| Summary: | In the first letter, written January 25, 1916, the men urge Bankhead to work to keep the United States out of the war, though they support the fortification of coastal cities: "Vote for the bills to stop Americans from traveling on beligrent vesels and will you please vote against the building of these 12 & 15 milion dollar war ships or floating pallaces the submarines are the ones that we need and our cities and coast towns well mined and fortified we don't want our country to patern after Europeian nations in the military line." They also ask Bankhead to support a proposed rural credit bill (they originally enclosed a page from Progressive Farmer that described it). In the second letter, written January 28, Bankhead informs the men that he believes "the danger of trouble with any of the great powers of Europe for many years to come is very remote"; he also approves their plan for naval reinforcement. He then explains that while he supports a "rural credits system," he advocates "a farmers' bill and not a bankers' bill": "In my opinion, most of the bills of this character that have been introduced to Congress are favorable to the bankers instead of the farmers." At the time these letters were written, Bankhead was representing Alabama in the United States Senate. [Original spelling retained.] A transcript for the first letter is included.
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