Old men and women who were too disabled to do anything else joined the ranks of the knitters and made helmets, sweaters and mufflers, to go with the mountainous stacks of these articles made for the Army and the Navy. Hundreds of ministers, college and university professors and other professional and business men spent in the shipyards, or in munitions factories or on the farms their summer vacations of from two to twelve weeks, while some of them even gave up their positions in order to remain in this most necessary work. Many people owning country homes or estates turned them over to the Government to be used as hospitals or convalescent homes for wounded men. Every community in or near which were camps of any sort opened its homes to the soldiers and sailors and gave them hospitality, friendship, entertainment. When the Red Cross asked for 5,000 tons of clothing for the destitute in France and Belgium the people gave it 10,000 tons. Successful men of business gave their time, their experience, their best thought and work to the directing of relief organizations. There were many of these, perhaps two score, in addition to the seven most important and every one of them was generously supported. So willing were the people to give that crooks and criminals made rich harvests by collecting money under false pretenses. Many millions of dollars were stolen in this way whose givers believed it was to be used for the benefit of their country’s fighting men. It was estimated by those familiar with the work of the relief organizations that the American people contributed for these several welfare purposes close to $4,000,000,000. Throughout the war the American people gave whatever was needed for its prosecution, whether themselves, their loved ones, their energy, their labor, their time, their thought or their money, with an ever increasing ardor of patriotism and intensity of purpose. A spendthrift and wasteful nation disciplined itself to the practice of care and economy, and a nation of individualists, jealous of personal rights, acceded willingly to Government interference in private business and Government control of business relations for the sake of the country’s need. Hating war with a profound unanimity of feeling and conviction, the whole people joined hands with an equal depth of conviction and feeling that this war must be pushed through to a victorious conclusion in the quickest possible time.