Page:The history and achievements of the Fort Sheridan officers' training camps.djvu/34

 THE FORT SHERIDAN ASSOCIATION

��meant a great deal to the families of the men throughout the country who were leading the Army.

From the beginning of the organization, the granting of loans and the securing of repayments constituted one of our largest activities. In the first two days over $125,000 was loaned the men. The Association secured an allotment of pay, but discovered later that there was a regulation of the Quartermaster's Department which made it impossible to secure returns in that way. Every man who had made a loan was notified of this fact and many repaid their loans monthly by check direct.

In March the Executive Manager, on a visit to Washington, conferred with the Director of Finance in the Depot Quartermaster's Department, and a change in the regulation was made, providing that officers w^ere to be allowed to make allotments to others besides their families. After this, the allotments came in monthly, as arranged at the close of camp, and the matter of collec- tions from that time on w^as very much simplified, although a great deal of confusion resulted because the allotments were not paid for the first few^ months after the men left camp.

Up to date, we have loaned and given to men in service and to their families $350,000. This has helped in a great many w^ays and has been deeply appreciated by the men. Their repayments w^ere conscientious and showed the fine spirit in which they accepted the help offered.

��AFTER THE ARMISTICE

At the time of the armistice in November, 1918, we were pressing the organization of smaller local organizations and extending the w^ork of the Association on the broadest basis. The armistice came as a great relief to the home folks and with it a great pride in the knowledge that the participa- tion of our country in the war had helped to produce the final victory.

Immediately the Association changed its plans to meet the requirements of men returning to civil life. Those who had been absent from their usual occupations for two or three years found conditions changed upon their return. The readjustment back to a self-supporting position in civil life w^as even more difficult than the entrance into the Army.

The Board of Directors, in January, 1919, voted that all the activities of the Association should be directed toward replacing the returning men in suitable positions and in assisting the men and their families to get a fair start

in civil life that all other plans and purposes should be set aside in order

that this w^ork might be w^ell done.

In keeping with this policy, the Executive Manager organized, first, a group of employment advisers, representing every prominent profession, trade and industry in Chicago. He then attempted, although without great success, to organize similar committees throughout the six States of this dis- trict. In December, as chairman of the Organizing Committee of the newly

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