LIBERTY LOANS

LIBERTY LOANS. Upon the entry of the United States into World War I in April 1917, it at once became apparent that large sums in excess of tax receipts would be needed both to provide funds for European allies and to conduct the war activities of the nation. To obtain the necessary funds, the Treasury resorted to borrowing through a series of bond issues. The first four issues were known as liberty loans; the fifth and last was called the victory loan.

The issues were brought out between 14 May 1917 and 21 April 1919 in the total amount of $21,478,356,250. The disposal of this vast amount of obligations was accomplished by direct sales to the people on an unprecedented scale. Liberty loan committees were organized in all sections of the country, and almost the entire population was canvassed. Four-minute speakers gave high-powered sales talks in theaters, motion picture houses, hotels, and restaurants. The clergymen of the country made pleas for the purchase of bonds from their pulpits. Mass meetings were held on occasion, and the banks assisted by lending money, at a rate no higher than the interest on the bonds, to those who could not afford to purchase the bonds outright. In this way it was possible to secure the funds wanted and to obtain oversubscriptions on each issue.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cornbise, Alfred E. War as Advertised: The Four Minute Men and America's Crusade, 1917–1918. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1984.

Gilbert, Charles. American Financing of World War I. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1970.

Kennedy, David M. Over Here: The First World War and American Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.

Frederick A.Bradford/a. g.

See alsoBudget, Federal ; War Costs ; World War I, Economic Mobilization for .