The men whom he addressed were all recognized as organizers, all had been identified with big business. However, few of them had had the general contact with the public so essential to popularizing the loan. They knew how to sell, but not in small denominations or to millions of purchasers. In an abstract sense they realized the value of advertising and newspaper publicity, but not one of them had the remotest idea of how the ideal of Secretary McAdoo could be realized. ORGANIZING THE FIRST DRIVE It was at this point that their resourcefulness came into play. Their first move was the right one; they engaged specialists to undertake the tasks of which they knew little. They addressed themselves to the public through men skilled in establishing such contacts as are given through advertising, publicity, and canvassing. In the brief time allotted to them, they barely had time to surround themselves with this trained talent. Verily, it was shooting in the dark, a process of hit and miss. Some one said that the campaign in the First Loan was planned as we went along, and that is literally true. The patriotism was there--that was an unquestionable fact; the problem was to make it manifest itself in sacrifice of savings and earnings. The work of the whole three weeks was experimental and the country was the laboratory. Let it be said that the alchemy of patriotism transmuted the hearts and minds of the public into pure gold. Once the people were informed of their duty toward the United States they rallied instantly. Newspapers turned over their columns, advertisers offered their precious space--and it was precious in those days of paper shortage; stores and banks opened booths for sales, public speakers cancelled every other engagement that they might participate, factories strove to enlist every person in their employment as purchasers, clubs responded in whole memberships, women's committees were formed for the acceleration of interest, churches consecrated themselves to the project, trade unions abandoned all differences with employers and allied themselves unselfishly, writers pleaded for a chance to exercise their influence, foreign language groups demanded opportunity to prove their Americanism, actors, singers, and lecturers begged for a place in the campaign. Wholeheartedly and with utter disregard of personal sacrifice this vast aggregation committed itself to the task. The initial momentum gave the drive the force of an avalanche that swept everything else aside. There came times during this first drive when the issue seemed in doubt, but this was due more to an excess of enthusiasm than to a lack of support. When the totals were in, it was realized that these misgivings were due to the physical inability of the tabulators to keep abreast of the tide of subscriptions. The subscriptions went to $3,035,226,850.