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Show War Bonds Are Your Safest Investment; Buy All You Can, Hold What You Have I 1 Remember this . . . anyone who tells you that your government gov-ernment is likely to repudiate one dollar's worth of these bonds, or that the American people are cashing them in faster than they are buying them, is passing along propaganda propa-ganda inspired in Berlin or Tokyo ! untary and that persons wishing to buy war bonds should be able to buy them conveniently. Hence war bonds may be purchased at banks, post offices, theaters, retail stores, and at scores of other places. Then, the treasury reasoned, it should be equally convenient to redeem re-deem war bonds for emergency purposes, pur-poses, so all banks who desired, were authorized to redeem the bonds over the counter, instead of the former longer, more complicated complicat-ed method of sending the bond to the nearest Federal Reserve bank. Who are the war bond redeemers . . . the men and women who cash in these 12 cents out of the dollar? Almost invariably they are families whose only saving has been the war bonds they bought, and, thus, when an emergency arose their war bonds were their only recourse. The war bond redeemer is in the low income bracket, has an income probably less than $3,000 per year, and a larger than average family. The chances are he buys his war bonds through a payroll savings plan at his place of employment. Chances are, too, that he over-bought according to his in- cumulative rate of redemption to the amount of bonds outstanding is 12.04 per cent, the average redemption rate over the four-year period, 1941 through 1944, amounts to slightly less than 10 per cent per year. Let's take one year of war bond redemptions and compare them to insurance policy lapses. In 1943, for instance, total redemptions of war bonds to amount of bonds outstanding outstand-ing at the end of the year was 6.3 per cent. In 1940 for all legal reserve re-serve life insurance companies the dollar amount of policy surrenders and lapses was 6 per cent of the insurance in-surance in force at the end of the year. In 1942 the ratio was 4 per cent. This tremendous voluntary program pro-gram of war financing, so vast in its ramifications, is not only the greatest financing record In all history, his-tory, it has brought about the greatest great-est pool of savings in liquid assets in the history of any people. The six war loan drives in themselves them-selves produced more than 109 billions bil-lions of dollars from the sale of all government securities offered, 28 billions more than the combined goals set for these drives. The sixth war loan, in itself, exceeded the entire en-tire finance program of World War I. Four Liberty loan drives and one Victory drive in World War I grossed $21,432,924,700. There vere an estimated esti-mated 66 million subscribers but most of this sum was raised by individuals, in-dividuals, banks and business firms able to buy $10,000 and upwards in Liberty bonds. In this war more than 21 billion dollars, from 66 mil- TOTAL SALES OF WAR BONDS '41,612 I --i IN BILLION OF DOLLARS f'1:1;,' I?) fl 'CUMUlATlVlt ' C 25,423 S 9 1942 1943 1944 MAY- DEC Rumors Whispering Of Repudiation Are Vicious Propaganda By WALTER A. SHEAD WNU Staff Correspondent. Approximately 85,000,000 American citizens have bought war bonds. That number num-ber is almost twice as many as the total of voters in the last national election. And that, it seems to me, is the best answer to the subversive propaganda that the government govern-ment might repudiate payment pay-ment of war bonds. It's the best answer from a practical prac-tical standpoint, because repudiation repudi-ation must be voted by the congress and no congress in its right political mind would vote to nullify the 41-billion-dollar holdings of 85 million Americans who have purchased 750,-389,800 750,-389,800 individual and separate war bonds through January 1, 1945. Add to this 41 billion dollars in war bonds approximately 137 billion dollars worth sold in other governmental govern-mental bonds and securities over the same period of time to banks, corporations, cor-porations, insurance companies and other large investors, and you have another added and compelling reason rea-son why no congress will ever vote repudiation of these obligations. These war bonds and other government govern-ment securities have behind them the security, the faith and the integrity integ-rity of the United States government . . . exactly the same guarantee of payment as a dollar bill. And if your war bonds should become worthless, then your dollar bill will become equally as worthless. And we have behind war bonds a tradition and record of the United States government govern-ment of never having repudiated an obligation In the 165 years of its existence. ex-istence. And right here let's spike the fallacy fal-lacy in the minds of some people that war bonds are being cashed in at an alarming rate. They are not being redeemed in any such amounts. When someone sees a line of people at a postoffice window or at a bank counter cashing in war bonds, the story is immediately spread that people are cashing in their bonds at an unprecedented figure. Only 12 Per Cent Cashed. When the treasury department publishes its statements, for instance, in-stance, as last October when sales totaled $695,000,000 and redemptions totaled $400,000,000, the story was immediately broadcast that people were cashing in their war bonds at a ratio almost equalling sales. As a matter of fact, the redemptions last October were only 1.16 per cent of the total bonds outstanding. In October redemptions were unusually un-usually heavy for the reason that it was the first month in which banks were authorized to redeem bonds over the counter direct, and many persons had the mistaken idea that the treasury was inviting these redemptions re-demptions because it was made so convenient. When this impression was dispelled, redemptions steadily declined. November redemptions were 1.08 per cent; December, .98, and January redemptions went down to .89 per cent. Total cumulative redemptions of war bonds, that is the series E, F and G bonds, as of January 1, 1945, amount to 12.04 per cent of the total bonds sold. It means that out of the 41 billion dollars in war bonds sold, about 36 billion is still in the hands of the people who bought them. Or in other oth-er words about 12 cents out of each dollar spent for war bonds has been redeemed. Money for Taxes Needed. Certain months of the year, such as the taxpaying months, always show a heavier redemption percentage percent-age than other months. The treasury treas-ury policy from the inception of war bond sales has been that the whole financing program should be vol- come, since being patriotic, he wanted want-ed to do just as much as his fellows. Investigation shows that many men and women in these families forced to redeem their war bonds were, ten years ago, on WPA or the recipient of some community welfare wel-fare program. They were not on that program willingly, and neither are they at the bank window cashing cash-ing in their bonds willingly today. These bonds are their only liquid asset when an emergency comes . . . death, child birth, hospitalization, and temporary unemployment. The treasury also has learned that the redeemer of war bonds does not necessarily cash in all his bonds, nor does he close out his payroll savings sav-ings account ... he keeps on buying. And this is proved conclusively by the fact that war bonds purchased through payroll savings since the first war loan in 1942 have steadily increased each month from 307 million mil-lion dollars in December, 1942, to more than $500,000,000 per month today. to-day. Every war loan has been marked by a rise in the regular allotment of workers for war bonds, as well as a steadily increasing rise in the national level of payroll savings sav-ings as against total payroll. Savings Up 56 in Year. During 1944 the withdrawals of deposits de-posits in savings accounts in the banks of the nation by individuals amounted to approximately 20 per cent and at the same time these savings sav-ings accounts showed a net gain of approximately 56 per cent. War bonds, although showing an 8 per cent gain in redemptions over 1943, at the same time show an 85 per cent increase in sales. While the i lion persons' were obtained in the sixth war loan drive alone! People Pay 60 Per Cent of War Cost. How has this volur.te;?' program of war financing been used toward paying the cost of the war? Here are a few figures. From May 1, 1941, the start of the war finance program, through December 31, 1944, the government spent 261 billion dollars. Of this amount 21 billions was used for non-war non-war expenditures, including the interest in-terest on the public debt, leaving 240 billion spent on the cost of the war. Out of this 261 billions, 101 billions, or 38.7 per cent of the total, has been raised through net receipts of taxes, so the excess of spending over tax receipts from May 1, 1941, to January Janu-ary 1, 1945, has been 160 billions of dollars. During this same period the government gov-ernment has borrowed 178 billions of dollars through sale of governmental govern-mental securities. This equals the 41 billion sold in war bonds and the 137 billion in other securities. Of this 178 billion, 75 billions have been borrowed directly or indirectly from banks. The rest, 103 billions or 57.9 per cent, has come from non-banking sources, 42 billions of it from individual citizens. The net of all this is that the American Amer-ican people are buying war bonds and that almost 60 per cent of the amount borrowed for the war cost has been paid by individuals and non-banking non-banking sources . . . they are buying bonds and holding $88 out of every $100 they buy, and the record indicates indi-cates that they will keep on buying them so long as they are offered for sale, or so long as the nation needs their money to help finance this war. It is a pretty safe bet that the treasury department, as a result of its experience with baby bonds before be-fore the war, and with war bonds since May 1, 1941, will continue in the bond business after the war is over. People have the habit of buying buy-ing government bonds and there is no indication now that there will be any concerted rush to the banks to cash in these bonds when the war is over. The very great majority of them will be held to maturity. And today bond buying is on a 24-hour basis, not only on the home front, but on every battle front where Americans Ameri-cans are fighting to maintain the freedom and integrity of a government govern-ment and a way of life of which these bonds are a symbol. "ZZIZ 1 1 I BUY BONDS I I REDEEM BONDS I A HERE 1 A HERE mH if y Va,ue of Bonds cashed -ij I 1 1 '; - j in is less than 12 per cent A.Jj' j of Bonds sold per month. |