Pay-As-You-Go War Has Left North Carolina Rich in Savings, July 9, 1919

From the University of North Carolina News Letter, Chapel Hill, N.C., July 9, 1919

War Time Thrift in Carolina. . . Made Rich by the War

Under the rough, electric shock of war the people of North Carolina salted down $222 million in savings—in liberty bonds, war stamps, and interest-bearing bank deposits. In round numbers the record stood as follows on June 1, 1919:

1^st liberty loan, $9.4 million

2^nd, $27.5 million

3^rd, $25 million

4^th, $48 million

5^th or victory loan, $26 million

War stamps, $27 million

Bank-account savings, $59 million

Grand total, $222 million.

Nobody knows how many millions more we invested in private loans and hid away under the corner brick of the hearth.

Our savings in cash in two years are nearly one-fourth of all the wealth accumulated on our tax books since William Drummond’s days.

But the savings in sight in the forms stated show us to be nearly exactly 12 times richer than we were in 1915.

The interest-money turned loose in North Carolina is now around $10 million a year--$8 millions to our war-bond and war-stamp holders and $2.25 millions to our bank depositors on savings account.

The dividends on our savings are enough to pay off the bonded indebtedness of the state in a single year.

Since the census year we have increased our cotton yield by 200,000 bales in quantity and $50 million in value. We have nearly doubled our total of grain crops, and more than doubled our yield of tobacco, and although we had less labor on our farms in 19018 than ever before ina half century, we produced the largest tobacco crop in the history of the state—nearly 250 million pounds. Our farm, truck, and fruit crops have not only greatly increased in quantity, but their value has been nearly quadrupled in the open markets. The increase in nine years has been from $143 million to $537 million.

We have no authoritative figures for our industrial output since 1914 but it is safe to say that our cotton mills, tobacco factories, and wood-working industries have doubled their wage totals, and quadrupled the value of their products during the last four years.

We are rich in North Carolina, as Tarheels count riches—richer than we ever were before in all our lives. We worked harder, saved more, and moved forward faster during the way than in any half century of our history heretofore.