Religion and the WarYale University. Divinity School
Religion
Religion and the War
Yale University. Divinity School
World War, 1914-1918; World War, 1914-1918 -- Religious aspects
The habit of saving is likely to become much more firmly established
among our people. We may never be so thrifty as the French nation, but
we are progressing in that direction. Subscriptions to the Third
Liberty Loan were received from seventeen millions of our people. In
many of our public schools the purchase of thrift stamps by the
scholars has been almost universal. It is probable that a very large
proportion of those who are now purchasing liberty bonds never owned a
bond of any description before. The habit formed in this way will
continue in many cases. A banker a short time ago prophesied that upon
the conclusion of this war the savings banks would receive far larger
deposits than had ever been the case before. This habit of saving and
the ownership of bonds will not fail to have its influence upon the
rank and file of our people. At the close of the war we shall have our
troubles with those who will advance repudiation or some scheme by
which the burden of our national debt may be shifted and the necessity
for saving miraculously avoided in some way. But the common sense of
our people will assert itself and we shall realize that the only way
by which we can replace this capital is by spending less than we earn.
The plain word "thrift" seems likely to come into its own again.
Up to the present time social work has appeared to many persons to be
a fad. Some have felt that people with too little to do have spent
their time in interfering with the affairs of people who had too much
to do. The charge has been made that social service was only a
temporary phenomenon which would soon disappear. But the war has
taught us a lesson. The military authorities were among the first to
recognize the need of proper recreation for the troops, and the demand
for workers in the cantonments and at the front has been too great to
be met. We see now that the need for recreation is a real need. It
seems likely that commercialized recreation and amusement is likely to
play a smaller part hereafter, and that the community is going to
demand a share in this enterprise in the future. Assembly halls,
playgrounds, and similar provisions for the public will be required.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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