AV Geeks 16mm Lunch 9-19-2024

hi everybody I'm skip Almer welcome to the avgeeks lunchtime streaming show where we watch old 16 mimer films and today is kind of a mixed bag uh we are not at the archive uh because we're in Austin but uh yeah I've been doing some work with some National Archives material and I thought I'd share some of it with you cuz it's it's all over the place it's kind of interesting uh the first thing we're going to watch is going to be a uh film a hip film about the importance of getting a social security number it features an animated owl uh it's it's kind of strange but I love it uh the next film is uh called tidle power and it's by the um it's it's a division of Engineers who were trying to talk about ways that we can get electricity from tidal WS or tidal uh movement from the ocean uh the next film is called Sag Harbor USA which is great cuz that's where actually when I was traveling and um on the road in August I stayed with friends in Sag Harbor uh and then finally uh this will be something that I'll be kind of probably highlighting more and more as we get closer to November uh this is a film made by the US Army on the importance of voting and how do you vote um I urge you because now is the time to do it to register to vote or to confirm that you are indeed registered to vote and that you have everything that you need to vote in uh North Carolina they passed a voter ID law which uh means that you have to bring some sort of ID to say who you are uh different states have different things but uh it's important to vote it's a very important election and Al both both nationally and also locally um I'm not going to say who you should vote for you guys who follow me know who I'm voting for but I'm not going to say it so anyways uh everybody enjoy the films and we will see you soon when I get back to uh the archive all right take [Applause] [Applause] care hey Mr what I this is a special truck what's so special about this truck see that screen on top of the truck guys just watch it oh hi birdie birdie hi birdie birdie now well now who's a birdie you are I'm a birdie I admit I am I know say you boys down in front here better eat that ice cream fast before it melts and gets all over your pants and shirt how'd you do that do what make that out talk like that yeah how'd you do that I didn't make that ow will talk that ow talked all by himself don't you know owls know everything well me that's allow me to introduce myself I'm Stanley the Social Security owl that's a who I am now come on everybody come a little bit closer because I've got something to show you something for the young something for the old something for everyone hey Mr Al what's it worth to me what's it worth it's worth plenty now listen folks uh uh what you got to show us it's going to show you how he does that well I have a movie to show you Mr home run King how do you do that now I started to tell you I've got this movie to show you that's just great a kung fu movie uh no no no no no this is a movie called you've got a number and that's good hey what's this about Lottery uh wait let me go get the dream book no not that kind of Number the number find is your social security number I do my social security number every morning it keeps me dry all day well the social security number I'm talking about won't let you down either friend and this is a film about social security that I want you to see and what it can mean to you make way for the old folks they need this more than we do come on here just a second a says a social security isn't Just for Old Folks when they retire no sir send them back the man said this ain't for old folks well no it isn't Just for Old Folks but they can listen if they want to you see social security has something for everybody it has benefits for when you retire well those are the benefits everybody knows about but it also has important benefits for Young People Too benefits that could come to you if something happens to your father or to your mother benefits that could help keep you in school that does it I'm leaving hey let the ow will talk just stay with me folks this film also has that's important to know when you're working say that little girl in red in the back she's awful cute but how are you going to take care of her if something happens to you and you can't work I don't know I guess her mother will have to go out and get a second job I guess well like I said why don't you listen to this film because social security has something for everybody and this film will show you just what I mean are you ready roll them woo one of the best sounds around was the people crackers plant number five marching band and groove Society how hippo blew first susf phone and Robert rabbit hit lead glockens [Applause] [Music] Spiel they were really fine days the band was doing gigs all over the town and Al and Robert were kept busy every weekend during the week they were kept busy at the world's largest maker of people crackers a big favorite of all the animals but when they weren't working they always found time for fun the good times did roll and the hippos and rabbits enjoyed the good life all the way [Applause] and then one fateful day it happened Harry and Robert were working a big Independence Day celebration with all the works [Music] [Applause] [Music] h [Applause] [Music] [Applause] such a terrible tragedy poor Hal hippo gone almost a month now and Robert rabbit still unable to walk the doctor still thinks it might be as much as two more years before rabbit is back to normal Health Mrs rabbit is worried because they're using their savings for day-to-day expenses then one fateful day this is where i' come in again excuse me folks you mind if I come in uh Mr walrus the funeral director and mrff the teacher down at the school well they told me about your problems Mr girap was very worried because she hasn't seen the children for some time normally people come to us about their benefits but I think your case is special I'm from Social Security but I'm not retiring oh quite right but Social Security isn't just for retirement it protects your family at any age for example why aren't the children in school they're all looking for part-time jobs because Robert isn't going to be able to work for at least 2 years and our savings won't carry us that long they should still be going to school who' work then Mrs rabit and I have the little ones to take care of and we have to eat and pay that rent that's why I'm here both Hal and Robert had Social Security at the plant didn't they sure for retirement H you forget now I said there are other social security benefits what we have here are two different problems Mrs hippo but both are covered by Social Security they are absolutely so if you come to the Social Security office and bring a report of the accident along with hell's social security number I'll help you file a claim that'll pay you a lump sum immediately plus a check every month until baby hippo is 18 years old or until he's 22 if he stays in school full-time a check every month did you hear that that's right and now you hippo kids I want you back in school immediately yay you have my word on that and when Junior's old enough so you won't have to stay home with him anymore you can get a job yourself if you want to and you can earn some money and still continue to collect your monthly Social Security checks I'll be in your office bright and early tomorrow say Mrs rabbit why don't you come too since your husband's condition is expected to last at least a year or more you can get benefits and the checks will keep coming as long as your husband's disability continues just bring along the doctor's report plus the accident report but that happened a month ago well the company will have a record of it and we'll get your claim in the works so you can start getting your Social Security disability checks after the 5mon waiting period gee that's the best news I've heard in a long time that's not all when you're ready we'll even help you start getting back on your feet with you know therapy great it'll be good to get back to work see you all tomorrow okay byebye bye bye good Heavens that was a long drop I didn't realize that now anyhow that was the whole film and uh I'm here to answer any questions anybody got any questions if this is so good why' you show us the cute little animals cause turkey they shows things that really happen to people people do get sick and people do die furthermore like this the children could understand it and maybe you might understand it that's right and what else did you learn from the movie ain't going to play tuba come on now come on no I mean about what did you learn about social security you get money even if you can't work that's right those are called Social Security disability benefits and how long can you get that money I think up to a year or more well no not quite what I said was that since rabbit's disability was expected to last for a year or more he and the family could get payments and the checks would continue as long as rabbit's disability kept him from working don't you have to wait 5 months yes for the benefits to start but you shouldn't wait to apply and and and now what happens when somebody dies hey what was that for that was for what you're going to say hey cut it out you guys and pay attention yeah cool it come on now listen to me I'm asking you a question what about the benefits your family gets when you die you know the ones called survivors benefits huh they pay part of the family's funeral course and then they send them a check each month and how long can you kids continue to get these payments until Junior's 18 or if he's smart and stays in school so he don't have to work hard like his daddy he can collect till he's 22 stay in school Tommy I'm going to be in the NBA Daddy Junior it doesn't matter if you're going to be in the NBA or in a factory like your daddy or anywhere else for that matter there's one thing you got to have before you start working anywhere what's that a social security car oh yeah say Mr driver why don't you show up yours okay hey [Applause] now you see that's a social security card and the number on it is the same number you'll always have from the first day you start working until the day you retire like Grandpa over there why no matter how many different places you work in you'll always have the same number it's your very own number and nobody else can ever have it okay baby I got it what you got got a number that's good you got a number it you got number you got a number [Music] water has been one of our main sources of power and energy for centuries this beautiful old water mill in sagus Massachusetts is the birthplace of the mighty steel industry in the United States and was hailed as the best in the world in 1650 by our modern standards it was highly inefficient since all the power had to be used directly at the source bad summer droughts and severe winter ice jams paralyzed the water wheels for weeks invention of the steam engine and electricity resulted in the vast power Distribution Systems of today which ironically still depend to an important extent on water as a source of energy the rapid growth of our modern civilization and its industrial might has created a thirst for energy Beyond man's Wildest Dreams hundreds of new generating plants and transmission networks are being built to serve rapidly growing communities although some emphasis today is on the development of nuclear power the supply of thorium and uranium deposits is limited and still uneconomical as a source of energy in most areas with the continued depletion of fossil fuels and the limitation of nuclear fuels it is essential that we investigate every possible power source to feed the giant networks that carry the very lifeblood of our modern civilization yes eventually we must find a source of unlimited power and even in this atomic age with development of power from nuclear sources our attention is once again turned to water this time to a source of energy that man has thus far failed to harness to generate electricity the mighty ocean [Music] tides the highest tides in the world are found at the head of the Bay of funi in Canada and where the tides are highest the potential power source is greatest for 40 years Engineers have been intrigued with the problem of harnessing this vast source of power that is unaffected Ed by droughts ice jams and silting that decrease the power output of our modern River hydroelectric plants in the early 1920s Dexter P Cooper made the first large-scale study of tidal power production in this area Cooper however lost support during the financial crisis of 1929 and his plans were never realized from 1935 to 1937 the United States Army Corps of Engineers actually started to build a one pool tidle power project limited to the cobscook Bay Area they completed construction of three small tidal dams before the project was discontinued in 1937 title power is by no means a 20th century idea for hundreds of years man has made puny efforts to use title power small tidle Mills in England and Western European countries were used to grind corn in the 11th century this spice Mill in Massachusetts developed about 50 horsepower from a single tidal pool four large water wheels located under the building used the power created by trapping water at high tide and releasing it at low tide in the operation of any single pool tidal power plan power generation is not continuous because the power head is too small while the pool is filling furthermore the operation of any single pool title project is Complicated by the fact that high tides occur 50 minutes later each [Music] day in 1956 the governments of Canada and the United States directed The International Joint Commission to investigate the engineering and economic feasibility of harnessing the tides of Pima and cubs cook Bays between New Brunswick and Maine for this purpose the commission set up the international pasati engineering board and the internal pasati Fisheries board individual committees composed of the best engineering and scientific brains on title power studies from both nations were gathered to study the intricate aspects of this gigantic investigation this launched one of the most exhausted studies of tital power in history on an international scale the field office and soils laboratory located in Eastport Maine started the detailed surveys as title observations and subsurface Explorations necessary to determine the best layout and design of the project at high tide the Waterfront at Eastport looks exactly like any other small New England sea port the water laps close up under the buildings and Piers fairies arrive from Canada and discharge their passengers the fishing fleet ties up here at wardsworth dock and to a stranger everything looks normal no one would suspect the complete metamorphosis that takes place at low tie the impact of the enormous title range in this area is now evident a 26- ft drop at extreme low tide lays the whole Waterfront bare 140 billion cubic feet of water flow through this area every 24 hours and 50 minutes to devise a workable and feasible scheme to harness these tides for the economical production of uninterrupted power constitutes the essence of tidal Power Engineering tidal range determines the available head of water at the PowerHouse and thus governs the amount of power generated an average range of 18 ft in in this area assures the project of enough power head to run its giant turbines three years of intensive research and design and the study of some 60 different Arrangements of the project have resulted in a plan selected for design that best suits all conditions of the Pima site to avoid time consuming computations of energy output this work was done by an electronic digital computer at a considerable saving in cost frequent meetings of the engineering board were held to study the reports of its committees and a final project plan evolved designed to produce the greatest amount of power from the most economical and efficient plan of construction although design and construction of the project will be highly complex the plan selected for design is basically simp the project Arrangement will simply close a trap that nature herself has largely provided the project is designed as a two- pool plan using Pima Bay as the high pool and cobscook Bay as the low pool a system of tidal dams to close the Bays off from the sea and the installation of filling and emptying gates to regulate the flow of water in and out of the pools will ensure continuous but fluctuating power from generating facility ities located at moose [Music] Island this demonstration model was built by the Fisheries research Board of Canada's Biological Station at St Andrews new brunwick although it is not an engineering model it vividly shows the arrangement of the huge project and how it would function all the tidle dams are in their proper places in the selected plan and the tiny plastic emptying and filling Gates function to demonstrate the operation of the project [Music] by raising and lowering the block the tidal cycle can be simulated with the incoming tide The Filling gates at Lati passage and Deer Island would be opened to allow the tide to rush into the high pool and when The Tide is High the gates would close to trap it there forcing it to flow through the powerhouse on moose Island and into the low pool which has been emptied at low tide therefore following the normal tidal cycle emptying and filling of the tidal pools would occur twice every 24 hours and 50 minutes although complex to build the operation of the huge project is relatively simple the project includes four navigation locks to permit access to all ports in the area [Music] 40 filling Gates would be constructed in letit passage and the structures would be anchored to the small eyps that stretch across the passage like stepping stones although the project encompasses an area of 142 Square mil the individual construction sites are comparatively small tidal dams will connect the filling gate structures with the mainland and McMaster Island a series of dams will connect the succession of tiny eyelets from McMaster Island across little latite passage to Deer Island this series of dams and filling Gates will close the North End of the upper pool construction of the entire project would have an immediate economic impact on the surrounding communities by the influx of several thousand workmen and the expenditure of many millions of dollars for construction materials and supplies severe weather conditions will be encountered throughout the project and bad winter storms and high winds may tax the construction Crews to the Limit heavy fogs blanket the area occasionally natives claim that this is the place where fogs are manufactured weather conditions like these coupled with the task of constructing nearly 7 mil of dams in the face of reversing tidle velocities up to 10 ft per second and depths up to 300 ft presents engineering and design problems without precedent in spite of these difficulties and the delays they may cause the project is planned for year- round construction and completion in six years the emptying gates for the lower pool are located south of letit between Pope and green Islands in head Harbor passage 70 emptying gates to empty the lower pool would be built here and dams from each end of the gate structure would connect with Indian Island and Campobello Island to close the North End of the low pool due to the wide expanse of the passage the force of the rapid tidal currents is not evident but the tidal flow here is equally as great as in other parts of the project area varying water depths from 50 to over 260 ft in this area will tax the Ingenuity of construction crews in closing the tidal dams in the face of restricted tidal Flows at greatly accelerated velocities a dam extending from West quadi head across quadi roads to Duck Point at the southern tip of Campobello Island would close the south end of the low pool perhaps the most concentrated construction activity of the whole tidle project would take place in the Moose Island area two small tidle dams were built in 1935 and connect moose Island to the mainland these dams were originally part of the single pool title project undertaken by the United States Army Corps of Engineers at that time the current plan of the international two pool project incorporates these dams in the new design to separate the high pool from the low pool although these dams were built nearly 25 years ago they are in excellent condition today a modern Highway and railroad built along the top of the dams furnish the only Highway and rail connections with Eastport and the mainland completion of the new tidle project would open the door for the construction of a new highway system along the tops of the new tidle dams and gate structures to connect all the main islands in the area with the Canadian and United States mainland a modern inter island highway system is certain to have beneficial effects on the future economic development of the area one of the best places to observe these tremendous tides in action is at Dog Island in Western passage just north of Eastport at low tide the water is like a Mill Pond Placid and peaceful but in 2 1/2 hours it becomes a ripping boiling Mass from the very moment the tides turn and noticeable flow is evident starting with a small Ripple it rapidly builds up into a powerful flow when the incoming tide has run about 1 hour and a half the water surges through the passage so fast that the surface of the water appears to Crown as the tide pushes into the upper pool area of pasati bay two deep tidal dams would be constructed in this area one beginning here at Dog Island and extending across Western passage to Deer Island on the far Shore and one extending from Deer Island point to Indian Island 50 filling Gates would be constructed at the southern tip of deer island to work in unison with the 40 filling gates in Lati [Music] passage the 160 filling and emptying Gates would be constructed first and open to help control the tidal flow while the dams are being closed some of the most ult construction problems of the whole project would be encountered in this area water depths in Western passage exceed 300 ft in some areas Coffer dams to unwatered dams can be built with conventional land and Marine equipment although the arrangement of the project utilizes the most favorable bottom areas as foundations for the tidal dams 2,900 ft of these dams about 8% of the total length must be built in areas where the water is 125 to 300 ft deep special bottom dump buckets would be used to place the granular core of the dams in these areas this is the legendary Whirlpool called Old sa local fables tell about ships sucked down to Davy Jones Locker by old sa and the natives in small fishing craft give it a wide birth while navigating in and out of the Bays although it is fascinating to watch it represents only an additional engineering problem in the plans of the title project the PowerHouse would be 1/2 mile long and would be located in Carrying Place Cod Northwest of Eastport the four bay would be cut through the narrow ismos of land on moose Island the PowerHouse would be constructed between Matthews Island and the shore of moose island with a tidal Dam connecting with the shore to close the gap of Carrying Place Cove the PowerHouse would be the outdoor type containing 30 generating units rated at 10,000 KW each coupled directly to Giant turbines 320 in in diameter these turbines each weighing over 160 tons would be among the largest in the world the generators would be protected by Weatherproof housings on the PowerHouse deck and two large traveling Gantry cranes equipped with movable doors which Shield the generating units while being serviced operation of the PowerHouse would be fully automatic generating units would be controlled by computer punch cards or tapes based on title predictions power output would range from a Dependable capacity of 95,000 kW to a peak output of 345,000 KW a modern administration building would adjoin the PowerHouse and suitable Landscaping would beautify the site for tourists who would flock here to visit the title project had the project been in existence in 1957 an estimated 800,000 tourists would have visited the area 17 million cubic yards of clay must be excavated to form the intake channel of the PowerHouse through this narrow neck of land on moose Island construction of the tidal dams would be scheduled to permit direct placement of nearly all material excavated for the PowerHouse and gate structures without costly stockpiling and rehandling construction of a bridge spanning the intake channel to accommodate Highway and rail traffic traffic and relocation of utilities is also included as part of the [Music] project title power must be generated as the tides occur rather than when the power Market requires it therefore an auxiliary power source to firm the output of the title project to its maximum Dependable capacity is desirable several methods of providing this auxiliary power we investigated one method employs an auxiliary pumped storage plant by installing generating facilities across the digdig river which flows into the pmaca bay high pool from the north water can be pumped from the high pool into the storage Basin to produce power at times of low tidal plant output fresh waterer inflow from the river would increase power generation seawater would be pumped into the storage Basin from The High pool by running the generators as Motors using power from the tidal plant when it is not not required to meet the load the storage would then be released at intervals to generate power to firm the fluctuating output of the tidal plant the best auxiliary power plant however was found to be a conventional River hydroelectric plant constructed on the Upper St John River at Ranken Rapids somewhat similar but much larger than this one at Beachwood New Brunswick because the output of the tidal plant follows the tides as they change from day to day Peak output from the title project would occur at times when the demand of the power Market is low the Ranken Rapids plant with a Dependable capacity of 460,000 KW operated in conjunction with the pasati tidal power plant would be a combined project of great magnitude the Dependable capacity of this combination would be 555,000 Kow and it would generate annually over 3 billion kwatt hours of energy [Music] since the Advent of hydroelectric power numerous tidal power sites throughout the world are being investigated here in the new world the surveys reveal that a tidle project can be built to harness the vast tides of the Bay of funi a project that was once a figment of the imagination a vision in the minds of Engineers can be a reality today a project that would operate without the need of fuel of any kind an inexhaustible source of energy to feed the rapid growth of population and Industry that is inevitable in the [Music] future the international pasati tital power project which may one day be the first large-scale title project built anywhere in the world is a project that would stimulate the economies of Maine and New Brunswick and boost the future development of the whole surrounding area international title power a new source of energy in a time of [Music] [Applause] need when most Japanese think about industry in the United States pictures like these come to their minds vast Factory cities with plants extending as far as the eye can see thousands upon thousands of men whole armies of workers clogging the streets going to and from working shift three shifts a day around the clock so many needed to man the machines that it takes other machines to keep track of them vast cavernous plants echoing with the earsplitting Roar of Machinery at work but this is only one side of the industrial picture in the United States there is another side of the picture this it's only a small Factory light Airy quiet employing a handful of workers the whole Factory is hardly larger than a big house it is not in the middle of a vast smoke clogged industrial Metropolis but in the treelined outskirts of a small American town a Seaport Community named Sag Harbor in the state of New York like that of so many communities in Japan the the history of sag harbor USA has been tied to the Sea a century ago its name was known on almost all of the Seven Seas for Sag Harbor was Home Port to some of the most famous of America's wailing Fleet ships that scoured the world for the most precious and largest of the ocean creatures the citizens of Sag Harbor today still Worship in the church their wailing Captain forefathers built and when they die they are buried in its graveyard gazing at The Monuments to the Wailing captains monuments like this a broken ship's MK preserving the memory of brave men dead at Sea what dreams of heroism and Glory must the growing generation dream as he walks home his head filled with the names of the Whalers of a century ago today Sag Harbor youngster like Jan Harbo here passes other monuments the Whalers Left Behind for the very Town its houses built with individual initiative and Enterprise to last hundreds of years is also a monument to the Whalers [Music] the sea is still written on the faces of the people of sag harbor the sea was good to Sag haror for nearly 100 years the Whalers prospered then in 1871 the last wailing Brig left Port oil from the ground replaced oil from the sea but the town did not perish with its industry for reasons we shall see one look at its homes well-kept brightly painted one look at its growing generation young vital healthy vouches for [Music] that today no one strolls on the captain's walk the rooftop porch high above the wher houses scanning The Horizon for ships that will never return again for today the town looks Elsewhere for its salvation the days of wailing the days of living off the sea are gone forever gone but not forgotten the home to which young Jan Harbo walks for instance A Whaler's Carpenter built it inside motos of the Wailing days like whail oil lamps still Grace its rooms and the little boy may be forgiven if he forgets and puts his feet Upon A treasured couch that a great great grandfather bought with money earned on a wailing trip Halfway Around the World a little boy may be excused but not approved yes the days of whing are gone but not forgotten Jan's father whittel new models of the old ships as forbears [Music] sailed the Wailing days provide more than Recreation for Jan's father his skill with his hands helps him in his work but it's not the sea it's Small industry that provides his livelihood Jan's father works at a simple machine in the far corner of a small plant in a small town Small industry is as typical of American Business as is large industry but sag Harbors is unique an experiment in work incentive patterns profit sharing and other Innovations this is no Branch Factory of some great industrial concern it is one of several small all units established in Sag Harbor as a laboratory in human relations this one manufactures the regulating mechanisms for clocks here with healthful working and living conditions with homes nearby with a pace of work happy and relaxed employees can work more efficiently and happily than in the great Metropolitan centers where rent and food all come at premium prices and noise and smoke come free here each employee can do any job when one worker gets ahead of her fellows On Any Given job she shifts to another to help her co-workers out the management relies on the individual initiative of each employee the finished product here tested to ensure the Perfection of its construction is the joint work of the combined individual initiative of all the employees and when the work is done all employees share in the rewards the foreman blocks in the production on a graph this ever increasing production is graphic evidence of what it means to have employees who aren't just numbers on a Time Clock employees whose working and living conditions are healthy and happy and equally important the wages and bonuses earned mean business for the town on Saturdays Jan harb boy's father can take his family shopping for the things they want and need as they stroll through the streets the Whalers trod the citizens of Sag Harbor today know that they are keeping alive the traditions of free enterprise their forefathers handed them for Small industry small associations of friendly employees working happily together in the American tradition of group initiative within a system of free enterprise is the lifeblood of small communities all over the United States [Music] today not that the sea has been forgotten the Harbo often visit the Wailing museum with its authentic whaleboat now proudly riding a sea of carefully tended lawn no the sea has not been forgotten but it no longer controls the destiny of the town and who will say looking at this happy family life that its calling is any less proud than that of its sailing ancestors or that Small industry has not brought a rich and happy life life to Sag Harbor USA [Music] I've just had my say in the government of our country my own private say and if you or the policeman over there or the president of the United States asks me how I voted I can say that's none of your business as an American I have that right every one of these people has that right you have it it's something special Americans have a Heritage of the vote No Other Nation on Earth can match because in the modern world we were the first the first to build a working system of government on the foundation of the vote Webster's Dictionary says vote the right to exercise a wish choice or expression of will here in Berlin one of these men is about to vote in the only effective way he can with his feet thousands and tens of thousands have made the dash to freedom from behind the Iron Curtain and a graphic phrase came into being they were voting with their feet then in in came the wall as elsewhere the Communists had to do something too many people wanted out and despite the wall men and women would still risk prison or death it is well not to underestimate how deeply runs the need of human beings for freedom of choice freedom of choice is the essence of voting the polling place in which only one answer is acceptable is no polling place of course when you give each man a free choice you run the risk of wide disagreement fine Harry Emerson fosik said it well Liberty is always dangerous but it's the safest thing we have the vote itself is nothing recent in man's history the first ballots known were used in the popular courts of ancient Athens the juries used balls like these to register their votes white for innocence black for Guilt from these came our word ballot which means literally little ball no voting is nothing new but not until the 18th century in the American colonies did the vote become the actual Foundation of a governmental system this was something new in the world and it was not easily done with us the secret ballot became the rule this way the voter couldn't be intimidated before the voting or punished afterward power groups of course looked for ways to get around it for example a man might be ordered to write his name or put an identifying mark on his ballot so his vote could be checked so a law was passed any ballot so marked would not be counted or a voter might be told to take a friend with him to the polls to help him with the paperwork and again to make sure of his vote so another law was passed no one is allowed in the polling place but election officials and individual voters private voting booths naturally followed and so it went over the years we made the system work but there were a lot of Kinks to be ironed out along the way for example what about citizens in uniform before the Civil War Most states wouldn't let soldiers vote at all they were afraid of military control of elections in communities near large army installations the few who could vote had to do it in person or not at all there was no absentee balloting during the Civil War some Union states set up ways for men away from home to vote some arranged for voting in the field others allowed men to mail votes home for a friend or relative to take to the polls for them all this however was strictly temporary by the time World War I came many states had set up absentee voting systems and in 19 17 with most troops still in the states the military vote was substantial if not truly impressive but in 1918 with 2 million men overseas and no provision for voting outside the United States the military vote was virtually non-existent clearly these men had the right to vote but there was just no provision for it when World War II came the problem had to be tackled all over again Congress passed the federal voting law to allow service people away from home in time of War to vote now those overseas could vote for Senate house and presidential candidates in 1944 some 25 million voted overseas it was somewhat complicated to get the ballots through the mail and send them back to the States again still if you really wanted to there was a way during the Korean War it was made easier for a serviceman overseas to cast his vote and he was encouraged to do so but this was still a special combat zone provision and like all the others before it a temporary one so in 1955 it was a major step forward when the federal voting assistance act became law providing the mechanism for absentee voting anytime anywhere war or peace on a permanent basis this law provided for getting election information to the serviceman and helping him to obtain an absentee ballot it also recommended to every state that it adopt a simple and uniform voting procedure to make the whole process less complicated the fpca federal postal card application became the key to the program and today every state accepts it as a valid application for an absentee ballot from service personnel today casting your vote from any spot on earth is an easy matter no matter how you look at it from your Viewpoint as a soldier sailor Airman or Marine the steps you take are simple your voting officer will see to it that you get an application card together with the voting information you need for your voting district you fill out the fpca and drop it in the mail no need for a stamp it goes by free air mail right to your voting district back [Music] home they will send you an absentee ballot Back Again by air mail you have it with a minimum of delay the rest is up to you and rightly so [Music] your vote for whatever candidate for whatever reasons is your business and no one [Music] else's finally your ballot goes back home by air and enter the voting total along with the votes of your neighbors and wherever you are you have the means of making sure that your vote is an informed vote of following the issues the candidates the platforms as the campaign gets underway if you're ever tempted to wonder if your single vote means anything just remember that every vote is counted and everyone counts a single vote can swing an election don't underestimate it this is something no amount of money can buy for you if you don't have it it's just a piece of paper but it represents your basic right as a citizen more than 130 years ago a man named William Corbett hit it right on the head when he said the great right of all without which there is in fact no right is the right of taking part in the making of the laws by which we are governed important aspects of your life in uniform are directly regulated by the Congress pay rates allowances benefits term of service and so on but the Congress is all Al directly regulated by you as Citizens this is the means by which you can have your say wherever the needs of the nation demand it around the world you are on duty dramatic Duty sometimes not so dramatic most times but always important necessary to the overall purpose the same purpose it has always been to secure the blessings of liberty to to ourselves and our posterity who more than you who in this moment of History are providing the defense of the nation who more than you should use the free voice which you are helping to ensure that free voice is the vote la