OCR Text |
Show M CAMOUFLAGE ADVERTISING H ' I ' Hi. present national udministrn- H tion is perhaps the most insid- H uous in its advertising methods, which B are rnmoiiflagcd under all manner of H tiisKuises, that this country has ever known. I.uikc numbers of clerks and B publicity people are employed at the B rapitol city for tho purpose of keep- K iiiK the muiles flooded with circular A matter, largely in the nature of per- H mini ndvartiainfc (or thia, that or tha H ..lb i i-r government olliciul or depart H ment, thus encumbering the mails to H the exclusion of legitimate and neces- H sury matter, even to parcels for the H lKy8 "over there," who must needs be H limited to one Christmas package each HBl if, indeed, they arc bjfky enough to H .'! that. In the mean time, the pub- BBb lie is paying for this nonesense in BBl their taxes and contributions and sub- BBJ Bcriptionn to the various war funds H and activities. H Neurly every mail brings each news. BH paper in the United States, little and BBb big, from I. a i, or three to a dozen of H these propaganda enclosures of one BB kind or unother, a very small propor- BH tion of which are valuable from a news H standpoint, and a very large propor- BB tion of which are political and person- H al advertising, pure and simple. A BBa concrete example before us is a copy BJBJ of "General Welfare HuMctin, a four- H page circular, the front page of which H bears this introduction: BH "Issued in the interest of Nationnl , BH Conservation and for the proper de- j BH velopment of Agriculture, Industry H and Transportation. Edited by Stan- H ley W. Pinch." BH "Published weekly for editors and H publishers only." BJH The subscription price is $1.00 a, BH year, but it is sent free to editors and BH publishers, without their request. BH lxoks fair and generous on its face, H doesn't it? BH Now we wil turn the leaves and B note some of the contents, of which BBB the following is a specimen: M "THE PRESIDENT." BJB Tin American people may rest as- BH sured that President Wilson is not. BH going to Europe for his health, nor, ' BB as some seem to think, for the pur BH pose oj" strutting around over there, ' BBJ but on the contrary, in deciding to BBJ attend the Peace Conference in per B son notwithstanding the bitter and BHj wide-spread criticism of such action, R he is undoubtedly actuated by the BB highest patriotic motives. Moreover, BBl while he has not as yet taken the BHi public into his confidence in the mat M ter, undoubtedly there's a reason, and m a good one, for Ins inflexible determi- M nation to make the trip and, when the 1 whole story is finally known, the Am- B erican people will nodoubt have an- B other reason to thank God that Wood- B row Wilson the man who makes H gi cat ideals come true hus been our M president during this, the most critical , H period of all history for the determi- H nation of the welfare or the woe fa re B of the world. BBJ As to the President's right to make HH the trip there i.i not the slightest BBg doubt and, as to the wisdom of such B course, he being probably the only BH person in possession of all the facts BBa is ben able to juduc. BBe r "President Wilson, then, will n feO BH Europe not merely as an individual, I nor simply as a delegate to the Peace K Conference, but in the t'xereise of his ' BF full authority as Commander-in-Chief of our Army, as our Chief Executive and Pence Negotiator and also as the best known, most highly regarded and most powerful personality In all the world: and under such circumstances there is no doubt that, through his influence in-fluence and efforts, this country and the whole world will get a square deal in every way. "Let good citizens then, everywhere, lint aerae petty quibbling (,f ft" kinds, and follow our president, ns he sails away, with best wishes and earnest prayers for his personal safety and for the hiirhe t po Ible IttCCefl in the tremendously important tanks which confront him." Are you able to trace any connection connec-tion between the foregoing (lever bit of personnl advertising and the avowed purposes of this publication, which is supposed to be issued in the intei of "National Conservation, nnd the proper development, of Agriculture, 'Industry and Transportation." We cannot, unless it might be claimed to be in the interest of transportation. Under the caption of "The New , World," there is un article whuh salvors sa-lvors very strongly of Holshevikism, and is a severe nrrnbrnment of all i capital and employers of labor, whom it compares to the imperialistic kaiser and his cotiere in Germany. The publication is issued by "The General Welfare League, 170 liroad-wny, liroad-wny, New York, and it is really an abuse of the government franking privilege to allow it this use -of the mails. Then are lot of such advertising sheets being issued at the peoplthefr sheets being issued and circulated nt the people's expense which ought to be suspended. |