Part 2

In the year 1918 the Department inaugurated a system of motor-truck parcel post routes, especially to facilitate the distribution of food stuffs. The trucks are owned by the Government and many former Army trucks are now utilized in this service. A great variety of merchandize is hauled along these routes; all sorts of farm products are carried to the city markets and the merchandize purchased in the city is distributed through the rural districts on the return trip. The trucks pick up parcels anywhere along their routes--not merely at postoffices, but at farmhouses--and deliver in the same way. Produce from the country is delivered directly to the consignee in the city, house-to-house delivery being made wherever the houses are easily accessible to the regular routes of the trucks. While certain produce cannot be shipped through a postoffice, under the postal regulations, all kinds of produce, including live poultry, are accepted by the trucks where the delivery can be made directly without having to go through a postoffice.

Besides these routes operated directly by the Government, many of the so-called “star routes” (routes operated by contractors) are now equipped with motor vehicles.

PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 7, No. 11, SERIAL No. 183 COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.

_THE STORY OF UNCLE SAM_

_War Pensions--and Something Better_

SIX

Although the United States Government has been conspicuously backward, as compared with foreign Governments, in providing retirement allowances for its veteran civilian employees, it has generally made liberal provision for those who have served in the Army and the Navy, and especially for the veterans of the various wars in which the country has been engaged. In fact, in the payment of pensions to former soldiers and sailors, and their families, not only as compensation for wounds or other disabilities incurred in the service, but also as a reward for brief participation in a war, this country has carried liberality to an extreme not approached by any other nation. The Revolutionary War cost the United States about $70,000,000 in pensions, and every subsequent war, except the recent world struggle, has added to the pension roll, which reached its high-water mark in the year 1905, with a total of 998,441 pensioners, while the annual payments rose to a maximum of $174,171,661 in 1913. The Pension Office is still one of the largest and busiest establishments of the Government, although our latest war added practically nothing to its labors.

Shortly after the World War began, and long before the United States became a participator, Congress established a new office under the Treasury Department known as the Bureau of War Risk Insurance, for the purpose of insuring American vessels and their cargoes against the risks of war. In June, 1917, the Government provided insurance for the officers and crews of such vessels. Finally, in October, 1917, the Bureau of War Risk Insurance became the agency for a vast scheme of protection and compensation afforded to the soldiers and sailors of the United States and their families--a substitute for the old plan of war pensions. Under the new plan three forms of financial aid were rendered, as follows:

1. _Allotments and Allowances._ Every enlisted man was required to allot at least $15 a month from his pay to his wife and children and other dependents. To this amount the Government added family allowances, up to a maximum of $50 a month.

2. _Compensation for Death or Disability._ This applies to officers and enlisted men alike, and is the same for all ranks, but varies with the size of the soldier’s or sailor’s family. A bachelor, without dependents, gets $30 a month for total disability incurred in the war, while a married man with three or more children may receive as much as $75 a month. The disabled veteran is also entitled to free medical and hospital service, artificial limbs, et cetera. In case of death resulting from injury in the line of duty, the widow and family receive monthly allowances.

3. _Government Insurance._ During the war all persons in the military and naval services were granted the privilege of taking out insurance against death or total disability (whether due to war service or otherwise) up to the amount of $10,000, at a very low cost. This was entirely distinct from and in addition to the compensation provided as mentioned in the foregoing paragraph. The war insurance runs for a period of five years after the war, and may then be converted into any of the ordinary forms of insurance offered by commercial companies, without medical examination. Up to July 1, 1918, the Government received 2,579,912 applications for insurance under this novel plan, representing $21,640,065,000 of insurance--an amount about equal to that carried by all the insurance companies of the United States. In some regiments every man was insured for $10,000, the maximum amount allowed.

The Bureau of War Risk Insurance occupies a magnificent new building in Washington and has about 15,000 employees.

Besides making these liberal provisions for the relief of its disabled soldiers and sailors, the Government has embarked upon elaborate measures for restoring them to health and efficiency. They are not only given the best medical and physical treatment known to science, but also taught various trades and occupations, suited to their condition and natural aptitudes. During the period of treatment and training they receive an allowance for the support of themselves and their families. The Army and Navy, the Public Health Service, the Federal Board for Vocational Education and the Bureau of War Risk Insurance all take part in this paternal enterprise.

PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 7, No. 11, SERIAL No. 183 COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.

THE MENTOR · DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT

SERIAL NUMBER 183

UNCLE SAM

_And What He Does For His Relatives_

By PROF. ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, Harvard University

_MENTOR GRAVURES_

VACANT-LOT GARDENING--Enterprise promoted by the Bureau of Education · A BOYS’ CORN CLUB--County Agent Giving Instruction · EXHIBIT OF WORK OF BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE · IMMIGRATION STATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, HONOLULU--Japanese Immigrants Awaiting Examination · EQUIPMENT OF A POSTAL MOTOR-TRUCK ROUTE · DISABLED SOLDIERS LEARNING TO WEAVE RUGS AT AN ARMY HOSPITAL

On an April day in 1865, a poor old colored woman was walking through the streets of Richmond wringing her hands and moaning, “Oh, Sam’s dead; Sam’s dead!” “What Sam’s dead, Aunty?” asked a passerby. “Oh, Lord, Uncle Sam!” It was the death of Abraham Lincoln for which that faithful heart was grieving. He was her Uncle Sam, the representative in human form of America, particularly of the Government at Washington, that mid-point of the strong, and protection of the weak. Yet after all she missed the great idea that whoever dies and whoever lives, Uncle Sam is eternal; for Uncle Sam is the American people governing itself. He is the emblem of the force and courage and resolution of the United States of America.

_The Birth of Uncle Sam_

Among the names by which American heroes and popular figures have been called, how did Uncle Sam come to be adopted as the national denominator? As well ask why Americans were called Yankees, long before the Revolution, or why “Yanks” has been the name applied by Allied soldiers to the forces of the United States in the European battlefields, and has been accepted by regiments from North and South alike. As well try to run down the first use of “Brother Jonathan,” in much the same sense as that in which we now employ “Uncle Sam.” Learned men and some of the unlearned have delved deep to find the origin of the term Uncle Sam, and the significance of his out-of-style clothes.

One school of these explorers has presumed to trace Uncle Sam back to an obscure Samuel Wilson, who during the War of 1812 was engaged in a government contract for beef and pork to feed the United States army. Nobody mentioned this yarn until thirty years later, when Jack Frost in his _Book of the Navy_ gave it currency, without stating where he found what he himself calls “a silly joke.” Frost asserts that from casks marked “U. S.” by Samuel Wilson, the idea was taken by the soldiers, and that gradually it spread through the army and the nation.

The only facts that can be ascertained on this subject are that in 1813 there was a firm of meat packers at Troy, in which Samuel Wilson was a partner. Then that on September 7, 1813, the Troy _Post_ printed an article containing the expression “Loss upon loss, and no ill luck … except what lights upon UNCLE SAM’S shoulders.” A note in the newspaper goes on to say “This cant name for our government has got almost as current as ‘John Bull.’ The letters ‘U. S.’ on the government wagons, etc., are supposed to have given rise to it.” A month later another paper commented on the number of deserters in the army, adding “The pretence is, that _Uncle Sam_, a now popular explication of the U. S., does not pay well.”

Three or four years later, other newspapers, who appeared to have no knowledge of Samuel Wilson, made the far more probable explanation that the term Uncle Sam was simply taken from the letters “U. S.” on soldiers’ caps and knapsacks. Even the Indians accepted the new term, and when President Madison was at the northern front asked the privilege “to shake hands with Uncle Sam.”[A]

[A] Note--We have the word of one searcher that as early as 1807 a regiment of Light Dragoons was raised whose initials, “U. S. L. D.,” on wagons and accouterment were waggishly interpreted to mean “Uncle Sam’s Lazy Dogs.”

Uncle Sam’s clothes, like the Quaker dress, were not invented to be humorous, but as the fashionable costume of the period when Quakers’ and Uncle Sam’s began to appear. Trousers with straps under the insteps were still worn down to fifty years ago. In the days when the striped cotton trousers of the French soldiers began to drive out the old-fashioned knee breeches, Uncle Sam came by his lower protection naturally. The broad-brimmed beaver hat, till very recently, could be seen on the heads of wealthy Quaker bankers in Philadelphia. The star-spangled coats and correctly flag-striped trousers are of course the inventions of later patriotic times.

_What Does Uncle Sam Do for His Nephews and Nieces?_

The great thing about Uncle Sam is his dignity, activity, keenness, endless good nature and love of his countrymen. His cousin, John Bull, is the beefy, sturdy, pragmatic, land-owning squire of the British counties, brave enough, resolute enough, but a defender of his country, rather than its most intimate friend. Uncle Sam and the popular interest in his thousands of portraits are standing proofs of the common sense and good temper of the American people. We like in Uncle Sam what we like in our personal Uncle Ezra, or Uncle Peyton, his genuine, affectionate, thoughtful and protecting affection for us.

The three men in American history who have most nearly corresponded to Uncle Sam in their own personal relations with their fellow men were Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Jackson was testy, and sharp tempered, but he could be very genial and gallant when he chose. Lincoln was the Uncle Abe of the nation; in person, in speech, in action, and above all in his great affectionate heart he was what we like to think Uncle Sam is. Theodore Roosevelt was not so much uncle as brother; there is only one “T. R.” in our history!

In the popular thought Uncle Sam is ourselves at our best; or rather he is ourselves gathered up into one body, one agency, one force. Uncle Sam stamps his initials on the public buildings, the camps, the stores, the guns, the ships, the uniforms, the army wagons, and the army mules. Uncle Sam carries the mails, prints the greenbacks, sends the seeds, digs the canals, lays the taxes, enlists the soldiers, fights the war and makes the peace. Uncle Sam is the national Santa Claus, the trimmer of America’s Christmas tree, the free mail-order establishment, the ready subscriber to all good causes. In a way, Uncle Sam means the Government of the United States--more accurately he stands for the human side of the Government, interested in the people, eager that they should be happy, warding off dangers immediate and far away. Uncle Sam rocked the cradle of the republic and watches over it with pride, just as the wealthy and generous uncle in ordinary family life looks after a high-spirited bouncing niece.

To come down to more precise and commonplace terms, what does the great Government of the United States, centered in Washington, do for the people of the United States? The moment we attempt to make a list of his benefits we discover that they outrun the capacity of any human comparison. The United States Government is more like a telephone exchange, with direct wires to every hamlet and household. It is like a vast school with many class rooms in which are taught various branches of the same subject, namely how to make the United States citizens happier, better and more prosperous. Out of the many radiations from this central influence, let us select a few of those in which the benevolent side of our Government is more clearly presented. For instance, let us see what the Government does for such matters as education, labor, agriculture, commerce, and the carrying of intelligence, for the defense of the community, and protection of free institutions here and elsewhere in the world.

_Uncle Sam’s Schools_

For many years Uncle Sam left to the people at large the task of educating young people, except the future officers of the United States army and much later of the navy. These schools have been kept up, enlarged and provided with magnificent buildings; and they trained nearly all the officers in high command during the world war in both army and navy. In the course of the war the number of cadets was much increased; but it was found necessary hastily to set up special officers’ schools and training corps in various parts of the country. The United States also takes part in the public education of the states in a variety of ways. It has given to the states for common schools about 80 million acres of land, and for agricultural colleges and similar purposes about 15 million more. Ever since 1887 it has made also money grants to state agricultural colleges for experiment stations; and by the recent Smith-Hughes act is preparing to spend millions for vocational instruction, including farming. The states are obliged to put up an equal amount for the same purpose. Other bills look forward to a larger expenditure which would aid the states to get rid of the deplorable illiteracy found in some of them. Uncle Sam maintains schools in the dependencies--the Philippines, Hawaii, Porto Rico, etc.; and the Bureau of Education in Washington is a kind of center and clearing house of information and activity in education of every kind.

_Uncle Sam as an Employer of Labor_

By far the largest employer of labor within the United States is Uncle Sam himself, who had, about the time when America entered the war in 1917, 520,000 employees in the civil service, besides near 150,000 soldiers and sailors. Besides thus furnishing a livelihood to one person in a hundred and fifty of the whole population of the United States, the Government carries on a Bureau of Labor, which gets together all kinds of information about labor conditions in this country and in other countries. In 1916, the Government passed a special statute for settling the troubles between the railroad men and the railroads, commonly called the “Adamson Bill,” under which a strike was averted and wages were raised.

During the war, a National War Labor Board was set up to adjust troubles between employers and their hands working in munitions factories and other war industries; and many serious difficulties were settled by this official arbitration board. Thousands of workmen and workwomen of every degree of skill were drawn into the war service of the Government, as clerks, as workers in factories, and in many other capacities.

Up to the time of the war, the Government was much opposed to allowing its employees to join in trades unions, but when, in 1917, the railroads and later the telegraph and telephone operatives were transferred to Government control, they carried with them their existing unions, and even formed some new ones. Uncle Sam therefore takes a large responsibility for labor conditions both inside and outside of the Government service.

_Uncle Sam as a Farmer_

Although farming was the main pursuit of the American people when Uncle Sam first appeared on the scene, and although 33 per cent. of the workers in the country are today busy on farms, it was many years before the Government of the United States aided the agriculturalist. It began with printed reports (which, oddly enough, were issued by the Patent Office) on improved breeds of farm animals, with attractive colored lithographs. The immense Morrill Land Grant of 1862 was intended chiefly for agricultural education, and the students and graduates of the resulting colleges have done much to spread a knowledge of scientific farming, such as the adaptation of crops to soil, improvement of seeds and grains, the development of high-grade cattle and other farm animals, and the protection of fruit and other crops from insect pests.

In 1889 was established a Department of Agriculture, with a Secretary sitting in the Cabinet; and in the thirty years that have followed the Department has wonderfully expanded its usefulness. For instance, it has discovered the cause of the Texas cattle fever, which turned out to be a tick, and has very nearly put an end to that dangerous and destructive pest; it has found a serum to prevent hog cholera; it has established a system for checking the ravages of tuberculosis in cattle; its Bureau of Plant Industry brings in new seeds and fruits from all over the world--including such valuable varieties as the Durum wheat from Russia, Siberian millet and Egyptian dates.

Closely allied with the work of the Department of Agriculture is the irrigation service, which is reclaiming millions of acres of land otherwise useless, by furnishing it with unfailing water. The National Forests are under the direction of the Department of Agriculture, which employs about two thousand rangers and fire look-outs.[A] The Biological Survey has successfully found methods for destroying the rats, chipmunks, mice and ground squirrels which cause losses of many millions to the farmers. Millions of copies of printed circulars and pamphlets on various phases of farming are printed. No agency of the Government reaches so great a number of the active workers and producers of the land.

[A] See Mentor Number 165, “Reclaiming the Desert,” and Mentor Number 156, “The Forest.”

_Uncle Sam in Trade_

Besides their agriculture, our forefathers always pushed shipping and trade. They were keen on the Indian fur trade, and produced salt meats, grain “naval stores,” (pitch, tar and turpentine), potashes and pearl ashes, timber, and other things, and sold them to European countries. In return they imported calicoes and “oznabrigs” (which were a kind of linen) “paduasoy” (which was Italian silk), hardware, guns, tools, china, and the rich cloths, velvets and satins which Colonial gentlemen delighted to wear. When the United States came into being as a Government, it paid very little attention to commerce, leaving the merchants free to develop their trade with all parts of the world.

It is only in recent years that Uncle Sam has realized how he can help the merchant, the shipper and the vessel owner. Not until 1903 was there an office at Washington charged with the duty to “promote foreign and domestic commerce.” Not till 1913 was there a distinct Department of Commerce, within which were grouped some of the most important services rendered by the nation to its people. For example, commerce includes such varied services as lighthouses, steamboat inspection, fisheries, navigation, and the coast survey. In addition the Department of Commerce comes very near to the complicated organization of the business of the country, through its Bureau of Corporations, Bureau of Standards of Weights and Measures, and Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, as well as the Census Bureau, which collects a variety of statistics.

During the war, Uncle Sam stretched out his long arm still farther into the trade and business of the country, and appointed a Director of Railroads to take control of most of the railroad lines in the land. It was that Board which made possible the conveyance of the enormous quantities of stores and munitions which supplied our armies in France. Going still farther, Uncle Sam took up the ship carpenter’s axe, the caulker’s mallet, and the riveter’s electric machine. All the ship yards in the country were brought under the control and direction of the Government.