P.o.Ws and War Savings (1917)

Post date: Jan 28, 2014 12:16:34 PM

Extract from Parish magazine of February 1917:

KENTISH PRISONERS OF WAR IN GERMANY.

List of Subscribers to the Fund promoted by Lord Harris for the supply of food and comforts— abstracted from lists sent for publication by Mr. W. W. Blest:—

Jude, Hanbury & Co., W. W. Blest, Fredk. Leney & Sons, Ltd., T. Brocklebank, G. B. Wolseley, Mrs. B. Gator, each £5.

Mr., Mrs. and Miss Lambert. £3.

G. M. Livett, H. White, G. Lemmens, each £2 2s.

Bertram Leney, Richard Tapply, each £2.

Walter Phillips, £1 1s. ; Mrs. Flint, Miss Fremlin, Edw. Goodwin, Mrs. Aug. Leney, Owen English, each £1.

Major and Mrs. Sterndale Bennett, £1; Dr. and Mrs. Southwell Saunder, £1

F. Spickernell, 0. M. Courage, A. P. Rousseau, Geo. Chambers, each 10/-.

P. Cronk, 5/-; C. King, P. Lawson, F. Ralph, P.O. Warburton, E. A. Smith, each 2/6.

A. Johnson, A. Amos, R. Hipsted, N. Huggett, F. Head, C. Wallace, J. Robbins, E. Smith, H. Head, J. McMann, R. Johnson, E. Young, J. Ballard, C. Osborne, T. Martin, J. Oyler, W. Eaton, T. Bristow ; total 14/6.

STANLEY (PHOENIX BREWERY AND FARM) LIST.—B. Leney, C. Stanley, each 5/. ; H. F. Gurr, E. D. Dickerson, T. R. B., each 2/6 ; Milsted, Sen., 2/-; E. Dickersan, 1/6; M. Relph, W. C. Bennett, W. J. Milsted, W. Pearce, W. Carter, H. Hammond, C. Martin, R.W., Miss Beyer, B. Relf, F. M., C. Ballard, Chitty, Tyrrell, Wilcox, each 1/- ;R. Shotter, B. Mace, W. Thrift, Humphrey, Jun., C. Aycott, R. Spain, G. Humphrey, T. Maytum, F. Rogers, L. Pluck, Cullingham, Hughes, Wells, Luxford, Harris, Collins, Sen., Mace, W. Fisher, J. Snelling, Rogers, Sen., Large, Collins, Jun. Crockford, Clisby, Bevan, Symonds, Pearson, Lambert, J.Harris, J. Cronk, Curd, Wood, W.R., Allen, Collins,Sen., Miller, Bourne, Curd, Ralph, May, Hughmes, Woolgar, Hollands, D. May, Clisby, Taylor, Allen, Richardson, Maytum, Dann; grand total, £2 15s. 1d.

BENFIELD LIST.—C. B. Benfield, 5/- ; Amos Baker, J. W. Harris. T. J. Adams, R. French, J. and T. Smith, each 2/6; Devison and Well Wisher, each 2/- ; H. R. French, H. J. French, H. Martin, H. Fellowes, Mrs. and T. Large, each 1/- : grand total £1 6s. 6d.

CANON COURT LIST.—J. Norley, Mrs. Norley, F. Korley, K. Lankstead, G. Spice. W. Evenden, W. Ladams, J. Latter, W. Shepherd, B. Smith, J. Crouch, A. Shepherd, B. Wood, Mr. and Mrs. Gunner, W. Sudds; grand total 9/9.

HERMITAGE FARM LIST.—Baliff and men (no names) ; total 9/-.

RED HILL LIST.—H. Taylor, G. Wells, J. Pearson, W. Strudwick, J. Bell, W. Grigsby, Crouk, Baker, Weller, James, G. Wells, G. Hodges ; total 5/3.

S. HEAD LIST.—S. Head, 5/- ; E. Gibbs, sen. and jun., G. Rogers, T. J. Gibbs, each 2/- ; Sales, Huggett, Mann, Palmer, Curd, Wallis, Wallace, E. Curd, Hatwell, Jukes (2), Comber, Underbill. Bodkin, Cheesman, G. Head, Hook, Eversfield, Ashby, King, H. King, Bell, South ; grand total 17/1.

J. STOWE LIST.—J. Stowe, E. Hollands, each 2/- ; Stick-in-the-mud, Two Pals, W. Hollands, J. Smith, J. Shepherd, G. Funnell, R. Adams, J. Whibley, G. Whibley, E. Hayes, F. Kenward ; grand total 9/-.

George Curd, 2/-; W. Curd, J. Curd, H. Curd, W. Adams, C. Tompsert, N. Smith; grand total 5/3.

Total sum, sent to Lord Harris, £61 15s. 11d.

Mr. W. W. Blest is to be congratulated on the success of his collections. It should be recorded that in August last Miss Hinton sent to the same fund a sum of £2 4s. 4d., collected by parties of school girls singing, reciting and acting their school pieces to way-side audiences after school hours in the evenings.

Miss Hinton has also sent, to Mr. Allison for the relief of destitute Belgium children, the sum of £2 17s. 6d., the result of a Christmas Day collection by the girls by means of envelopes. In August Mr. Smith sent to the same fund £2 11s. 0d, the result of a little entertainment given at the schools By the boys', girls' and infants' departments.

The Variety and Tableaux Entertainment organised by Mrs. S. Sander and Miss Livett to defray she cost of New Year presents (and postage) to our men serving at home and abroad was a real success. The performance was repeated, with slight additions, by invitation, at the Barming Asylum, where they have weekly entertainments, many of them by professionals from London; and the verdict was that it was the best they have had for a long time. This was gratifyingly complimentary to all concerned. Many letters of appreciation and thanks have been received from the men, and the Vicar will make an attempt to answer them all. Special thanks are mentioned in many cases for the photograph of the war-shrine which Mrs. Brocklebank contributed for inclusion in the little parcels, which contained, besides literature, a cap-scarf for the men of the land forces and a game of "biff" for those of the sea forces. The total cost of the parcels and postage came to £18 0s. 6d. The total sum realised was £29 6s. 5d. The expenses of the entertainment left a small balance of £1 9s. 0d. to be sent to the Prisoners of War Fund.

CONFIRMATION.

The date of the forthcoming Confirmation in Wateringbury Church by the Bishop of Rochester is fixed for Friday, May 18th, at 3.30 p.m. Names of candidates wishing to join the preparation classes. or to receive private preparation, should be sent in without delay to the Vicar or Mr. Richards.

WAR SAVINGS AND THE WAR LOAN.

The next six or eight months are going to be a time of increasing stress and trial for us all. Most of us are hardly feeling the pinch yet, but we are beginning to realise the fear of it. The danger is a very real one, and the sooner we prepare ourselves for it the better. The submarine policy won't win the war for the Germans, but it will put us to great straits before we finally defeat their armies on land. So our leaders assure us; therefore, in addition to organising National Service, they ask two things of us: they ask us to economise our food, first because the effort to do so will brace us up to meet the trials before us, and, secondly, because they want the money saved by such economy; and they ask us to lend to the Government eyery penny that we can save in order to enable them to carry on the war with the utmost vigour, and bring it to a speedy and victorious end. Surely the appeal will not be in vain. The only question is how can we respond to it.

First, there is the War Loan. It is a method meant chiefly for capitalists, that is, for people who have savings which they can lend in a lump sum, and not for weekly wage-earners. The smallest sun which can be lent to the Government by investment in the War Loan is merely £4 15s. Still, there are some weekly wage-earners who have savings to that amount and more. It is rumoured that there is a certain workman here who has quite a large sum saved up in sovereigns; and there maybe others who have smaller sums. They have not invested the money, being afraid to lose it. Let them take it to a banker in Maidstone, and ask him to put it into the War Loan for them. It will be perfectly safe it has the security of the country's credit: and for such security the interest paid for the loan of the money is high.

The only way, however, in which the Government has appealed to the mass of wage earners for the help is by means of War Savings Certificates and the organization of associations intended to make the purchase of the Certificates easy by weekly or fortnightly payments of small sums, say 6d., or 1s. or 2s. In this village some months ago we established two associations, one for adults and another for school children. At the present time a great effort is being made to form and push such associations, and public meeting is about to be held here for that purpose. Our Schools War Saving Association, of which Miss Harvey is the secretary, has done good work. The members pay in every Monday such a sum m they can afford, and when a member's payments reach 15s. he is handed a certificate worth 15s. 6d. which gradually increases in value till in five years' time it is worth £1. The system was fully described in the Parish Magazine for August last, and in a leaflet which was left at every house in the parish. By the end of December the members had already had 77 Certificates allotted to them, and the Association also had in hand 10 Certificates, each of which would be allotted to one or other of the members when his payments should reach the required sum of 15s.

The Adult Association has not done so well; and this is the branch that wants more members-present there are only 12 members. They have taken 10 Certificates, and the Association holds a more which awaits allotment. Only three or four of the members pay weekly subscriptions. It is hoped that the public meeting will arouse more interest in the scheme, and bring in a large number of members. Some people object to joining the Association, being under the impression that they would not be able to get their money back if at any time they might be in need of it. That is a mistake. You only have to take the Certificates allotted to you to the Post Office, and they will give you money for them ; and any odd amount of money still standing in your name in the books of the Association you can obtain by application to the Treasurer or Secretary. But of course, though you can get your money back if you want it, the whole object of the system is to let the Government have the use of it for war purposes until the war is over.

Speaking again of the War Loan, there is another way in which it might be arranged for people who have not a lump sum of ready money to take a share in it. An employer of labour might buy a certain amount of the War Loan Stock on behalf of his men, and let them repay him by weekly subscriptions. For instance, if he has four workmen who are willing to join in this way, he might purchase £20 worth of Stock, and hold £5 Stock for each of the four. The £5 Stock would cost him £4 15s. 0d., and this would be paid back to the employer by weekly payments of an amount agreed. When fully paid up the stock would be handed to the subscriber. In 12 years time the Government might buy back the share, giving £5 for it, and meantime the subscriber would receive every year 5 s. interest on his investment. If he wanted his money back sooner, he could sell the Stock at the market price, which is likely to go up rather than down.