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Editorial
April 2, 1918
Elko Independent
Elko, Elko County, Nevada
What is this article about?
Editorial urges organized community efforts in Elko to support the war, including food conservation, labor transfer, and garden campaigns, citing a successful war census in Springfield, Mass., as a model to mobilize residents.
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OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
Enlisting War Service
A newspaper exchange remarked a few days ago that not over a third of the people in its town were doing anything to help win the war. And not over a third were complying with the food conservation program.
Is that the case in Elko?
Splendid work has been done on the Red Cross, Liberty Bond, surgical dressings and Y. M. C. A. campaigns because they were organized.
Other efforts have been left too much to individual action.
No kind of proposition goes well on that basis. It is like the mythical time when it was planned that if all the people of the earth would shout at the same instant, the noise would be heard by the inhabitants of Mars. When the appointed moment came, everyone kept still to hear everyone else holler.
The people of Springfield, Mass., have worked out a practical idea that should be put in force in every town in the United States. They gathered 1,500 enumerators, and devoted one Sunday to taking a war census. They tried to visit every family, get everyone to sign agreements to try to live up to the food and fuel requirements, and also to find what labor could be transferred to needed gaps in the war trades. This gives the organization a complete directory of the war power of the city, and shows just what forces are available for war work.
Just now garden work is the big thing to put over. It should not be left to individual initiative wholly. Every household should be canvassed and every family should be urged to have a garden. It is the universal human experience that you can get twice as much co-operation by soliciting for it, as you can by expecting people to come into line without being asked.
A newspaper exchange remarked a few days ago that not over a third of the people in its town were doing anything to help win the war. And not over a third were complying with the food conservation program.
Is that the case in Elko?
Splendid work has been done on the Red Cross, Liberty Bond, surgical dressings and Y. M. C. A. campaigns because they were organized.
Other efforts have been left too much to individual action.
No kind of proposition goes well on that basis. It is like the mythical time when it was planned that if all the people of the earth would shout at the same instant, the noise would be heard by the inhabitants of Mars. When the appointed moment came, everyone kept still to hear everyone else holler.
The people of Springfield, Mass., have worked out a practical idea that should be put in force in every town in the United States. They gathered 1,500 enumerators, and devoted one Sunday to taking a war census. They tried to visit every family, get everyone to sign agreements to try to live up to the food and fuel requirements, and also to find what labor could be transferred to needed gaps in the war trades. This gives the organization a complete directory of the war power of the city, and shows just what forces are available for war work.
Just now garden work is the big thing to put over. It should not be left to individual initiative wholly. Every household should be canvassed and every family should be urged to have a garden. It is the universal human experience that you can get twice as much co-operation by soliciting for it, as you can by expecting people to come into line without being asked.
What sub-type of article is it?
War Or Peace
Labor
Economic Policy
What keywords are associated?
War Service
Food Conservation
War Census
Garden Campaigns
Community Organization
Labor Transfer
What entities or persons were involved?
Springfield, Mass.
Elko
Red Cross
Y. M. C. A.
Editorial Details
Primary Topic
Organizing Community War Service And Conservation Efforts
Stance / Tone
Urging Organized Mobilization For War Support
Key Figures
Springfield, Mass.
Elko
Red Cross
Y. M. C. A.
Key Arguments
Only Organized Campaigns Achieve Strong Participation In War Efforts
Individual Action Leads To Insufficient Compliance With Food Conservation
War Census In Springfield Provides A Model For Assessing And Directing Community War Power
Every Family Should Be Canvassed To Plant Gardens For Food Production