From: mpcgram-owner@mail.papermoneyworld.net on behalf of MPCgram [mpcgram@yahoo.com] Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2007 6:25 PM To: mpcgram@papermoneyworld.net Subject: MPCGram 1542 MPC Gram News Letter =========================================== MPC GRAM =========================================== Series 8, no 1542 Saturday, April 1, 2007 Financing the War for Objectors by Jim Downey             At MPCFest VIII, Ian Marshall gave a brief presentation on a Canadian certificate that was issued for a contribution to a fund to provide relief to the sufferers of the war. In the discussion that followed, it was surmised that these certificates were issued to pacifists and conscientious objectors who refused to buy war bonds or otherwise support the war effort but wanted to demonstrate their loyalty to the country. Further discussion suggested that the United States also issued bonds in a similar fashion. After a little bit of research, both of these can be confirmed.             During the WWI and WWII periods, most conscientious objectors (COs) came from what are known as the Historical Peace Churches which include the Mennonites, Quakers and Hutterites. Many COs in the United States and Canada were persecuted during WWI for their refusal to take up arms in the war. In 1935, the Mennonites began to develop a proposal for alternative service. The invasion of Poland in 1939 hastened the effort to establish a national policy for COs.             When conscription was introduced in the United States and Canada in 1940 both countries provided for accommodations for COs. In the United States COs were dealt with in three different manners. Those who only refused to bear arms were assigned to non-combat roles in the military. Those whose CO status was based on their religious beliefs did alternative service under the Civilian Public Service (CPS) program. (A similar program existed in Canada known as Alternative Service Work or ASW. I could find little information on the Canadian program so the following discussion only involves the US program.)  The third group refused any type of national service. Most of those in the third category were imprisoned.             There were approximately 12,000 individuals who participated in the CPS program. They were initially sent to existing Civilian Conservation Corps camps and forestry sites. This was done for a number of reasons. First, the facilities already existed. Second, labor was needed to replace those workers from these locations who went into the military. Finally, there was a desire to separate the COs from the general population to alleviate some of the problems the COs encountered in WWI. CPS service was eventually extended to include work in agriculture, mental hospitals, medical experiments and other similar non-military related work. A list of the CPS facilities can be found at http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/conscientiousobjection/CPScampsList.htm             In addition to providing for alternative service, the Peace Churches, through the National Service Board for Religious Objectors (NSBRO), also attempted to work with the US government to provide alternatives to war bonds so that their members could show their financial loyalty to the government. The goal was to provide “civilian bonds” to provide funds for war relief. While they were ultimately unsuccessful in convincing the US Treasury to segregate funds provided by COs, the Treasury did agree to issue bonds that were not identified as defense or war bonds.             Over 33,000 subscriptions for civilian bonds were sold in an amount close to $6,750,000.00. Subscriptions were sent to the Civilian Bond Committee of the NSBRO who forwarded the information to the Treasury. The Treasury sent it to the local War Finance Committees to include it in their totals.             It does not appear that any Civilian Bonds have surfaced in collections. Although it may be difficult to identify them. The information concerning the Civilian Bonds comes from secondary sources which at times refer to the Civilian Bonds as alternatives to Defense Bonds and at other times refer to them as alternatives to War Bonds.  Not much weight should be put to the use of one or the other term since these sources are probably written by individuals who do not appreciate the fact that there is a difference between Defense and War Bonds.             Based on the information provided, it appears that the only difference between Civilian Bonds and regular bonds is the lack of the Defense or War Bond designation. While this would seem to be an obvious method to identify them, one has to remember that Series F and Series G Bonds are known with and without the War Bond designation. Some of the bonds without the designator were issued to organizations that are obviously not related to the Peace Churches or COs.             It may be possible to identify Series E Civilian Bonds by the issuing agent. Series E Bonds were issued locally by designated agents. While these were usually banks, they could also be employers as bonds issued by local utilities are known. It is possible that the NSBRO was designated as an issuing agent for the bonds. It would make sense that they were issued by a central agent who would have taken delivery of all the specially printed bonds particularly since the subscriptions were collected centrally and not by the local War Finance Committees. If the NSBRO was not the issuing agent, it may have been the Provident Trust Company in Philadelphia because the NSBRO Civilian Bond Committee’s office was located there.             In addition to bonds, the NSBRO also sold Civilian Savings Stamps and War Relief Stamps. While none of these have been seen, the sources seem to indicate that these items were printed by the NSBRO and not by the US Government. It seems logical that they would have the same objection to War Savings Stamps as they would have had to War Bonds. The NSBRO probably retained the money for the stamps and when an individual had deposited enough for a bond it was then paid over to the US Treasury in exchange for a bond.             Unlike the United States, the Canadian Government did segregate the funds received from COs for use for war relief. This appeared evident from the information that Ian Marshall presented. It is confirmed by documentation from the Fourteenth General Conference of the Mennonite Brethren in November 1943 where a resolution of appreciation to the governments of the US and Canada was passed thanking them for permitting “non-resistant citizens to purchase civilian bonds, or ear-marked peace-expenditure bonds, instead of war bonds.”  Since the civilian bonds were the US issue, the peace-expenditure bonds could only be the Canadian issue. (The text of the resolution can be found on the Eighth Meeting at http://www.bfchistory.org/GenCon1943.htm.             While there are many unanswered questions concerning both the US and Canadian Bonds, one significant question remains unanswered: were tokens or chits used in the CPS or ASW Camps? Fest Financial Report The finance committee has completed its audit on Fest finances and reported that because of excellent management, Fest Headquarters has reaped a large profit from Fest 8 and the three preceding Fests studied. The report further recommends that Fest registration fees should be increased in order to increase profits. In a separate, but related matter Fest headquarters has announced the expansion of Fest activities. Fest 9 through 12 will be held in 2008, 13 through 16 in 2009. Thereafter, Fests will be increased annually until 2015 when monthly Fests will be held at Fest Inn Express in metro Port Clinton. Further expansion will be considered after Fest Inns have been built in 20 states. ***************************************************** Championship Question Corner Question 193. Difficuly 3. What denominations Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas notes were printed? What denomination is not reported in private hands? Yesterdays Question 192. Difficuly 1. What is the current series MFC? Answers and comments: Bill Myers correctly answered Series 071. ========================================== Editorial ========================================== As you can imagine, my office is piled high with Fest stuff. No doubt it will take me weeks to get it sorted and filed. Did I say filed? I am sorry. I did not mean it. We do not use the F word around here. Certainly not THAT F word. As usual, I am excited about Jim Downey's research and report. Sparky Watson had pervously reported that he thought that the war bond designation had been removed from F bonds (yikes, another F word) to facilitate sales to individuals who objected to the war and/or war bonds. ========================================= Mail Call (send mail to MPCGram@yahoo.com) =========================================== Dear Freditor,   Where has the gram been? Your getting worse, not better, no news from Fest 8 yet.  Now, look at the auction I just got on Ebay. Yea, look closer at the $5. Breaking news !!!  I am sure I did not overpay on this one.   Think 9, Steve Swoish   The message is ready to be sent with the following file or link attachments: Shortcut to: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=009&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=190098664105&rd=1&rd=1 =========================================== Calendar =========================================== 2007 MPCFest: March 23-25 2007 details TBA. 14 and 15 April 2007 The annual "Maastricht" show, officially named "PaperMoney Fair-Maastricht" will take place, with dealer set up on the 13th, at the "Polfermolen" in Valkenburg, Netherlands. For details, view the bourse web site http:// www.papermoney-maastricht.org/  or contact the show organizer, Joe Eijsermans, at apnc.eijsermans@wxs.nl or eijsermans-events@planet.nl. ANA Summer semnar Session I: June 24-29, 2007* Session II: June 30-July 6, 2007 Memphis 6-8 July ANA Convention, Milwaukee. ========================================== for dealer Hot Contact list, ANA MPC museum holdings and other static information please click this link: http://www.papermoneyworld.net/Gramattichments.htm ========================================= POST / BASE EXCHANGE(PX/BX/NEX) Dump your dupes! Your classified advertisement for items for sale, purchase or trade will be run here for free. Send your ads to the gram. This service is for everyone, most humble dealer or most advanced collector. The point is to make the gram more interesting. In all cases confirm your order via email first. WANTED SECTION: Collectors may submit lists of items wanted for their collections for listing here. WANTED - JAPANESE INVASION MONEY (JIM). Collector/researcher of these notes by zone, type, and block letter, or number will buy or trade.  Checklist available, Anythinfg unusual is of particular interest. Mike Payton, 6609 Craig, Merriam, KS. USA 66202, papermoneymike@yahoo.com Dealers and collectors who have these items, are then encouraged to list them for sale in the above section as a reply. Wanted listings will run for a period of 1 month. Silent Witnesses: Civilian Camp Money of WWII by Ray and Steve Feller. 166 pages, large format, soft cover in FULL COLOR only $35 (plus $4 per ORDER) shipping. Send you order to the Gram and we will send your book with an invoice or send your order via snail mail to BNR Press, 132 E. Second St., Port Clinton, OH 43452. Fest quarthers (also known as Fest casino tokens, Fest quarters, and harolds are available to Gramsters. These quarters are ideal give aways to promote the hobby. Additionally, they will be valid for spending at all Fests. 2006 harolds can be purchsed in rolls at $6.25 per roll (face value (we knew that you would love this roll value!). Rolls are original, unsorted or searched just the way that they came from the Great Lakes Mint. As a courtesy we will also send four harolds for a dollar bill and a self addressed stamped envelope. Send your orders to MPCFest Headquarters, 132 E. Second St., Port Clinton, Ohio 43452. ======================================= MPCGram Staff: Publisher, editor: Fred Schwan fred@papermoneyworld.net; Subscription Manager:Doug Bell- doug@papermoneyworld.net Tuesday Columnist : JoeBoling- JoeBoling@aol.com Friday Columnist: Warner Talso: wtalso@aol.com Fest Auctioneer: Larry Columnist at large: Jim Downey "Ski"Smulczenski - skitex@cox.net, Critic:Harold Kroll - HARBONS@aol.com Scholarship Coordinator: Marcus Turner- marucs@papermoneyworld.net; Webmaster and Technical Advisors:Doug Bell "Wiz" - doug@papermoneyworld.net Russ Walsh -russ.walsh@gte.net Fact Checker: Warner Talso -Calendar Coordinator: John and Nancy Wilson -The Boss: Judy Schwan MPC Gram is published by BNR Press and papermoneyworld.com as a free service to the community of military money collectors. Your suggestions, criticisms, complaints, editorial contributions, letters, and even praise are very welcome. The entire contents including linked illustrations are copyright protected by the publishers. In the case of contributors, the copyright is protected on behalf of the creators. Please send all correspondence regarding the gram to MPCgram@yahoo.com. Thank you very much for your participation. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss an email again! Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/ mpc gram mail list To subscribe to a list, send a mail message to "imailsrv@papermoneyworld.net" at this address with the following in the body of the message: subscribe mpcgram your_full_name To unsubscribe from a list, send a mail message to "imailsrv@papermoneyworld.net" at this address with the following in the body of the message: unsubscribe mpcgram if you have any problems please report then to doug@papermoneyworld.net