authorization card signed by you. 
 If you wish this method followed, kindly advise us the name of your 
 present employer. 
 
 "Payments may also be made monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually 
 in advance at the office of the War Chest Association. 
 
 "Please refer to this letter when you write and bring it with you 
 when you call." 
 
 In other cities a member of the permanent campaign organiza- 
 tion or one of the Boy Scouts was sent to the home address to 
 ask the new place of employment. When that is ascertained 
 either through the letter or through the messenger, the authori- 
 zation card is sent to the new employer, who may deduct for 
 any period which is in arrears from the first or second pay 
 envelope. 
 
 The fifth method is virtually the same and is used in cities 
 which carry a separate ledger account for each subscriber. In , 
 
 116 
 
Rochester, for example, the ledger cards are filed in the same 
 order in which the factory reports payment, and each month 
 when the factory payment comes in there appears a list of 
 those who have left its employ. The ledger cards of those men 
 are withdrawn from the classified file and put in a transfer or 
 tracer drawer. These are checked over with the incoming lists 
 from other factories and sorted into their proper places in the 
 file. 
 
 In Columbus, Dayton, and certain other cities there are 
 regularly organized investigation departments, usually with 
 paid employees who attempt to follow those who disappear from 
 their previous places of employment. In this case an investi- 
 gation slip is made up from the data available on the pledge card 
 and the outgoing list sent by the factory. The slip is then 
 given to a paid investigator for report. Indianapolis made an 
 arrangement Avith one of the local newspapers by which its 
 •district circulation managers act as the investigators for the 
 war chest. This gives them an available force of thirty inves- 
 tigators at a cost of less than $300.00 a month. 
 
 Occasionally cities have adopted the plan of putting on a 
 list the names of those who appear on the records as leaving 
 and making a corresponding list for those who appear on the 
 records as new employees. It is far better to do this with a 
 card system, for then when a man is traced his card can be 
 withdrawn and there will be no crossing out or checking, which 
 makes it necessary to write his name in again, and the list will 
 not become clumsy. 
 
 Statistics as to the actual importance of labor turn-over 
 and the success attained in dealing with it are very difficult to 
 secure. Indianapolis reports that in forty-five days three thous- 
 and employees changed their places of employment without ad- 
 vising their former employers where they were going and with- 
 out appearing on any incoming lists promptly. These men 
 were at first sent letters asking them to fill out return post 
 cards stating their present places of employment. This took 
 care of most of them. The small percentage remaining were 
 turned over to the investigators and most of them appear to 
 have been found. In Utica, a city of 80,000 population, there 
 were about 4,500 cases which had to be traced between the 15th 
 of February and the 15th of June. 3,000 of these were found 
 without much difficulty. The others had entered the service 
 or left town, or had moved as well as changed employment, and 
 could not be readily traced. Columbus repoi'ts that it has been 
 possible to trace practically all cases and they have resolved 
 themselves into four classes: first, those who have entered the 
 service and whose pledges are cancelled : second, those who have 
 left town and whose pledges are cancelled ; third, those who from 
 illness or other circumstances are temporarily unemployed and 
 
 117 
 
who will have to be followed up again; and, fourth, the large 
 majority who have been placed and are now making their pay- 
 ments through their new employers. 
 
 Labor Unions — The use of labor unions for collection has 
 been more or less restricted, the cities which employ this meth- 
 od being in a distinct minority. For the most part its use has 
 been developed in the seasonal trades, such as carpentry, brick- 
 laying, etc., particularly where a workman is not regularly con- 
 nected with one employer. The unions in such cases make the 
 collections and transmit in one check. Cities which have em- 
 ployed this method are Albuquerque, N. M., Butte, Mont., De- 
 troit, Mich., Kenosha and Racine, Wis., Roanoke, Va., in one 
 case, and Sheboygan, Wis. 
 
 This is a method which in such trades is valuable because 
 of the fact that there is such a very large amount of labor turn- 
 over, which it would be almost impossible to follow. Of course 
 the collection through the union obviates the necessity for fol- 
 lowing men from one employer to another. 
 
 The one drawback to using this plan in practice, though not 
 in principle, is that the labor unions have usually not taken real 
 subscriptions but have levied assessments, which has a tendency 
 to destroy to some degree at least the gift character of contri- 
 butions. 
 
 Personal Collections. 
 
 Collections by Solicitors — The question whether solicitors 
 should make collections in conjunction with their work of taking 
 subscriptions is one which has had a good deal of attention. 
 The argument in favor of the practice is that is has a tendency 
 to make the person subscribing have a sense of the reality of 
 his pledge if he makes a payment along with it and that it 
 serves as a demonstration of sincerity. The argument against 
 having the solicitor make the collection is partly practical and 
 partly psychological. The practical objection comes from the 
 fact that in the great rush of handling thousands of subscrip- 
 tions in one week through voluntary and unskilled help there 
 are certain to be a great many errors in accounting if the prac- 
 tice of allowing solicitors to make collections is adopted. In 
 one concrete instance a much over-burdened treasurer was of- 
 fered the assistance of a group of business men who agTeed to 
 take care of the money attached to about a thousand pledge 
 cards. They made up the bank deposits but neglected the detail 
 of posting the payments to the accounts of the subscribers. It 
 took a great deal of detective work on the part of the treasurer 
 to find out who had made payments because the solicitors who 
 had done the collecting were not always careful to write up on 
 the card or, if they did, to indicate how much had been paid, 
 contenting themselves simply with fastening the money to the 
 card. 
 
 118 
 
The psychological argument arises from the fact that peo- 
 ple are very wary about giving money to strangers. In the heat 
 of a campaign, particularly in a city of some size where from 
 three to five thousand solicitors are mobilized, it is difficult to 
 make certain that there are no impostors, and the public, aware 
 of that fact, hesitates to pay in some cases. This argument is 
 one of some force, but not decisive because almost always an 
 option is given in the matter of payment, so that those who do 
 not care to make payment need not. 
 
 Wherever solicitors are authorized to take money the great- 
 est care should be used to have the solicitor identified with a 
 suitable badge which is numbered, registered, and readily rec- 
 ognizable. In the second place, the solicitor should give not a 
 permanent receipt but simply a temporary receipt which can 
 be turned in for the first payment when due and which should 
 be made out in triplicate, the subscriber getting the original, 
 the war chest the first copy, and the solicitor the second copy 
 to produce in case a question should arise later. Every solicitor 
 should have strongly impressed upon him that he must leave a 
 receipt whether the person desires one or not. 
 
 Cleveland took pains to have two cards to which money 
 could be attached, a yellow card and a blue card. The yellow 
 card was used to record money v^^hich was paid on a pledge 
 previously turned in: the blue card was used for money turned 
 in with the pledge, a distinction which is important in avoiding 
 duplication in the auditor's office and consequently complicat- 
 ing a situation which is not easy to deal with under the very 
 best of circumstances. Another city developed a plan which, 
 if collection by solicitors are allowed, should be followed. Each 
 solicitor was given a number of good, stout manilla envelopes 
 sufficiently large to contain the pledge card without folding. 
 Each cash payment was to be enclosed with the pledge card and 
 a carbon copy of the receipt in a separate envelope and sealed. 
 There was a space on the outside on which to note exactly what 
 was included. The advantages of this were that there was no 
 danger of the pledge card and the money being separated. All 
 too frequently when they are pinned or clipped together they 
 become loosened in the shuffle and difficulty arises. This 
 plan also made it possible for the auditor's office when rushed 
 to lay these envelopes aside for a few days since there was no 
 particular danger of their becoming dishevelled. 
 
 A number of cities, notably Rochester, N. Y., absolutely 
 prohibited the collection of any money by solicitors, allowing 
 only pledges to come in during the week of the campaign. 
 
 The conclusion which a survey of the practices of cities 
 with comments on results induces is that the collection of money 
 by solicitors is undesirable. The bookkeeping problems in- 
 volved in the war chest are sufficiently serious so that the 
 treasurer's office should be relieved of as much pressure as 
 
 119 
 
possible at the beginning of its work. To make out ledger ac- 
 counts for several thousand people and start a set of books 
 and at the same time to have to take in a great deal of money 
 and credit it to accounts which have not yet been set up, is an 
 extraordinarily difficult thing to do with accuracy. Personal 
 observation in several war chest offices and the earnest advice 
 of office managers have impressed this upon me forcibly. It is 
 perhaps not wholly wise, on the other hand, to prohibit collec- 
 tions absolutely, though it is well worth while to discourage 
 payments at the time of giving the pledge. 
 
 Centralized Collections — Some war chest cities have made 
 an effort to make all collections through one office. For ex- 
 ample, Burlington, Iowa, has ''them call at the office as a pa- 
 triotic duty" and made a feature of that practice. Carlo, 111., 
 at first attempted to have payments made through the various 
 banks. For some reason the plan did not work out and all now 
 pay directly to the office of the war chest. The same plan is 
 used in Cumberland, Md., Dayton, 0., Glens Falls, Herkimer, 
 Hinckley, Lockport, and Newark, N. Y., Meriden, Racine, Wis.. 
 Savannah, Ga., Salem, Mass., and others. Lansing, Mich., uses 
 a centralized plan of collection so far as city pledges are con- 
 cerned, but the county divisions each take care of their own 
 local collections and the work is to that extent decentralized. 
 
 The most interesting case of those making centralized col- 
 lections is that of Salem, Mass., where all payments are made at 
 one office, there being no effort to have a separate industrial 
 collection and no system of unit or group collection of any sort. 
 Every subscriber — and there are about ten thousand of them — 
 is expected to call once a month at the centrally located war 
 chest office in order to make his payments. 
 
 Ely, Minn., has selected the city treasurer as the war chest 
 treasurer and the citizens pay their light and water bills and war 
 chest subscriptions to the same person at the same time. 
 
 It must be remembered that in almost all these cases of 
 centralized collection not all subscribers pay in person. Ordi- 
 narily the great mass of subscribers pay through their employ- 
 ers or through their banks by means of bank drafts, or through 
 their unions, so that the actual number of subscribers who are 
 expected to call at the central office is normally not over 30% 
 of the total and very frequently runs very much lower than 
 that figure. 
 
 The advisability of using one central office for making 
 collections depends of course upon the question of the area 
 which the war chest covers and also upon the number of sub- 
 scribers who are to pay directly. 
 
 Decentralized Collections — Other cities have worked out 
 plans for decentralizing collections in order to make it as con- 
 venient as possible for subscribers. Ordinarily this is done 
 through the use of banks, but occasionally also stores or even 
 
 120 
 
individuals are employed. The .plan has been worked out on 
 what appears to be the largest scale in the city of Detroit. 
 The patriotic fund there has 640 collection agencies which are 
 designated to the public through newspaper advertisements and 
 by large signs hung in the windows. Practically all drug stores 
 are payment offices. This body of collection agencies is sup- 
 posed to reach about 100,000 people, whose aggregate gifts 
 amounts to $2,500,000. These collection agencies have a tripli- 
 cate receipt, the original of which goes to the subscriber, the 
 first copy to the war chest headquarters, and the second remains 
 with the collection agent. They are properly numbered, so 
 that while this plan makes somewhat more bookkeeping in the 
 aggregate it does not make more for the central office. Rather 
 it makes it possible to spread the work out in that office much 
 more satisfactorily. At Terre Haute likewise this plan was 
 developed and there are 130 authorized pay stations which in- 
 clude many local banks as well as many stores. A number of 
 cities have adopted the plan of having all agencies which make 
 collections for the gas company and electric light company 
 receive payments on the ground that people visit those compan- 
 ies once a month in any case and thus payment to the war chest 
 is made as convenient as possible. 
 
 Philadelphia because of the great area involved in its war 
 chest plan had to develop some such scheme. It has confined 
 itself however to banks. All banks both national and state are 
 authorized to make collection. They are known at war chest 
 headquarters by their American Banking Association number 
 and send in records of payments but keep the money on deposit 
 until it is withdrawn by the treasurer. 
 
 In the case of collections made through banks the common 
 practice is to allow the bank to keep on deposit the money which 
 is paid in until it is needed by the treasurer. This makes pos- 
 sible a distribution of the funds among the banks. In general, 
 of course, a person pays his war chest subscription at his own 
 bank and this keeps the funds stable. One city adopted the 
 plan of depositing with each bank the checks drawn upon it in 
 order to distribute the funds equitably. The only dissatisfac- 
 tion that has resulted from the employment of banks as collec- 
 tion agencies comes from the fact that banking hours being 
 short they are not always wholly convenient for subscribers. 
 Beyond that there has been no complaint of any sort save in 
 one case, where for some reason unexplained the collection 
 through the banks broke down and centralized collections was 
 substituted successfully. 
 
 Cities which have adopted a decentralized method of col- 
 lection are Adrian, Albany, Albion, Attleboro, Ashland, Billings, 
 Brattleboro, Dayton, Elkhart, Granville, Lo\\^ille, Melrose, 
 Michigan City, Mitchell, Moline, Northampton, Nutley, Sheboy- 
 gan, Vevay, Warren, Westfield, and others. 
 
 121 
 
Methods of Paywtent — Wtere payments are made at the 
 war chest office or at banks, there has to be developed some 
 routine for handling them. 
 
 In Syracuse the subscriber went to the cashier's window, 
 dictated his name and address, which were written down by the 
 cashier who then accepted payment. A good many cities follow 
 this practice because they believe that numbers of those who 
 pay in the voluntary list are not accustomed to carrying bank 
 accounts and do not fill out accurately their payment slips. 
 
 A number of other cities, on the other hand, make use of 
 a payment slip, or deposit slip, like a bank deposit slip and they 
 report that slips which are filled out inaccurately can be return- 
 ed for correction or can be corrected by the cashier and that 
 the number of mistakes is not so great that it warrants them 
 in adopting the slower method of having the cashier make out 
 slips. Such cities, therefore, have a regular deposit slip, oc- 
 casionally with a coupon attached which the subscriber makes 
 out also and which is then stamped by the cashier and returned 
 as a receipt. Terre Haute used a deposit slip which took a car- 
 bon copy, the carbon being stamped by the cashier as a receipt, 
 the original being retained at the war chest office. 
 
 At Tarrytown the subscriber brings in a certificate of 
 enlistment which is marked off with spaces for months from 
 May 1918 to December 1920 and there is a stamp which is put 
 in the monthly space which reads ''received dues for this month 
 on the number of memberships indicated," the number of mem- 
 berships at $1.00 a month being permanently entered at the top 
 of the certificate. 
 
 Salem, Mass., and Philadelphia have developed systems of 
 numbered coupons. In Salem tv/elve coupons bearing identical 
 numbers at top and bottom were sent to each subscriber in an 
 envelope. On making payments one of these coupons must be 
 properly made out and presented with the money. In case of 
 failure to bring the proper coupon, there is available on the 
 counter a coupon of distinctive color upon which the subscriber's 
 number is entered by the clerk who ascertains it from an alpha- 
 betical file. This system appeared to work out very well and 
 the number of people who failed to bring their slips was rela- 
 tively few. 
 
 Philadelphia's system was somewhat similiar. The cou- 
 pons were made up into a book, the cover and first two sheets 
 being of sufficiently thin material that they could be typed at 
 one operation with use of carbon. The cover bears the name of 
 the subscriber, the number of his division, his individual number 
 within the division, as well as his address. This identifies the 
 book if it is lost and provision is made for its return to the war 
 chest office by any finder. The first carbon is a ledger card, 
 the second is a card to be used for follow-up purposes; the suc- 
 ceeding coupons are numbered identically and serially so that 
 
 122 
 
even if an individual neglected to write his name or the month 
 of payment, these could readily be ascertained. The bank simp- 
 ly stamps a receipt on the stub and forwards the coupon to the 
 war chest office, keeping the money on deposit until drawn by 
 the treasurer. 
 
 It is felt by cities which employ this device that it has good 
 psychological value and that it indicates the importance of the 
 matter. It is believed also that in Philadelphia the division 
 into districts is going to allow the war chest officials to keep 
 track of how various groups of subscribers meet their obliga- 
 tions and to determine where shrinkage comes. Thus they will 
 have a good index as to whether the organization which handled 
 that group fell down in its selling program or is falling down 
 in its follow-up program. The idea is that it will enable the 
 central council to detemiine accurately where failure develops 
 and so trace it down and remedy it. 
 
 Some cities have employed as reminder for collection pur- 
 poses a monitor which has become standardized as a commercial 
 proposition. It consists of a calendar with twelve coupons each 
 with space to indicate the date and number of payment. When 
 a person wishes to make payment, he clips the proper coupon 
 and sends or takes it with his money to the war chest. When 
 the coupon is clipped, it discloses beneath a conspicuous sign 
 which reads ''My pledge for the month of June is paid." No 
 city has yet reported how well the scheme works out. At first 
 glance it would seem that people who fall delinquent would re- 
 move the calendar from the wall. 
 
 Experience With Voluntary Payments. 
 
 It is perfectly obvious that the critical point in the matter 
 of collections comes with regard to that portion which is paid 
 by individuals either at the war chest office or through some 
 collection agency. A question as to the success met with in 
 regard to voluntary paymicnts brought a response from most 
 of the cities. The great majority wrote the word ^simply 
 ''good", Burlington, Iowa, says "very good", Elgin, 111., "excel- 
 lent", Kenosha, Wis., "99.99^ 0. K.", Michigan City "the real 
 thing", Syracuse, N. Y., found that there was apparently to be 
 a large shrinkage in the case of voluntary payments. Analysis 
 showed, however, that it was due to deaths, enlistments, remov- 
 als, and failure to organize a proper system of industrial col- 
 lection. They believe that the money from the remainder, 
 which after all is the group involved, will be collected up to 
 98% of the total, an extraordinary total and evidence of the 
 way in which the matter was followed up in the newspapers 
 for no collectors were used and bills were not sent for several 
 months. 
 
 Utica, N. Y., said there were perhaps 2500 delinquents 
 
 123 
 
out of 35,000 in the period from the 15th of February to the 
 15th of June, no bills having been sent out, no collectors having 
 been used, the only work of a follow-up nature being newspa- 
 per publicity. Glens Falls found that 10 7o of the people became 
 delinquent to a greater or less extent in three months, no effort 
 having been made up to that time to follow them up. 
 
 Certain cities, on the other hand, have not had equally en- 
 couraging experience with voluntary payments. Osage City 
 reports 'Voluntary collections are no good"; Terre Haute re- 
 ports ''a large number of delinquents to contend with under the 
 voluntary collection plan." 
 
 In almost every case where there are delinquents they are 
 among the smaller subscribers so that while the numbers look 
 serious in some cases, the money value is seldom considerable; 
 for example, Melrose found that in three collections there were 
 about five hundred delinquents but the total delinquency was 
 only $600 and after notices v/ere sent out half of them came in 
 promptly. 
 
 Despite the relatively small amount of these delinquencies 
 in value, it is well worth while to install a good follow-up system 
 for its moral and educative effect. Those in charge of the war 
 chest in Columbus believe that the real key to good collections 
 is in continued educational work and that, roughly, the percen- 
 tage of delinquents is an index of the slackness of educational 
 effort. 
 
 The city of Elkhart developed a novel plan to stimulate 
 prompt collection and to keep the war chest idea alive among 
 people. In that city every subscriber, whether his money was 
 deducted by his employer or whether he paid in person at the 
 war chest office, was given a button of distinctive color for each 
 payment. This did not cost much and it was found that when 
 folks began to blossom out with buttons each month the delin- 
 quents were stimulated to go down and get their buttons too. 
 Voluntary Units — Two or three cities have applied the plan 
 of group collections to individual subscribers as well as to in- 
 dustrial subscribers. These were organized into clubs or asso- 
 ciations and elect their own treasurers and make payments 
 through them after the fashion of the war saving societies and 
 liberty bond clubs, etc. 
 
 In the Columbus war chest there are a number of such 
 groups containing from ten to eighty subscribers who have signi- 
 fied their intention to pay through some fanner, grain dealer, 
 or storekeeper in their vicinity. These groups were handled in 
 exactly the same way as the employees of a store or factory who 
 allow deductions from their pay. The war chest sends out 
 shortly before the first of the month a unit collection sheet 
 which is virtually a statement of account. It shows the name, 
 the amount due on the approaching first of the month, the delin- 
 quency, and the total due from each subscriber in the collection 
 
 124 
 
unit. These collection sheets were prepared in triplicate, the 
 original and duplicate being mailed to the collection unit and the 
 triplicate held in the war chest office. The original is returned 
 to the war chest and the duplicate retained by the collector as his 
 record. These sheets are all numbered serially and must be 
 accounted for to the auditor. The only thing required of the 
 treasurer who makes the collections is to fill in the proper 
 column, showing the amount collected from each person, and to 
 total that column, sending the amount of money which that total 
 reveals. The sheet is then verified by the war chest cashier 
 w^ho dates and signs it and makes proper entry in his cash book 
 and turns it over to the bookkeeping department, which posts 
 the items to the proper ledger cards. The sheet then goes to the 
 binder and becomes part of the permanent record. 
 
 This plan has not secured wide adoption, apparently rather 
 more than because it has not been thought of than for any other 
 reason. It is a well-known fact that people do not like to have 
 their neighbors and friends know that they are delinquent. The 
 adoption of this plan brings a modicum of social pressure to bear 
 in the direction of prompt payment. This plan, therefore, is one 
 which deserves more attention than it has hitherto had. 
 
 Bills — A few cities have found after some experience that 
 it is worth while to bill regularly a certain class of people. One 
 prominent city, for example, found a somewhat large delinquent 
 list. On subjecting it to scrutiny, it was found that some well- 
 to-do people and some rather prominent government officials 
 appeared. The explanation was that these people were accus- 
 tomed to receiving notices and frequently had their checks made 
 out by secretaries who had not been informed of the pledge. 
 The city then began to bill this class of subscribers and reports 
 that there has been no further difficulty with' delinquents of 
 this type. 
 
 The Patriotic Fund of Detroit has selected about three 
 thousand names from its subscribers, which number several 
 hundred thousand, and proposes to send bills to them. Roughly 
 speaking, these people were all those who gave much more than 
 one hundred dollars a year. Though the number is relatively 
 small, this method will reach people whose aggregate gift 
 amounts to about $3, 000,000 out of a total war chest of $10,500,- 
 000. Thus factory collections reach $4,500,000; purely volun- 
 tary payment is expected of only $2,500,000. 
 
 A number of cities also have people who have pledged to 
 make their payments by mail. These cities bill such persons 
 and the bills are returned through the mail. Some of the cities 
 which use this plan report that it is the very best way of making 
 payments. The city of Ely, Minn., sends out a postcard bill to 
 all individual subscribers. 
 
 The conclusion, from a study of reports on this topic and 
 from personal inquiry in several cities, is that it is very well 
 
 125 
 
worth while, if authorization to draw on bank account cannot be 
 had, to bill a small number of persons whose aggreg'ate gift is 
 relatively large, the reasons being that it is more convenient to 
 them as well as to the war chest office, more satisfactory, in 
 short, from every point of view. 
 
 Bank Drafts — One of the most interesting methods of col- 
 lecting pledges which has been devised is the practice of having 
 the war chest send to the subscriber's bank an official receipt 
 which is honored as a draft upon his account. Because of the 
 novelty of this idea in the East and the skepticism in regard to 
 its practicability in cities which have not tried it, an especial 
 effort has been made to discover how it operates in those cities 
 which have undertaken to follow this method. 
 
 Kenosha, Wis., reports: '*We have one-third of the accounts 
 which we collect in our office on this basis, or about five hundred in 
 number. The receipt which we use is about the size of a standard 
 check and is deposited on the twenty-fifth of every month so that it 
 will get into the individual's' bank statement with the checks which are 
 returned on the first of each mon'th. All the trouble that it causes the 
 contributor is to make a deduction on his check stub for the amount 
 that he pledges. * * * j^ saves all collection charges. I can see no 
 reason why anyone interested in having the soldiers- get all that is 
 given for them should object to this plan of payment." 
 
 The Montgomery Country war chest, with headquarters at Craw- 
 fordsville, Ind., reports that "The information we gathered on this 
 point is that in some places as much as' 85% of the total subscription 
 to the war chest Wa,s paid through the banks in this way. Our bank 
 collections have not totaled anything like that much, but we are still 
 receiving these orders from subscribers when they come in to pay at 
 the regular place of making collection. The subscribers who pay 
 through the banks in this way get no receipt beyond the debit slip 
 from the bank, which they find among their cancelled checks." 
 
 )The Des Moines County war club, with headquarters at Burling- 
 ton, Iowa, reports "We find this method very successful and many of 
 those who signed the ordinary form are having it changed to the bank 
 pledge as a matter of convenience. The banks handle the official 
 receipt just the same as they would the pledge signer's check. This 
 does not entail any extra work on the part of the bank. * ♦ * j^ ^g 
 one of the 'best plans and eliminates all chance of the pledge signer 
 neglecting to pay at the stated time each month." 
 
 Albuquerque, New Mexico, reports "We find the majority of those 
 w^ho have bank accounts would rather pay that way than pay by check 
 or by sending in their subscriptions. * * * The banks have taken the 
 matter upon themselves and we have had no complaint from them. 
 * * * The bank takes the receipt which is sent through the same as a 
 check. The stubs and the cashier's check are sent back to our offices, 
 where our clerk enters the names and the amounts in his book." 
 
 The Davison County war chest of Mitchell, South Dakota, reports 
 that the banks "welcome the use of the treasurer's receipt. They 
 
 126 
 
preferred to handle it that way rather than have the contributor come 
 in every month. The draft proposition could be hainidled at the con- 
 venience of the bank and not interfere so much with the regular busi- 
 ness routine of the teller. * * * We met with very few objections 
 from the people when we put that proposition up to them and in fact 
 some have come in and changed their method of paying and now 
 authorize the bank to draw." 
 
 The War Service League of Yellowstone County, Montana, with 
 'headquarters at Billings, says: "We think this pledge card the best 
 one we have in use. It makes collections easy and practically with a 
 minimum of annoyance to the subscriber. Fully one-third of our sub- 
 scribers use this card, another third or more sign authorization on 
 their payroll and something less than a third sign straight pledges 
 to pay." In this instance the war chest headquarters fills out a debit 
 notice in its own office for all the bank pledges and furnishes them 
 to the banks on which the pledges are made. These are then listed 
 on a regular credit sheet made up in duplicate, the bank retaining one 
 copy and receipting the other for the war chest files. 
 
 The only war chest which records any trouble with this 
 pledge is that of Silver Bow County, with headquarters at Butte, 
 Montana, and in that instance the difficulty came, not from 
 objections to the plan but from misunderstandings as to just 
 what was involved. The report says: 
 
 "A great many people thought this was to designate the bank at 
 which they were to pay. We had a great many designate a bank at 
 which they had never had an account and others whose accounts were 
 overdrawn, etc. We found, however, that to the average business 
 man who carried an open account with the bank, this class of card 
 was quite popular and since the drive we have used it quite exten- 
 sively for such subscribers. While I recommend the use of such a 
 card, it is liable to be misunderstO'Od and were we makinig another 
 drive, I would not place this card indiscriminately among the captains, 
 but would use it after the drive was over to simplify our bookkeeping. 
 We consulted the banks before issuing the card and all the banks 
 agreed to take care of their customers in that way, if they so desired. 
 We filed with the bank an original pledge card and kept a copy in our 
 office files. W-e have eight hundred such cards out of the twenty- 
 seven thousand subscribers and on the fifteenth of the month the 
 cashier draws up all the receipts and presents them to the bank for 
 payment. It is certainly a great convenience and time-saver and is 
 no trouble to the bank a,nv more than a check." 
 
 These reports were given in detail, but they did not by any 
 means exhaust the number of cities which have used this meth- 
 od of making collections. Others were Anaconda, Mont., Lans- 
 ing, Mich., Indianapolis, Ind., Osage City, Kan., Racine, Wis., 
 and Sheboygan, and still others. An analagous plan has been 
 used in some of the Boston banks for liberty loan installments 
 and is said to work with entire satisfaction, both to the banks 
 and the subscribers. 
 
 127 
 
The conclusion is unescapable that inasmuch as the places 
 which have used the plan find it wholly satisfactory, it has 
 merit. Unquestionably, except in war time, there would be a 
 good deal of objection, but circumstances are such that people 
 generally recognize the necessity for doing business on unusual 
 lines. The use of this scheme should be encouraged for that 
 class of people who, under the plans adopted in Columbus, De- 
 troit and other places, would be billed, namely, those people who 
 give relatively large amounts and who are accustomed to having 
 their personal affairs taken care of, to some extent, by assis- 
 tants, and who without receiving a notice are likely to overlook 
 payment. For such, this method is a real convenience and 
 ensures that there will be no delinquents among a class where 
 delinquencies speedily amount up to considerable sums. The 
 wisest method of use seems to be that suggested by the secre- 
 tary of the Silver Bow war chest, namely, to have the plan 
 explained to the banks before the campaign and suggested to a 
 selected body of subscribers afterward, rather than have the 
 pledge card, which might be signed indescriminately and be 
 misunderstood. 
 
 Notes — Janesville, Kenosha, Racine, and Sheboygan report 
 that for certain persons who have no regular banking connec- 
 tions and who live in regions where they cannot readily make 
 payments to the war chest, it has been found worth while to 
 make out a series of notes which are deposited in one of the 
 banks. No data have been received showing the ultimate opera- 
 tion of this plan, what proportion of subscribers use it, nor the 
 way in which it is regarded by them. It saves the war chest, 
 very obviously, from any necessity for getting after delinquents 
 and ensures prompt and complete payment. This is particu- 
 larly valuable because, as already indicated, these people would 
 be more or less difficult to follow up because of the fact that 
 they are scattered and somewhat inaccessible. However, for 
 communities such as those in Connecticut, there does not seem 
 to be the same need for such a plan as this, and it may be doubt- 
 ed whether in our communities individuals could be found who 
 would agree to such a proposition. 
 
 Following up Collections. 
 
 A very large number of methods for following up delin- 
 quent subscribers have been worked out. They may be cata- 
 logued roughly as a reminder sent by mail, a professional collec- 
 tor, a member of the home guard, a volunteer worker, the origi- 
 nal solicitor sent back either as a reminder or as a collector, the 
 boy scouts with bills, the use of the telephone, and newspaper 
 publicity. This list does not exhaust all the expedients which 
 have been adopted in various cities in order to make sure that 
 collections remain at a high percentage. 
 
 128 
 
Albany has a permanent organization known as the Loyal 
 Legion, which is maintained in order to conduct campaigns of 
 every sort and to follow up payments whenever it becomes nec- 
 essary to do personal work. 
 
 Dayton, Ohio, is maintaining the organization of the women 
 of the homes division and they are to go to delinquents in order 
 to remind them. The same system is being employed in Detroit. 
 Terre Haute, which reported that there was a large percentage 
 of delinquents in the voluntary payment group, gives the names 
 to the lieutenants each month. In that city, however, the lieu- 
 tenants are not intended to make collections but simply to act 
 as personal visitors to jog the memories of delinquents, or to 
 find out if there is reason for the delinquency and to try to brin^ 
 improvement. Philadelphia has tentatively decided to follow 
 the plan in operation in Dayton and Albany. Glens Falls and 
 Herkimer are other cities which use the original solicitor in 
 following up delinquent payments. 
 
 Melrose, Mass., sends a written reminder which reads: 
 
 "You are reminded thaft paymeint on your enlistment dated , 
 
 amounting to , has not yet been received. The success of 
 
 the entire enterprise and the part our city is to play in bearing its 
 share of the national funds' depends upon the regularity of our monthly 
 receipts. All disbursements are made monthly and it is important 
 that funds be promptly available to meet the urgent needs of our 
 relief work. All members of the association are earnestly urged to 
 cooperate by making their monthly payments promptly and thereby 
 save delay, expense and burden of work to the officers." 
 
 At the end of six months operation, Melrose plans to have a 
 supplementary campaign using the original organization of 
 solicitors. At that time all delinquents who have fallen seri- 
 ously behind will be interviewed* personally in order to discover, 
 if possible, the reason and restore them to proper activity. At 
 this same time newcomers in the community and those who 
 were missed in the first drive will be seen. Butte, Montana, 
 sends first a w^ritten reminder, and if that does not bring results, 
 a paid collector is sent. 
 
 Bolton Landing, N. Y., plans to publish the names of those 
 who are seriously behind in their payments. Inasmuch as the 
 population there is only 1200, it is possible for the war chest 
 officials to investigate each case and probably no serious in- 
 justice would result from the operation of that plan. The same 
 idea is to be put in operation in Mount Sterling, Ohio. That 
 town, also, has a small population and there is no reason why it 
 should bring serious difficulties. It is extremely doubtful 
 whether it would be possible to apply this scheme fairly in a 
 large community, inasmuch as there are frequently legitimate 
 reasons for delinquency and it would absolutely be unfair to 
 pillory individuals before the public unless their cases had been 
 
 129 
 
thoroughly investigated. Newberry, Michigan, has gone even 
 further and states that the county committee ''may bring action 
 for unpaid contributions if they deem it advisable." It is serious- 
 ly doubtful whether any war chest officials would go that far 
 in practice. It might conceivably be done in one case which 
 had been thoroughly investigated for its moral effect, but even 
 so, it seems extremely questionable whether it would be a wise 
 plan. While the pledge may be put in legal form, and while 
 persons who do not act in good faith ought to have brought 
 home to them the improper character of their action, the war 
 chest is, after all, a free-will offering and when it ceases to be 
 such it is not worth while attempting to collect money forcibly. 
 A war chest should never threaten to do something which it 
 does not intend to do in practice, because it loses its claim upon 
 public confidence by so doing. 
 
 Nutley, N. J., follows up their delinquents through the 
 members of the home guard, a plan w^hich some other cities have 
 followed. Racine uses a somewhat conspicuous follow-up 
 slip for a reminder which reads as follows : 
 
 "Allow us to remind you that your subscription has not been 
 
 received for the period ending We trust that a gentle 
 
 reminder of this kind will bring immediate respons-e and may we ask 
 you to remit promptly in future. Postage means money out of our 
 funds and you will appreciate that every cent is needed for our sol- 
 dier boys, their dependents and other sufferers." 
 
 The number of war chests which make use of paid collectors 
 is relatively small, certainly a very distinct minority. A few, 
 however, regard this as a wise method of procedure. Butte, 
 Mont., for example, reports that the best method of making 
 collections is to have a live collector who will handle the matter 
 in a business-like fashion. Other war chests which have adopt- 
 ed this plan are Coaldale, Elkhart, Ilion, and Kane. Other 
 cities object to this plan on the ground that where there is a 
 collector, people will get in the habit of waiting until he comes 
 before they get around to make their payment. Normally this 
 work is done by volunteers because it is thought that it has a 
 better moral effect, is more likely to be properly done, and is 
 less expensive. 
 
 Bookkeeping and Accounting. 
 
 The problem of handling the war chest accounts varies a 
 great deal with the size of the city and the nature of the pledges 
 which are taken. It would not be possible to set forth in full 
 detail any large number of bookkeeping practices and it is not 
 possible either to lay down categorical judgment as to which 
 system is best. 
 
 What this report shall attempt, therefore, is a brief sum- 
 mary of a few of the more notable points in some of the systems 
 
 130 
 
which have been adopted, without pretending to deal with the 
 matter comprehensively. The intention is that it shall be sug- 
 gestive rather than descriptive. Every city will have to devise 
 its own system of bookkeeping. The points dealt with here 
 may be helpful in avoiding pitfalls or in suggesting methods 
 which might otherwise not be thought of. 
 
 The Salem System — A scheme of bookkeeping and account- 
 ing was devised for Salem, Mass., by Mr. J. Chester Crandell, 
 C. P. A., 110 State Street, Boston, Mass., and its use is depend- 
 ent on his consent. 
 
 The idea underlying the system is to make it at once rapid, 
 simple, air-tight against errors, and possible to audit both com- 
 pletely and speedily. Each subscriber was given a permanent 
 number which was entered on his pledge card, which in turn was 
 filed in an envelope, also numbered. There was, in the second 
 place, an alphabetical card index showing the name of the in- 
 dividual, his address, his number, and also the number of the 
 envelope in which his pledge card was filed. 
 
 In the third place, each subscriber was given an envelope 
 with twelve slips, at the top and bottom of which his number 
 was printed. The subscriber in making payment entered his 
 name, address, and amount on a slip which he brought with 
 him to the war chest office. If he failed to bring his slip, there 
 was a slip of distinctive color at the payment counter which 
 he could fill out and the clerk ascertained his number from the 
 alphabetical index, entering it upon his payment slip. 
 
 When the subscriber presented his money and the deposit 
 slip the clerk verified the two and rang up the payment in a 
 cash register, inserting the deposit slip in a slot at the side. 
 The register printed the number of the transaction, the date, 
 and the amount on both the upper and the lower part of the 
 slip, cut it in two, and deposited the upper part in the lock box, 
 the lower part being returned to the subscriber as a receipt. 
 The amount of course is rung up in plain sight of the subscriber 
 and appears both on the deposit slip and on the cash register 
 tape. 
 
 At the end of the day the cash register tape is totaled and 
 the deposit slips taken from the lock box and arranged in the 
 sequence of the transactions in order to make certain that none 
 has been lost. If in ringing up on the cash register a mistake 
 is made the receipt which would ordinarily go to the customer 
 is stamped "Error" and notation is made on the back of the 
 nature of the error. The spoiled receipt is retained and a new 
 slip of distinctive color made out and put through the machine. 
 At the close of the day when the deposit slips have been arrang- 
 ed in the order of the transactions these "Error" slips are readily 
 distinguished and are attached to the corresponding correct slips 
 in order that the auditor may check them up and a pen and ink 
 notation of correction is made on the cash register tape. 
 
 131 
 
The deposit slips are then re-sorted according to their 
 pledge numbers. This is done in order to post rapidly, for the 
 ledger cards are filed numerically, a standard Library Bureau 
 card being used with numbered tabs so that only one card is 
 touched in selecting any individual's ledger account. 
 
 The next step is posting to the individual accounts. The 
 posting consists simply in stamping the date of payment in the 
 proper space on the card, unless the individual has paid an odd 
 amount. The regular monthly payment appears at the top of 
 the card and experience has shown that people almost without 
 fail pay in .multiples of one month, not a month and a half, or 
 three weeks, or any other part of a month. Hence, the amount 
 of entry which has to be made by hand proves in practice to be 
 extremely small. 
 
 The amounts thus posted are put on the adding machine, 
 and if the total agrees with the total of the cash register tape 
 and the total of the deposit slips, it is obvious that the books 
 balance. 
 
 The cash register tape for each day is then pasted in a 
 scrap book with proper notation of correction of errors, and 
 becomes the cash book. The deposit slips for each day are put 
 in an envelope and dated, so that when the auditor takes the 
 books, or if ever any question arises, every single transaction 
 can be readily located. 
 
 Finally there is a loose-leaf book called "the register of 
 pledges." This is arranged in a series of columns showing from 
 left to right the serial number of the pledge, the number of 
 the report envelope in which the original pledge card is located, 
 the name, address, cash payment at the time the pledge was 
 given, and the monthly pledge. 
 
 This system is rapid and practically proof against error 
 in its application. The difficulty that people fail to bring in 
 their deposit slips is one which must be faced, 'because that 
 involves looking up their ledger numbers in the alphabetical 
 file. On the other hand, it may fairly be said that it is neces- 
 sary to look up relatively few, v/hereas if ledger cards are filed 
 alphabetically all would have to be looked up in some stage of the 
 operations. 
 
 Philadelphia — A war chest like that of Philadelphia and 
 vicinity with 500,000 accounts involves a tremendous problem. 
 The system used there was developed by Mr. Schoenbucher, C. 
 P. A., the Comptroller, who enlisted a number of certified pub- 
 lic accountants to take care of the work in several collection 
 districts and obtained in this way voluntary service, the cost of 
 which if paid for at the usual rates would have amounted to 
 several thousand dollars. 
 
 This plan is built about a coupon book, the cover and first 
 two pages of which are marked with one operation on the type- 
 writer by means of carbons and show the name, address, total 
 
 132 
 
subscription, and monthly payment. The first page is a ledger 
 card, which beside the other data shows the district number 
 and the number of the individual account and has spaces for 
 twelve payments. The third sheet is identical but of distinctive 
 color, and is to be used for follow-up work. The remaining 
 sheets are coupons and stubs, the coupon to be used as a deposit 
 slip and the stub for receipt. Both bear the district number 
 and the account number. 
 
 When an individual makes his payment at any bank he 
 must carry his coupon book with him. If he forgets his book 
 there is no way for the bank to discover his number as there is 
 in Salem, because of the decentralized method of collection. 
 The bank in such a case must make out a memorandum. In 
 normal cases, however, the individual fills out his coupon and 
 stub with name, amount, etc., the bank stamps the receipt on 
 the stub, and retains the coupon and the money. It puts the 
 money on deposit to the order of the treasurer and sends the 
 coupons in stout manilla envelops to Drexel & Company, Treas- 
 urer, with a letter of advice stating the number and amount of 
 coupons. 
 
 The treasurer has a ledger marked "sundry depositaries" 
 which contains an account with each bank. As the letters of 
 advice come in they are retained by the treasurer for his post- 
 ing, the number and total of the coupons is marked on the out- 
 side of the envelope, and the envelope is then sent with its 
 contents to war chest headquarters. 
 
 Each envelope is opened separately and the contents sorted 
 for that bank by districts. The total from each envelope must 
 equal that bank's letter of advice. In case the banks have re- 
 ceived payments without coupons they have enclosed memoranda 
 which are at this point checked up in an alphabetical file and 
 proper coupons substituted. 
 
 The coupons from each bank are then listed according to 
 districts with the bank's number as well as name at the top 
 of the sheet. Then the bundles of coupons, each with the bank's 
 number on the outside, are thrown on a table which is built 
 with boxes for each of the eight districts. Then the bank sheets 
 are totaled for each district on a Duplex Burroughs, which 
 shows the total for each district as well as the grand total. 
 This of course again proves the account. 
 
 The coupons for each division, still in bank bundles, are 
 sent to the proper divisional accountants. These men list the 
 coupons from each bank by their amounts and also by their 
 serial numbers, the total for each bank as well as the grand 
 total being taken on a Duplex Burroughs. This, of course, has 
 to prove with the chief accountant's total. In doing this the 
 total of the serial numbers is al^o taken for purposes which 
 will appear later. The sheet just described becomes the cash 
 book for that district and is its fundamental record. 
 
 133 
 
The coupons are then sorted in their numerical order and 
 the amounts are posted to the subscriber's accounts, which are 
 arranged numerically and as the cards are posted they are 
 ended up in the tray. The posting in Philadelphia is done by 
 hand though there is no particular reason apparent why it could 
 not be done with a rubber stamp or by machine. 
 
 When the posting is complete the amounts together with 
 the serial numbers of the ledger cards are put on the Duplex 
 Burroughs. The total of the posting must agree with the day's 
 total received. The totals of the serial numbers must agree 
 with the previous totals of the serial numbers, this serving as a 
 practical guarantee that no money has been posted to the wrong 
 account, because the serial numbers are such a haphazard col- 
 lection that the chance of getting a similar total from two sets 
 is entirely negligible. 
 
 Albany — Albany has adopted what is practically a straight 
 savings bank system with ledger cards of four colors, one each 
 for annual, semi-annual, quarterly, and monthly payments. A 
 Burroughs posting machine and Library Bureau cards are used. 
 The deposit slip is made out by the cashier, the original being 
 returned to the subscriber as a receipt and the carbon retained 
 as a deposit slip. 
 
 Glens Falls — In this city the individual makes out a deposit 
 slip and the account is at once put on the cash book and posted 
 to an ordinary savings bank ledger card of distinctive color for 
 the different methods of payment. There is a sheet which is 
 used by factories in making payments for their employees which 
 besides the serial number shows the name of the firm and in 
 the spaces below the names of the subscribers and the amounts. 
 There is also a column for remarks in order that a record may 
 be kept of persons who leave or enter their employ. 
 
 Syracuse — Syracuse after having employed for a year a 
 system built about a ledger arranged by street and number is 
 changing to a system which rests on the ordinary savings bank 
 methods. Their plan is interesting because, like Detroit and 
 a few others, they do not propose to carry a separate ledger card 
 for each subscriber who pays through some group but intend 
 to have only one ledger card for each factory, store, or other 
 collection unit. 
 
 For each factory or store there is a sheet showing the firm 
 name, address, and telephone number, then a list of employees 
 with the amounts of the yearly subscriptions, followed by twelve 
 columns in which check marks may be put for payments each 
 month. When the factory reports the payments the amounts 
 are not entered at all on these sheets but simply a check mark 
 is made for purposes of doing the work rapidly. On .this sheet 
 too any necessary notes will be made, such as ''left employ", 
 "drafted", etc. This makes it possible, without carrying a 
 ledger account, to tell an individual if he inquires how he stands, 
 
 134 
 
or to make out a ledger account for him if it becomes necessary 
 to carry his account individually. It would seem a rather better 
 plan to me to rule the back of the pledge cards, to file these 
 according to their factory groups, and to do the checking on the 
 back of the pledge cards instead of having them on sheets. 
 The reason for this suggestion is that in the course of a year 
 a good many names will have to be entered on these sheets 
 which will require either interlinear corrections or the aban- 
 donment of alphabetical order, and' many transcriptions of 
 names will inevitably have to be made. On the other hand, 
 if the cards are used, it will be necessary only to transfer the 
 position of the individual's card in the file, thus saving a good 
 deal of labor. 
 
 Columlms — A subscriber on paying at the war chest office 
 fills out a deposit slip shov,dng the amount, name, and address. 
 This is given in at the cashier's window and a cash register 
 receipt received in return. These slips are filed until the close 
 of the day, at which time they are posted into a cashier's counter 
 collection sheet which shows the subscriber's name, address, 
 and the number of the bank on which the check is drawn, as 
 well as the amount. These entries are made after the slips 
 have been sorted alphabetically and are posted to the counter 
 collection sheets in alphabetical order. This is done for con- 
 venience in posting to the ledger at a later time. 
 
 After the counter collection sheets are written up each is 
 totaled, dated, signed by the cashier, and entered on his cash 
 book. Obviously the total of the counter collection sheets and 
 the cash register total must agree. 
 
 The sheets are then sent to the bookkeeping department 
 which posts the amounts to the ledger cards and the sheets are 
 then put in a binder as part of the permanent record, being 
 numbered consecutively for the convenience of the auditor. 
 
 The ledger cards are filed alphabetically save that those 
 of subscribers in collection units are kept together so that they 
 can be more conveniently posted. In such cases instead of 
 using a counter collection sheet the unit is sent a similar sheet 
 with the names of subscribers and amounts due, which on its 
 return carries the amounts paid. These sheets are signed by 
 the cashier and the material on them is then posted to the 
 ledger cards and the sheet put in a binder in the same way as 
 counter collection sheets. 
 
 The same plan is eniployed in Springfield, 0., and Daji;on, 
 0., with some local modifications. All these cities either have 
 begun or are now considering the use of machines for posting. 
 
 Detroit — The only thing which it is necessary to say about 
 the Detroit system of bookkeeping is that it has open accounts 
 only for the individual subscribers, for each factory, or other 
 unit of collection. The difficulties resulting from labor turn- 
 over which are normal to this system are obviated by the fact 
 
 135 
 
that the factories of Detroit underwrite the subscriptions of 
 their employees. Thus the war chest office receives the same 
 amount from each factory each month and there is no need 
 to devise a system for explaining discrepancies. 
 
 In the individual subscribers' division people in making 
 their payments dictate the names and addresses which are put 
 on the receipt slips, which are numbered and made out in dupli- 
 cate by carbon at the war chest office, in triplicate elsewhere, 
 the original going to the subscriber, the first copy to the war 
 chest, and the second copy being retained by the local collection 
 agency. 
 
 At the war chest office when fifty people have paid and 
 the receipt book is exhausted the teller retires, balances the 
 accounts, puts the money and slips in an envelope, and then 
 turns the envelope with its contents over to the auditor. 
 
 Conclusions — It is not necessary to describe other book- 
 keeping systems. It may be said that, in view of the experience 
 of cities which have been very frank in their statements, there 
 should be a separate ledger account for each individual, unless 
 the Detroit plan of having factory and store subscriptions un- 
 derwritten is employed. Second, the ledger cards of those who 
 make their payments in groups through the units collection 
 system should be filed according to their units and preferably 
 in the order of the factory or store payroll. Third, there is no 
 reason why in unit collections the posting should not be done 
 with an ordinary rubber stamp showing only the date, so long 
 as the amount of the monthly payment appears at the top of the 
 card, or a posting machine may be used, simply locking in the 
 folio number of the factory report sheet and putting the cards 
 either in the order in which they appear on the factory report 
 without bothering to record the amounts in each individual 
 case. Fourth, it is distinctly advisable on the factory collec- 
 tion sheet to have a columm for delinquencies for, while it will 
 be seldom used on account of the deduction plan, an individual 
 may have been laid off or may have been ill or for other reasons 
 may have become temporarily behind, and if no provision is 
 made on the sheet this may cause some slight confusion. Fifth, 
 the use of the coupon system after the fashion of Salem and 
 Philadelphia is a very convenient method, particularly if com- 
 munities are small enough so that people can be reminded 
 through publicity to bring in their coupons. 
 
 There are only one or two other matters which require any 
 comment. For the most part they are of trifling character, yet 
 they may cause a good deal of difficulty. In the first place, 
 it is far better to use ledger cards manufactured in standard 
 form by some regular concern. In the present condition of the 
 market if one has his own ledger cards made locally the stock 
 of different orders is not likely to be absolutely uniform and 
 there will often be trifling differences in size. Both these de- 
 
 136 
 
fects, tiny as they are, make handling difficult. In the second 
 place, it is well to warn against the use of blue cards if the 
 shade is at all dark, because it is trying on the eyes and some- 
 times difficult to decipher, particularly if posting is done with 
 pen and ink and a blotter used. In the third place, it is of 
 doubtful wisdom — though done by many cities — to use the back 
 of the pledge card as the ledger card. The reason for this 
 judgment is that in copying on the typewriter on the reverse 
 side the stenographer must carry all the data in her memory, 
 and copying therefore is more difficult. Moreover the cards 
 are likely to be rumpled somewhat; furthermore, since one 
 wishes almost inevitably to have a duplicate file for purposes 
 of safety and copies must be made anyway there is no particu- 
 lar reason why the copies should not be put onto the ledger 
 card. In the fourth place, it is very desirable in the course of 
 the campaign to have the factories or other collection units 
 retain the pledge cards of their men and make out the first 
 payment reports sheets in their own payroll order. Many 
 pledge cards are so nearly illegible that they are hard to de- 
 cipher, and after they have been turned in, it is difficult to 
 resort them into their proper factory groups. If, on the other 
 hand, they are retained at the factory the office force, being 
 familiar with the names, can readily decipher them and there 
 is no problem of sorting them into factory groups to be faced. 
 Moreover the report comes in in proper order and ledger cards 
 may be made out speedily and accurately. This idea which 
 appears to have originated in Rochester has proved to be a 
 splendid time saver. 
 
 It is pointed out elsewhere that it is unwise from a book- 
 keeping standpoint to have pledges taken on the basis of per- 
 centages or on the basis of so much time a week, because in 
 some months there are five pay days, but not in the same months 
 in different establishments owing to the use of different pay 
 days. It is, consequently, difficult for the war chest books 
 to be kept in such a way that they may be readily audited. This 
 also presents the difficulty that the variation in a man's rate 
 of pay makes an alteration in his subscription, which is con- 
 fusing to the bookkeepers. Speaking from a bookkeeping 
 standpoint, therefore, subscriptions should be taken for a defi- 
 nite amount and not on the basis of a percentage or so many 
 hours a week. Some cities, while recognizing this fact, feel 
 nevertheless that there are such notable advantages of other 
 sorts in this method that this disadvantage must be borne. 
 
 137 
 
CHAPTER FIVE. 
 
 DISBURSEMENTS. 
 
 Administrative Expenses. 
 
 The nature and size of the administrative expenses of war 
 chests and the methods employed in meeting them are extremely 
 varied. In large cities the business is so great that expenses 
 necessarily multiply. In one prominent city, for example, the 
 war chest has three times as many accounts as the largest bank 
 and very many more than the largest public utility. The ad^ 
 ministration of a fund of several millions of dollars with so 
 many contributors to be followed up obviously requires expert 
 work, which normally cannot be had on a satisfactory basis 
 from volunteers though in some cases it is possible to use volun- 
 teer help. Smaller funds, on the other hand, require much less 
 office work and in a very small community the problem of col- 
 lections may become so simple that practically no expense is 
 involved. It is impossible therefore to make a flat and catego- 
 rical statement with regard to administrative expenses. The 
 solution of the problems connected with this must be local. 
 Large cities unquestionably need in each case an expert execu- 
 tive secretary and competent office staff, but by laying suffi- 
 cient emphasis upon collections through stores and factories 
 and by other efficient means they can keep the cost to a very 
 low percentage. Size, methods of collections, bookkeeping 
 methods, the possibility of securing volunteers, these and many 
 other factors have a bearing. 
 
 Of the cities which have reported about twenty have a paid 
 executive secretary or office manager. Almost none has any 
 other sort of paid officers though a few do have paid treasurers. 
 Most of the rest employ only clerical help. There is one struct- 
 ural difficulty which needs attention if a paid office manager 
 is employed. Frequently questions of policy come before him 
 and in some cities there is not sufficiently close integration 
 between the executive committee and the office force. 
 
 The methods of meeting administrative expenses vary as 
 widely as the expenses themselves. A number report that there 
 are no expenses. These fall into three classes : first, those who 
 use voluntary assistance entirely; second, those in which the 
 municipality takes care of all the bills; and, third, those in 
 which some bank has undertaken to take care of the whole 
 problem. A rather surprising number report no expenses. 
 Generally they are small communities. 
 
 138 
 
Most of the cities meet the necessary expenses out of the 
 war chest funds themselves ; others have separate funds to take 
 care of the expenses of the campaign and the expense of admin- 
 istration. Still others have separate campaign funds, but take 
 the running expenses from the war chest. 
 
 The argument in favor of a separate fund is that it saves 
 the war chest from a great deal of criticism on the part of peo- 
 ple who do not appreciate how large the administrative problem 
 is, and who would therefore object to an office force and the 
 payment of help because it looks to them like "graft." 
 
 Columbus reported, for example, that this "question was 
 raised at the outset, and while the committee realized that in 
 some instances the contribution to the separate fund might in 
 practice amount only to a deduction from that individual's sub- 
 scription to the war chest, they pointed out that it came, never- 
 theless, from a person who recognized the need for an office 
 force, and did not come from the subscription of a person who 
 objected to the use of any part of his money for such purposes. 
 It is carrying to its logical conclusion the privilege of allowing 
 a man to designate how his gift shall be used. Just as men 
 might be narrow-minded and indicate on their cards that they 
 did not want some certain funds to participate, so these men 
 could be broad-minded and indicate in this fashion their willing- 
 ness that portions of their gifts should be used to pay office 
 expenses. 
 
 Columbus and the other cities which adopted this plan feel 
 that it was one of their very best advertising features, and 
 they played it up strongly that every cent contributed went to 
 the soldiers and that not a penny would go into salaries or ex- 
 penses of any kind. All agree that the results were notable 
 in enlargements in the sums of money collected. It is evident 
 that this line of argument has convinced the officials of the 
 Red Cross, for it will be remembered that great stress was laid 
 at the time of its Second War Fund drive upon the fact that 
 $1.02 was spent for every dollar collected, that not a cent of 
 the War Fund went into expenses, and that the interest derived 
 actually increased each dollar by two cents. This was felt to 
 be a splendid advertising feature and one which produced large- 
 ly. There is this other statement to be made in favor of this 
 idea, namely, that it relieves some of the pressure upon those 
 in charge of the administration of the fund and allows them 
 to do things which might seem extravagant to many, but which 
 from the point of view of business administration, will pay in 
 the end — for example, the purchasing of expensive machinery, 
 such as cash registers, posting machines, etc. 
 
 It ought to be said, further, that in a number of cities the 
 war chest officials vigorously assert that the subscriptions for 
 the separate administration funds are not simply deductions 
 from subscriptions of the individuals in question to the war 
 
 139 
 
chest, but in many cases represent additional subscriptions, so 
 that the raising of this fund in itself represents a net addition 
 to the amount of money at the disposal of the war chest. 
 
 Cities which follow the contrary practice and meet the cost 
 of administration out of the fund itself, insist that it is the 
 only way in Avhich they can really play fair with the public. 
 They feel that the idea that a fund of som.e millions of dollars 
 can be administered without expense is one which ought not to 
 be encouraged. They insist that if the matter is faced frankly 
 and openly on a common-sense basis no friction will develop. 
 Admitting that a valuable advertising feature is lost, they argue 
 that the war chest has sufficient emotional appeal in other di- 
 rections and that it cannot be a purely monetary affair, but 
 must have some educational value. These consideration have led 
 many cities to meet the cost of administration out of the fund. 
 Looking over the lists of those cities which do use separate 
 funds and those which do not, it is very difficult indeed to see 
 that one is predominantly more successful than the other. 
 
 A few cities which met the expenses from the war chest 
 itself felt that in order to reassure the public and at the same 
 time ensure cautious and economical administration on the part 
 of the officers, they ought to set a maximum. A typical illus- 
 tration of this type of restriction is furnished by the by-laws of 
 the Citizens' War Fund Association of Springfield, Mass., which 
 gives power to the board of trustees as follows : 
 
 "If necessary to meet the expenses of the Association, the board 
 may appropriate therefor moneys from the general funds, not exceed- 
 ing 1^/^% of the total amount collected in any one year." 
 
 Other cities have adopted 1% as the amount which the com- 
 mittee is permitted to expend. 
 
 There is no particular value in stating the amounts which 
 committees have used for expenses, because they have meaning 
 only when put in relation to other factors. It is interesting to 
 notice, however, what percentages of the total are used by va- 
 rious cities. Burlington, Iowa, reports its cost of administra- 
 tion at 11/2 %> ^i^d Janesville, Wis., at 1%. Kenosha, Wis., re- 
 ports 0.9% for cost of administration and, if the cost of the 
 campaign is included in the cost of administration, about 1.5%. 
 Meriden estimates that the campaign alone cost about 1%, the 
 cost of collection not being determined. Michigan City, Ind., 
 finds that the cost of administration amounts to 2% ; Nutley, 
 N. J., to less than 2%; Plymouth, Ind., much less than 1%; 
 Sheboygan, Wis., about 1% ; York, Pa., for administration costs, 
 including the cost of the drive, 0.75%. Syracuse, N. Y., which 
 has had the longest experience in this matter, reports that at 
 the close of a year's operation the cost of administration has 
 been less than 1% of the total amount collected and that more 
 than half of that amount was gained by the war chest through 
 interest on its deposits. 
 
 140 
 
On the whole after hearing the arguments of both sides 
 and considering the evidence which has been sent in, and which 
 has been gathered by personal observation, it seems to me that 
 the balance of the argument is in favor of meeting the expenses 
 from the fund itself, that from the standpoint of its educative 
 value it is the fair and wise thing to do, and that if a candid 
 policy is pursued the monetary loss resulting from the refusal 
 of prejudiced persons to subscribe is so slight as to be virtually 
 negligible. Although many cities feel that the adoption of a 
 separate administration expense fund has brought them large 
 sums of money, it is impossible to check up their estimates. 
 Cities which have paid the expenses out of the fund feel that it 
 has not lost them any money. It is equally impossible to check 
 up their estimates. The whole problem therefore must remain 
 in last analysis a matter of opinion. 
 
 Budgets. 
 
 The problem of disbursing the funds collected for the war 
 chest has unquestionably been the most difficult and delicate 
 of the tasks involved. It is one, moreover, in which experience 
 has not yet given so sure a guide as in many other of the 
 questions which the war chest raises. Most war chests have 
 not been long enough in existence to furnish a real test of the! 
 value of their disbursing methods, so that one might reach a 
 definite conclusion as to the very best form. 
 
 The ideal method of disbursing money from a war chest 
 is to follow a previously prepared budget. The budget princi- 
 ple is distinctly in keeping with the war chest idea. It is also 
 by far the best method to pursue from a psychological point of 
 view. Unquestionably it gives people a very much better men- 
 tal attitude and inspires confidence in them and brings home 
 the concrete character of the needs if a budget with some detail 
 is published. 
 
 Furthermore the adoption of the budget system avoids any 
 possibility of these large aggregations of money being regarded 
 loy some relief organizations as a sort of grab-bag. That is a 
 problem which must be faced, because there are so many organ- 
 izations in the field, many of them duplicative and some un- 
 worthy, that care must be exercised. 
 
 Aside from the budget method the best means for meeting 
 this situation is to make up and publish an accurate list of all 
 causes which are to receive support in advance of the time of 
 the drive. 
 
 Turning to a study of war chest practice in this matter 
 it becomes evident that there are two very different sorts of 
 so-called ''budgets." The first is common to almost all kinds 
 of war chests and amounts, practically speaking, to a more or 
 less careful survey of the presumptive demands upon the com- 
 
 141 
 
munity for the ensuing year, in order to determine what 
 amount is to be raised through the war chest. The second type, 
 much less common, is an itemized statement of the proposed ex- 
 penditures from the war chest after the money has been raised. 
 
 Taking up the first type and analyzing the illustrations 
 of it so far as possible, it becomes evident that there are extra- 
 ordinary differences in the proportions which the several com- 
 munities feel ought to be maintained between the different war 
 auxiliary organizations. One method of reaching the propor- 
 tions is to take as the basis for computation the amount raised 
 in the community during the previous year and then to assume 
 that ''the demands of all these organizations for the coming 
 year will be greatly in excess of last year's requirements and the 
 amounts provided for in the war chest" must be sufficient to 
 meet these. The result of this process in the city in question 
 was that the Second War Fund of the American Red Cross 
 was set down for $10,000 and the Y. M. C. A. for $12,000, though 
 it is only fair to say that they planned to make separate pro- 
 vision for the local chapter of the Red Cross in the sum of 
 $10,000, so that the appearance of giving more to the Y. M. C. A. 
 than to the Red Cross is not wholly accurate. In that same city 
 the K. of C. and Y. M. C. A. were figured in the budget in the 
 ratio of five to twelve, which proves to be a fairly accurate 
 forecast of the actual situation as it appears to have developed 
 since. Most cities, on the other hand, while they do employ 
 this method to some extent, use also other factors in attemping 
 to forecast the needs of the war chest. Frequently they write 
 to the various organizations to which they propose to give funds 
 and ask for a preliminary estimate of how much is going to 
 be required in the next financial campaign and then on the 
 basis of their previous quotas in relation to given totals they 
 figure out the probable demand which will be made upon them. 
 
 One city gives the Red Cross War Fund $7,000, but the 
 local Red Cross chapter $50,000 — certainly a most extraordi- 
 nary ratio. It also gives the Red Cross membership $5,000, 
 making a total for all Red Cross purposes of $62,000. That 
 same city plans to subscribe $5,000 for the Y. M. C. A., and 
 the Y. M. C. A. and K. of C. are to be supported in the ratio 
 of five to four. Another city planned to give the Red Cross 
 War Fund $12,500 and its local chapter $81,000. Still another 
 instance reveals that the budget committee planned that the 
 Red Cross and Y. M. C. A. should get roughly equal amounts,, 
 the Red Cross about $240,000 and the Y. M. C. A. approximately 
 $250,000. The K. of C. in this case was set down at $50,000, 
 in a ratio with the Y. M. C. A. of about one to five, and the 
 Armenian and Syrian Relief at the same amount. Another 
 illustration of the results reached is furnished by one city which 
 provided in its preliminary estimates $12,000 for the local chap- 
 ter of the Red Cross, $10,000 for the War Fund, and $3,500 
 
 142 
 
for the Y. M. C. A., which is a ratio wholly out of relation to 
 the actual demands which will be made upon the community 
 as we now see them. This same community planned to give 
 the K. of C. $1,000, which gave that organization in comparison 
 with the Y. M. C. A. a ratio of one to three and one-half. 
 
 There is a type of budget which stands mid-way between 
 these preliminary estimates and the other type which will be 
 dealt with in a moment, namely, a tentative schedule or basis 
 which is prepared for the disbursement committee, but which 
 the disbursement committee uses only for its own information 
 and is not by any means bound to follow. One such budget 
 gave the Pwed Cross seven times as much as the Y. M. C. A. and 
 proposed to support the Y. M. C. A. and K. of C. in the ratio of 
 five to four. Another was expressed in percentages and called 
 for giving the Red Cross 70%, the Y. M. C. A. 15%, and the 
 K. of C. 8%. 
 
 It must be repeated and emphasized that these so-called 
 ^'budgets" do not represent either actual or even prospective 
 disbursements in most cases, but simply preliminary studies to 
 determine the goal of the drive. Many of the apparent absur- 
 dities in them will, in consequence, disappear in actual disburse- 
 ments when the demands of the organizations are known more 
 accurately than they could be known at the time when the war 
 chests were put in operation, and reports from the various 
 cities with regard to their productivity make it perfectly obvi- 
 ous that almost all of them have sufficiently large contingent 
 funds and over-subcriptions so that they will not fail to measure 
 up to the quotas which may be assigned them. In many cases 
 the funds will far exceed them. 
 
 Even if one assumed contrary to fact that these represent- 
 ed actual disbursements, they would still be an improvement so 
 far as results are concerned over the drive system. Experience 
 has shown that it is extremely difficult to find out how much 
 was given for war relief last year in cities operating under the 
 drive system and so to determine the relative amounts which 
 went to the several organizations. Only the chairmen of the 
 several drives had accurate information, and for many agencies 
 which solicited only by mail or which approached relatively 
 few individuals, there are usually no records whatever. When, 
 however, such figures were available in anything like complete 
 form they showed in many cases no reasonable proportions 
 maintained in the amounts of support accorded the several 
 agencies. For example, in many communities the Y. M. C. A. 
 War Fund received more money than the Red Cross War Fund, 
 though the Y. M. C. A. called for only about one-third as much 
 as the Red Cross and raised in the country at large only about 
 one-half as much as the Red Cross. 
 
 This is not the place, nor is it necessary, to go into a de- 
 tailed analysis of the proportion of the community gift which 
 
 143 
 
went to the several agencies under the drive system. It is 
 sufficient to remember that whatever the lack of uniformity 
 and the occasional absurdity in war chests cities, the results 
 in the latter appear to be more sane and more nearly in accord 
 with the needs of the case than under the drive system. 
 
 Turning now to the budgets which purported to make some- 
 thing like final distribution of the money, it appears that these 
 are of two sorts. The first is made flexible through the use 
 of over-subscriptions. The second is much more nearly inflex- 
 ible, its only elastic feature being a contingent fund, the use of 
 which is left to the discretion of the disbursement committee. 
 
 The budget of the Rochester Patriotic and Community 
 Fund, so far as it relates to war work, reads as follows : 
 
 "American Red Gross Second War Fund, $750,000 
 
 American Red Crosis Local Work, 500,000 
 
 Young Men's Christian Ass'n War Work, 600,000 
 
 (%% of $80,000,000) 
 Young Women's Christian Ass'n War Work,.... 60,000 
 
 (%% of $8,000,000) 
 Knights of Columbus War Work, 150,000 
 
 (%% of $20,000,000 
 Jewish Relief and Wielfare War Work, 102,000 
 
 (%% of $13,600,000) 
 Contingent Fund, 500,000 
 
 Total, $2,662,000" 
 
 The contingent fund was stated to include "the Salvation Army, 
 Polish Relief, Armenian and Syrian Relief, American Fund for 
 French Wounded, Serbian Aid Fund, Fatherless Children of 
 France, Scottish Women's Hospitals, American Women's Hospi- 
 tals in Europe, Permanent Blind Relief Fund, and any other 
 war fund to which Rochester makes contribution." The bud- 
 get further provided that "in any over-subscription of the total 
 budget presented herewith the major war funds will participate 
 as follows: 
 
 "1 — .The American Red Cross Second War Fund will get prefer- 
 ence up to $375,000 (50% of its quota). Such participation will give 
 that fund $1,125,000, none of which will be subject to refund to the 
 local chapter. 
 
 2 — If the over-subscription exceeds $375,000, the other war funds^ — 
 viz: the American Red Cross (local work), Y. M. C. A. War Work, 
 Y. W. C' A. War Work, K. of C. War Work, Jewish Relief Welfare 
 War Work, and the contingent fund — will participate pro rata until 
 the participation of each amounts to 50%. 
 
 3 — In any over-subscription in excess of such 50% all the major 
 war funds, including the American Red Cross Second War Fund, will 
 participate pro rata." 
 
 144 
 
It is perfectly obvious that the demands of the Fosdick agencies 
 were figured incorrectly, because of the sudden and large in- 
 creases in their amounts which have since taken place. As a 
 matter of fact, however, none of the organizations will suffer 
 because of the extremely careful way in which provision was 
 made for over-subscription. This budget, particularly in its 
 relation to local philanthropies was a very able piece of work. 
 It indicates the opinion of the committee as to the paramount 
 importance of the Red Cross. This is further indicated by the 
 fact that the local work of the Red Cross is given an amount 
 which means that the gifts for the Red Cross will be, roughly, 
 twice those for the Y. M. C. A., and that the Y. M. C. A. is 
 to get about four times as much as the K. of C. This budget, 
 however, demonstrates that the most careful investigation by 
 able men, under the conditions which existed at that time, it 
 was impossible to ascertain even approximately the amounts of 
 money which would be called for bv the various organizations. 
 The Y. M. C. A. demand has since increased $20,000,000, the 
 K. of C. has more than doubled its call, and the Y. W. C. A. has 
 practically doubled its demand. 
 
 Detroit also built a budget on the principle of giving about 
 11/2% of the national quota instead of the %% which Rochester 
 planned for. Like Rochester, Detroit made provision for over- 
 subscription. In the latter city, moreover, the 1V2% was not 
 so rigidly adhered to, for more than that amount was assigned 
 to the Jewish work inasmuch as they had demonstrated the year 
 before that they could raise more money than that percentage 
 of the total would have brought. On the other hand, less than 
 that percentage was assigned to the Armenian and Syrian Re- 
 lief because the organization in charge of that agency had con- 
 sistently failed to get the amount of money which it asked for. 
 
 The Detroit war funds were as follows: 
 
 American Red Cross, $3,000,000 
 
 Young Men's Christian Association, 1,500,000 
 
 Knights of Columbus, 500,000 
 
 Jewish War Sufferers, 325,000 
 
 Armenian and Syrian Relief, 200,000 
 
 Young Women's Christian Association, 150,000 
 
 War Camp Community Service, 112,500 
 
 Salvation Army, 35,000 
 
 Jewish Welfare Board, 25,000 
 
 Reserve Fund, i 500,000 
 
 Tota^, $6,347,500 
 
 Detroit, like Rochester, made provision for pro rata participa- 
 tion in over-subscription of the total amount called for. Inas- 
 much as the $3,000,000 assigned to the Red Cross was to be 
 
 145 
 
divided about equally between the War Fund and the local chap- 
 ter, the ratios of this budget appear to be fairly closely in 
 accord with the demands made, although it cannot be said that 
 they are accurate. 
 
 A more inflexible type of budget is found in Cleveland, 
 which did not adopt the principle of over-subscription and which 
 therefore cannot make with the same ease the corrections of 
 the errors which arise of necessity from the inability of the 
 budget committee to find out accurately what the demands of 
 the various organizations are to be. Cleveland's budget assign- 
 ed the Red Cross a total of $2,500,000, of which 25% was to go 
 to the support of the local Red Cross for which no separate ap- 
 propriation was made. The Y. M. C. A. was assigned less than 
 half the Red Cross amount, getting $1,200,000. The Knights 
 of Columbus was assigned one-fourth the amount of the Y. M. 
 C. A. gift, namely $300,000. There was in addition a contin- 
 gent fund of $650,000, from which "worthy and approved re- 
 quirements for unclassified relief funds will be met as such 
 needs develop during the balance of the year." In fairness to 
 the committee in charge at Cleveland, it ought to be said that 
 in addition to the flexibility introduced by the contingent fund, 
 there is the further fact that the duration of the war chest is 
 only for six months, which makes it much more possible in 
 normal circumstances to look forward and accurately gauge 
 the probable demand. 
 
 This sketch of the operation of budgets under the various 
 plans which have been attempted must not lead to the conclu- 
 sion that the war chest is absurd in the matter. It simply 
 reveals how difficult the situation has been under the condition 
 of almost complete lack of control of war relief agencies, even 
 with the most careful investigation to get an accurate forecast 
 of the demands which are to be made upon the community. 
 As a matter of fact this has not operated in the direction of 
 cutting down the support of the war agencies, because commu- 
 nities have recognized the fact that they could not look forward 
 accurately and have practically always set their goal a good 
 deal beyond the anticipated demands and in almost every in- 
 stance have secured an over-subscription of what tbey did call 
 for. There is every evidence that there will be funds enough 
 and that even in the cities with budgets the proportion of dis- 
 tribution will be fair. 
 
 Other Methods of Disbursement. 
 
 In contrast with the budget system of disbursement em- 
 ployed by a few cities, there is the plan of having the funds of 
 the war chest paid out upon the vote of some com.raittee. 
 
 The composition of this committee varies widely under dif- 
 ferent plans adopted by the several cities. Some are made up 
 
 146 
 
of persons appointed by the Governor as a county committee 
 or war board, or war council, or however it may be known. 
 The most common plan is to have the disbursement committee, 
 made up of the officials variously known as Board of Control, 
 Board of Governors, Board of Trustees, or Executive Commit- 
 tee. In a few instances the disbursing committee is made up 
 of a sub-committee of the trustees, governors, etc. 
 
 The original plan developed by Syracuse has been followed 
 by a large number of war chests. It consists of a committee 
 independent of the trustees, save for two ex-officio members 
 and has but nine members, the small number being one of the 
 essential elements of the plan. The success of this method 
 depends upon the broadly representative character of the per- 
 sonnel and upon the large-mindedness of the m.en and women 
 who compose the disbursement committee, as well as upon their 
 capacity for altering their opinions. This plan has worked out 
 extremely well in Syracuse, N. Y., because in that city the 
 members of the disbursement committee have displayed a keen 
 sense of their responsibilities and have pursued. a policy which 
 has constantly broadened as the war has gone forward. 
 
 A second type of disbursement committee follows practical- 
 ly the same lines save that it is of larger size, usually about 
 fifteen to twenty members. This idea is somewhat more dif- 
 ficult to put in operation because of the fact that it is more 
 difficult to get that many people together, it is harder to get 
 that many to inform themselves thoroughly and reach harmo- 
 nious conclusions. Nevertheless where discretion has been used 
 in the selection of members it has succeeded notably. 
 
 Some cities have felt that in the expenditure of funds there 
 ought to be more than a bare majority recorded in favor of a 
 project, and have made provisions by which an extraordinary 
 majority is required. For example, Kenosha, in its by-laws 
 provides that "no appropriations of any donation funds shall 
 be made without the two-thirds vote of all the members of 
 the committee." The fractions used vary from two-thirds to 
 four-fifths. In many cases where an extraordinary majority 
 is required, the disbursement committee is a much larger body 
 than is usual in most cities, running up occasionally as high 
 as forty or fifty members. The answer to this plan, which is 
 made by those who believe strongly in the practice inaugurated 
 by Syracuse, is that a committee should be so well informed, 
 so open-minded and should take sufficient time so that the 
 sums needed by the various agencies would be voted with sub- 
 stantial unanimity. That is to say they believe such a spirit 
 should be created in the disbursement committee, that no one 
 would press for action until persons of open mind and candid 
 disposition could reach substantial agreement. 
 
 A number of cities have felt that it was necessary to rely, 
 to some extent at least, upon a preliminaiy investigation com- 
 
 147 
 
mittee. Akron, Ohio, for example, has a committee to which is 
 given the task of investigating all requests for funds. After 
 that committee has reported, a budget committee determines 
 whether the quota which has been assigned is proper. The 
 reports of these two committees are then put before the execu- 
 tive committee for final action. This is distinctly the most 
 elaborate illustration of this type of committee that has been re- 
 ported. Occasionally the investigation committee is not per- 
 manent. For example, in Glens Falls a new committee is ap- 
 pointed by the president of the association each time there is 
 an application for funds and, after looking into the matter, they 
 report back to the board of directors for action. 
 
 Nearly all war chests have some method of preliminary in- 
 vestigation, and this is frequently by means of a questionnaire 
 which is sent to the various organizations which desire funds. 
 The Kenosha blank has been used by a number of cities and 
 reads : 
 
 "The society hereby makes application to the Patriots 
 
 Fund Committee, Kenosha County, for the sum of $ , as the 
 
 contributiorn of Kenosha County, Wisconsin,, to cover the period 
 of. _ months, for (main purpose of org-anization). 
 
 Organization. 
 
 1 — Have you a National Organization.? (Yes or No) 
 
 2 — List the Officers therof, with address _ „ 
 
 3 — Have you a Wisconsin State Organization? (Yes or No) _ 
 
 4 — List the Officers thereof, with address „ 
 
 5 — Has this application for funds been authorized by any of the above 
 officials ? (Yes or No) When _ How 
 
 Levy 
 
 6 — Is this application a part of a National Campaign for funds? 
 
 (Yes or No ) „ _ „ „ „. 
 
 7 — Amount to be raised in the United States $ for. 
 
 months' period. 
 
 8 — On what basis was the quota of Kenosha County determined? 
 
 9 — Are equal monthly payment satisfactory? (Yes or No) 
 
 10 — If not, state reason „ _ 
 
 Purpose. 
 
 11 — State specifically how money is to be spent by giving budget, or 
 listing large items „ _ 
 
 12 — Is this work in any way a duplication of the American National 
 
 Red Cross ? (Yes or No) _ _...._ „ 
 
 Or of any other national organization now in existence? (Yes or 
 No)' „ 
 
 13 — Explain as fully as possible, why there should be a special organ- 
 ization for this work 
 
 148 
 
14 — Has this camipaign been approved by: 
 
 a — American National Red Cross? (Yes or No) _ 
 
 b — War Department Commission on Training Camp Activities? 
 
 (Yes or No ) _ _ _ 
 
 c — Wisconsin State Council of Defense? (Yes or No) 
 
 d — Other Authorities? 
 
 15 — ^Has the Wisconsin State Council of Defense made special investi- 
 gation of this appeal for funds ? (Yes or No) When. 
 
 16 — Will you submit reference? _ _...^ 
 
 a — Bank reference _ _ _ 
 
 b — Other references _„ „ _ 
 
 17 — If you have not already done so, please send: 
 
 a — Your printed literature, telling purposes and plans already 
 
 carried out, or in contemplation; _ 
 
 b — Recent printed reports of income and expenditures; _ 
 
 c — Any other data that will assist the committee in- determining 
 the merits of the cause _ _ _ _ 
 
 Salem's blank is as follows: 
 
 Name of National Organization? _ _ _ „ 
 
 Address, _ _ _ 
 
 President, „ _ ^ 
 
 Secretary, _ 
 
 Treasurer, _ _ _ 
 
 Name of Local Branch, „ _ _ 
 
 President, _ _ _ _ „ 
 
 Secretary, „ _ 
 
 Treasurer, 
 
 National amount asked for year 1918, $ _ _ _ _ - 
 
 By whom is this amount determined? ^. 
 
 How do they arrive at their decision? _ „ _ 
 
 National amount raised for year 1917 $ _ _ _ 
 
 Amount asked of Salem for year 1918 $ _ _ _ 
 
 Amount raised in Salem for the year 1917 $ _ 
 
 For what purpose to be expended? (Give detail and budget) 
 
 What was the per capita response in other communities in which cam- 
 paigns were conducted? „ - 
 
 Mention several communities, if possible — 
 
 What amount is now asked for this purpose of Beverly $ , 
 
 Lynn $ , Newburyport $ , Haverhill $ ? 
 
 If award is made, to whom should check be made payable? 
 
 That of Columbus follows: 
 
 The undersigned organization desires to be a recognized War Relief 
 Agency through which the funds of the Columbus Community War 
 
 149 
 
Service shall be distributed and presents the following information for the 
 consideration of the Executive Committee in determining what proportion 
 of its funds should be allotted to this organization. 
 
 1 — Name of Organization _ 
 
 2 — National Address Local Address 
 
 3 — When organized Where. _ 
 
 4 — Objects, 
 
 5 — Whom is organization trying to benefit? 
 
 6 — What is your plan of applying these benefits or accomplishing your 
 
 object? - - -.... 
 
 7 — What other organizations are doing similar work, in whole or in 
 
 part, for the same beneficiaries ? 
 
 8 — Names and addresses of principal officers, _ 
 
 President, 
 
 Vice-President, _ 
 
 Secretary, _ 
 
 Treasurer, - 
 
 Executive Officer, — _ - _ _ 
 
 Chairman Board of Directors, „ _ 
 
 Names of Board of Directors or Controlling Body, 
 
 9 — Names of local officers, - 
 
 Names of local board, 
 
 10 — Explain how moneys and material collected are transmitted and 
 
 distributed to those for whom they are intended, _..... 
 
 11 — Does a copy of last annual report or other reports with itemized 
 statemeiit of incomes and expenditures for past fiscal year or for 
 
 some other period accompany this application? 
 
 If not, why not ? _ 
 
 Period covered by above report, 
 
 12 — When does your fiscal year begin? 
 
 13 — By whom are your accounts audited? 
 
 Date of last audit? 
 
 14 — By whose authorization are your funds distributed? 
 
 15 — How are your checks signed and countersigned? _...„ 
 
 16 — The following are the only paid workers connected with the organ- 
 ization and the following amounts set opposite the names of said 
 workers are the only money compensations received by them as 
 salary, commission or otherwise: 
 
 Name Amount 
 
 17 — What facts will help determine the proper amount for Columbus 
 
 to contribute to this organization? 
 
 a — Total amount to be raised in nation, 
 
 b — Basis of Franklin County quota, if allotments are made, $ 
 
 c — From what sources have you derived your funds heretofore? 
 
 d — Name and address of person in your organization to whom 
 
 checks should be made payable, 
 
 18 — W^i herewith submit: 
 
 a — Copy of last annual report with itemized statement of income 
 and expenditures, _ 
 
 150 
 
b — Copy of last auditor's statement, 
 
 c — Literature showing scope of work and such other information 
 as is available showing to what war needs the funds are 
 applied, 
 
 d — Copy of budget for coming period this application covers, 
 
 The disbursement committee in Youngstown is called a 
 distribution committee. It determines the object which is to 
 receive money and the amount which should be appropriated. 
 If the amount is less than .$10,000, no confirmation of its action 
 by the full board of directors, known as the council, is necessary. 
 If it is more than $10,000, on the other hand, the appropriation 
 must be confirmed by the council. In either case the action of 
 the committee is published ■ for three consecutive days in two 
 daily papers, after which seven days must elapse before any 
 payment is made, presumably to give opportunity for protest 
 and criticism. 
 
 Springfield, Mass., allows disbursements to the previously 
 recognized organizations on a vote of a simple majority of trus- 
 tees, but for any organization not specifically recognized by the 
 war chest association at the time of its drive, a three-quarters 
 vote is necessary. The idea of this, of course, is to prevent raids 
 upon the fund, and its wisdom is demonstrated by the fact that 
 when the success of the war chest was noised abroad, all sorts 
 of organizations called upon it for money. This provision 
 guaranteed against any possibility that raids upon the treasury 
 would be successful. 
 
 Various committees in charge of disbursements for war 
 chests have worked out tentative bases on which to determine 
 what their proper quotas should be. This is frequently express- 
 ed in a percentage of the total national demand for which they 
 feel themselves fairly responsible. Thus, for example, as al- 
 ready indicated, Rochester takes three-quarters per cent, of the 
 national budget and Detroit one and one-half per cent. The 
 difficulty comes from the fact that various cities take different 
 means of reaching percentages. Some go entirely on the basis 
 of population, which is obviously improper. Some go on the 
 basis of a comparison of the total wealth in taxable property, 
 bank deposits, and population in relation to the whole United 
 States. Some derive their pei'centages from their Liberty Loan 
 quotas in relation to the total. Still others determine them on 
 the basis of the amount of money raised last year for the causes 
 to which they contributed and base their percentages on the 
 relation of those amounts to the total raised in the country. 
 Occasionally this work is undertaken for a whole state. For 
 example, the State of Washington, through its council of de- 
 fense, has determined that it will not "approve a quota for the 
 state in excess of 1% of the total quota for the United States." 
 
 151 
 
This is based "on what is considered an equitable ratio of popula- 
 tion and fixed and liquid wealth and is approximately the per- 
 centage asked of this state in the First, Second, and Third Lib- 
 erty Loan campaigns, and in the First and Second Red Cross 
 War Fund campaigns/' There is also a county quota which is 
 fixed by the state council of defense on the basis of school pop- 
 ulation, bank deposits, and equalized assessed valuations in 
 ratio to the corresponding items for the state at large. Then 
 each county's distribution of the quota is determined by the' 
 county council of defense. Thus it becomes evident that states 
 and cities have made serious attempts to develop percentages 
 which will serve as some more or less accurate test of the fair- 
 ness and propriety of the quotas which are assigned them by 
 various organizations and have also attempted to introduce an 
 element of uniformity among these quotas which is wholly lack- 
 ing under the drive system. 
 
 As to the personnel of these various committees, almost 
 always an attempt is made to make them representative of the 
 different classes in the community, it being wise to see that the 
 manufacturers, the merchants, the laborers, the various relig- 
 ious sects, and the women are all properly recognized. Ordinar- 
 ily officials of the Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., and other beneficiary 
 organizations are not included as ex-officio members, although 
 occasionally they are so included. For obvious reasons the 
 members of the disbursement committee are nevertheless per- 
 sons vitally interested in the leading agencies. 
 
 This has been criticised sharply in some quarters. Mr. 
 Wm. J. Norton, the Secretary of the Detroit Patriotic Fund, 
 says, for example, that it is a mistake to place the control of 
 the movement outside of the participating agencies. He in- 
 sists that control should be in a cooperative group representing 
 the chief participants. In Detroit the Patriotic Fund is govern- 
 ed and directed by a group of people who do represent the Red 
 Cross, Y. M. C. A., the Jewish agencies, the Catholic movements, 
 and the Community Union. Thus control is vested in the most 
 vitally interested persons. 
 
 As to experience with disbursements, there has been, broad- 
 ly speaking, very little friction. In two cities there was con- 
 siderable flurry when an appropriation was made by the war 
 chest to the Knights of Columbus. Certain persons stirred up 
 trouble and there were threats of cancellation of subscriptions 
 and the like. In one of these cases, without any pussy-footing 
 whatever, the treasurer made a frank statement in the papers. 
 Most of the newspapers commented editorially. The whole 
 excitement passed in a day or two and no harm resulted. In 
 the other case the committee refused to explain, made no effort 
 whatever to inform the public, and some hard feeling was en- 
 gendered. This indicates that this whole question turns on the 
 use of tact and good, hard common sense. 
 
 152 
 
In another city an appropriation was planned to furnish 
 uniforms for the Home Guard. Certain elements of the labor 
 group believed that the Home Guard in that area was an organi- 
 zation which was designed to put down strikes and offered 
 objection. It is probable too that some other elements of the 
 public felt that money which was raised on the ground that it 
 was to be given to the soldiers could not justifiably be spent 
 for that purpose. At all events the request for the appropria- 
 tion was withdrawn. In this case the disturbance was brief, 
 and on the whole it seems to m.e a not unhealthy thing, because 
 it indicated the way in which public opinion can and does con- 
 trol the expenditure of funds under the war chest plan, and 
 evidences a healthy interest in the disposition of its money, 
 whether or not one agrees individually with opinion in any 
 given instance. 
 
 The chief difficulty in disbursements, however, comes from 
 the organizations themselves in their efforts to get funds. In- 
 evitably the disbursement committee feels an impulse in execu- 
 ting its trust to investigate carefully. Some organizations ob- 
 ject to being investigated. They resent w^hat seems to them an 
 imputation upon the propriety of their demands. Others do not 
 like to have the cities question the assigned quotas. Still others 
 do not like to have the cities restrict themselves to paying only 
 the amount of the assigned quota. There is perhaps some justi- 
 fication for some of this irritation on the part of some of the 
 organizations, for possibly a few disbursement committees have 
 been a trifle officious. But, broadly speaking, this is a diffi- 
 culty which has arisen from the chaotic condition of the whole 
 war relief situation. Betterment rests upon the introduction of 
 some methods of control and upon the tact and good sense of 
 local communities on the one hand and of the representatives 
 of the organizations on the other. 
 
 At all events the pi'oblem of making disbursements from 
 the war chest is now becoming very much simpler as the result 
 of a number of developments. In the first place, it is known 
 now that a more active supervision of the financial calls of the 
 Fosdick agencies is being undertaken at Washington. They 
 are henceforth to have budgets which have been officially ap- 
 proved after careful scrutiny. Moreover the grouping of these 
 agencies in their financial efforts involves the fixing of ratios 
 to be preserved among them in a more or less official manner. 
 Thus it will not be necessary for cities to make up their minds 
 individually as to the ratio which is to be preserved, but under 
 the war chest plan they can make disbursements to them in the 
 official ratio. 
 
 In the second place, the accumulated experience of cities 
 is becoming available and has larger and larger value. 
 
 In the third place, there are in process of formation various 
 associations of war chests, and there has now been organized 
 
 153 
 
a national association of war chests which is planning a Nation- 
 al Investigation Bureau. The secretary in charge is Mr. Barry 
 C. Smith of the Charity Organization Society of New York. 
 The bureau proposes to publish an approval list of war activi- 
 ties after having secured and made available detailed financial 
 information. This will make it possible for war chests to de- 
 termine with reasonable accuracy the proper and desirable 
 amounts which they should appropriate to the very many unof-" 
 ficial agencies, which nevertheless have value and which should 
 receive some support. 
 
 While, therefore, the ultimate responsibility for disburse- 
 ment must still rest with the individual community, the conclu- 
 sion is inescapable that the knotty problem is in process of so- 
 lution and that the dangers of politics, of raids, bickerings, and 
 dissatisfaction, which have never been serious in practice, are 
 becoming constantly less. 
 
 A suggested set of By-Laws follow: 
 
 Article I — Name. 
 
 The name of this association shall be the War 
 
 Chest Association (Citizens' War Fund Association) or (War 
 Work Council). 
 
 Article II — Objects. 
 
 The objects of this association shall be to provide ways and 
 
 means for raising funds in the city (county) of 
 
 and to that end to solicit and receive contributions and to appor- 
 tion and disburse the same as follows : 
 
 1 — To the following organizations upon the affirmative 
 votes of a majority of the full Board of Trustees : 
 (a) The American Red Cross and its local chapters. 
 (h) The organizations operating under the sanction and 
 control of the War and Navy Departments' Com- 
 missions on Training Camp Activities, 
 (c) To any other agency which has direct endorsement 
 from the President of the United States. 
 154 
 
2 — To the following organizations upon the affirmative 
 votes of three-fourths majority of the full Board of 
 Trustees : 
 
 (a) (Here name all other war 
 
 (b) auxiliary agencies that are 
 
 ( c ) to participate. ) 
 
 3 — To the following organizations upon the affirmative 
 votes of a majority of the full Board of Trustees: 
 
 (a) To support the activities of the War Bureau. 
 
 (h) To finance the Liberty Bond Campaign Committee 
 or other committee in charge of the work for the 
 United States Government. 
 
 (c) For the support of the Farm Bureau. 
 
 (d) To meet the necessary expenses of this association, 
 provided that the amounts appropriated for that 
 purpose shall not exceed 2% of the total amount 
 collected in any one year. 
 
 Article III — Membership. 
 
 All contributors to the funds of this association who are 
 over eighteen years of age shall be enrolled as full members. 
 Membership shall be forfeited by any person who is delinquent 
 more than thirty days in a payment due upon his subscription. 
 The privileges of membership shall be restored when full pay- 
 ment of the delinquency has been made. 
 
 Every member shall be entitled to one vote at any meeting 
 of this association. 
 
 Article IV — Officers and their Duties. 
 
 The officers of this association shall be a President and a 
 Vice-President, chosen each year by the Board of Trustees from 
 among their own number; a Treasurer and a Secretary, who 
 shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees. (If the Board of 
 Trustees is made large, provision should be incorporated for an 
 Executive Committee.) 
 
 The Trustees shall be limited in number to , of 
 
 which three shall be appointed annually by the War Bureau. 
 The remainder shall be elected at the annual meeting of the 
 association and shall hold office for one year and until their 
 successors have been elected. The elective Trustees for the first 
 
 year shall be (Here follow names) 
 
 155 
 
The government of this association shall be vested in the 
 Board of Trustees, whose duties and powers shall be as follows : 
 
 (a) To make any and all rules and regulations for the 
 conduct and control of the Board and the affairs of the 
 association. 
 
 (b) To make any and all rules and regulations relative to 
 conducting campaigns for soliciting and collecting funds. 
 
 (c) To determine from time to time the equitable and 
 proper amount of funds which shall be apportioned and 
 disbursed, and when and in what manner the same 
 shall be distributed. 
 
 (d) To appoint all committees and determine the duties of 
 the same. 
 
 (e) To appoint all employees and determine the compensa- 
 tion, if any, of the same. 
 
 (/) To fill all vacancies in the Board of Trustees or in any 
 
 committee or office. 
 (g) To decide all questions of construction of the by-laws. 
 
 Such decision shall be final. 
 
 A majority of the Trustees shall constitute a quorum for the 
 transaction of business, except as provided in Article II. 
 
 The President, or in his absence the Vice-President, shall 
 preside at all meetings of the association. The President shall 
 be a member ex-officio of all committees. 
 
 The Treasurer shall be charged with and have the custody 
 of all funds of the association and shall pay out the same upon 
 the direction and warrant of the Board of Trustees. He shall 
 perform all the duties incident to his office as he may be directed 
 by the Board of Trustees. He shall be required to give a bond 
 for the faithful performance of his duties in such sum and with 
 such sureties as the Board of Directors shall determine. 
 
 The Secretary shall issue all notices required to be given to 
 members of the association or others. He shall make and keep 
 a true and complete record of all meetings of the association and 
 of the Board of Trustees and he shall have custody of the records, 
 by-laws and the corporate seal and shall conduct the correspond- 
 ence and perform all such duties as shall be required by the 
 Board. 
 
 Article V — Meetings. 
 
 The annual meeting of this association shall be held on 
 
 (date) in each year at such hour and place as the 
 
 156 
 
Trustees may determine. A notice of such meetings shall be 
 
 published in newspapers at least one week before the 
 
 date of such meeting. 
 
 Special meetings of the association may be called by the 
 President of the Board of Trustees at any time, and notice 
 thereof shall be given in the same manner as for the annual 
 meeting. 
 
 Twenty-five members shall constitute a quorum for the 
 transaction of business at any meeting. 
 
 Meetings of the Board of Trustees may be called by the 
 President or by members, and notice of such meeting shall be 
 given by a written or printed notice mailed at least two days 
 prior to the date set for such meeting. 
 
 Article VI — Amendments. 
 
 These By-Laws may be altered, amended or repealed at any 
 meeting of the Board of Trustees, notice in writing of such 
 amendment having been given to each Trustee at least two days 
 before such meeting. 
 
 (These suggested By-Laws have been compiled after study 
 of a number of forms, but chiefly from those of Springfield, 
 Mass., and Lexington, Mass.) 
 
 157 
 
667G2y 
 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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