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HOW WE ADVERTISED
AMERICA
GEORGE CREEL, CHAIRMAN
'y NEWTON D. BAKER,
SECRETARY OF 'WAR
JOSEPHUS DANIELS,
SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
EGBERT L. LANSING,
SECRETARY OF STATE
HOW WE
ADVERTISED AMERICA
The First Telling of the Amazing Story
of the Committee on Public Information
that Carried the Qospel of American*
ism to Every Corner of the Qlobe
By
GEORGE CREEL
Author of
"IRELAND'S FIGHT FOB FREEDOM"
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
How WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Copyright, 1920, by Harper & Brothers
Printed in the United States of America
Published June, 1920
F-U
CONTENTS
PAGE
DEDICATORY ix
FOREWORD xi
PART I THE DOMESTIC SECTION
CHAP.
I. THE "SECOND LINES" 3
II. THE "CENSORSHIP" BUGBEAR 16
III. THE "FOURTH OF JULY FAKE" . 8
IV. THE COMMITTEE'S "AIRCRAFT LIES*' . . . . . '. 45
V. RELATIONS WITH CONGRESS .... 51
VI. THE DIVISION OF NEWS 70
VII. THE FOUR MINUTE MEN 84
VIII. TlIE FIGHT FOR THE MIND OF MANKIND 99
IX. THE BATTLE OF THE FILMS 117
X. THE "BATTLE OF THE FENCES" 133
XI. THE WAR EXPOSITIONS 142
XII. THE SPEAKING DIVISION 148
XIII. THE ADVERTISING DIVISION 156
XIV. THE " AMERICANIZERS " 166
XV. WORK AMONG THE FOREIGN-BORN 184
XVI. A WONDERFUL FOURTH OF JULY ........ 200
XVII. THE "OFFICIAL BULLETIN'* 208
XVIII. DIVISION OF WOMEN'S WAR-WORK 212
XIX. OTHER DIVISIONS 222
XX. SHOWING AMERICA TO THE FOREIGN PRESS 227
PART II THE FOREIGN SECTION
I. THE FIGHT IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 237
II. AMERICA'S WORLD NEWS SERVICE 250
III. THE FOREIGN MAIL PFIRVTCE . 261
CONTENTS
CHAP.
IV. FIGHTING WITH FILMS 273
V. BREAKING THROUGH THE ENEMY CENSORSHIP .... 283
VI. FRANCE, ENGLAND, AND ITALY 290
VII. THE WORK IN MEXICO 303
VIII. THE WORK IN SWITZERLAND 317
IX. THE WORK IN HOLLAND 327
X. THE WORK IN SPAIN 336
XI. THE WORK IN SCANDINAVIA 348
XII. THE WORK IN THE ORIENT 358
XIII THE WORK IN SOUTH AMERICA 365
XIV. THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 374
PART III DEMOBILIZATION
I. AFTER THE ARMISTICE 401
n. "AMERICANIZING" MITTEL EUROPA 417
in. CONFUSION AND NEGLECT 427
APPENDIX
I. THE AMERICAN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS' ASSOCIATION 437
II. "SAVAGERY" vs. SANITY 443
PUBLICATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMA-
TION IN THE UNITED STATES 455
INDEX 461
ILLUSTRATIONS
GEORGE CREEL, CHAIRMAN; NEWTON D. BAKER, SECRE-
TARY OF WAR; JOSEPHUS DANIELS, SECRETARY OF
THE NAVY; ROBERT L. LANSING, SECRETARY OF STATE Frontispiece
MARLEN E. PEW, HARVEY J. O'HiGGiNS, LEIGH REILLY,
MAURICE F. LYONS Facing p. 70
CLAYTON D. LEE, WILLIAM H. INGERSOLL, WILLIAM
MCCORMICK BLAIR, E. T. GUNDLACH " 84
J. J. PETTIJOHN, GUY STANTON FORD, ARTHUR BESTOR,
SAMUEL G. HARDING " 100
F. DESALES CASEY, CHARLES S. HART, CHARLES DANA
GIBSON, L. E. RUBEL " 118
CHICAGO WAR EXPOSITION " 134
W. C. D'ARCY, HERBERT S. HOUSTON, L. B. JONES, W. H.
JOHNS, THOMAS CUSACK, JESSE H. NEALE, O. C. HARN ' * 156
ALEXANDER KONTA, JOSEPHINE ROCHE, JULIUS KOETTGEN,
ROBERT E. LEE, EDWIN BJORKMAN, DR. ANTONIO
STELLA " 184
F. W. McREYNOLos, L. AMES BROWN, CLARA SEARS
TAYLOR, E. S. ROCHESTER " 208
CARL BYOIR, WILL IRWIN, HARRY N. RICKEY, EDGAR G.
SISSON " 238
PAUL KENNADAY, ERNEST POOLE, W. S. ROGERS, PERRY
ARNOLD " 250
LLEWELLYN THOMAS, JULES BRULATOUR, GUY CROSWELL
SMITH, E. L. STARR, LT. JOHN TUERK, WILBUR
H. HART " 274
JAMES F. KERNEY, ROBERT H. MURRAY, CHARLES E.
MERRIAM, HENRY SUYDAM, PAUL PERRY " 290
ERIC PALMER, GEORGE Rus, H. H. SEVIER, VIRA B.
WHITEHOUSE, FRANK J. MARION 304
MALCOLM W. DAVIS, GRAHAM R. TAYLOR, ARTHUR
BULLARD, READ LEWIS " 374
DEDICATORY
THE Committee on Public Information was wiped out of
existence on June 30, 1919, by action of Congress. The
work of the Committee had been discontinued months
before, and only an orderly liquidation was in progress.
It was this liquidation that Congress desired to interrupt
and confuse. No one was left with power to rent a building,
employ a clerk, transfer a bank balance, or to collect a
dollar. This condition of chaos endured for weeks for it
was not until August 21st that the President found power
to turn the records of the Committee over to the Council
of National Defense and it is only to-day that a final
accounting to the people is able to be made.
At the time of the Committee's annihilation a complete
report of its activities was on the presses in the Government
Printing Office. This was included in the general slaughter,
for not only was it the purpose of Congress to prevent any
final audit, but also to keep the Committee from making
a statement of achievement for the information of the
public.
It was to defeat this pwjrpose that this book has been
written. It is not a compilation of incident and opinion,
but a record and a chronicle. I have followed through the
work of the organization from beginning to end, division
by division, both as a matter of duty and as a partial dis-
charge of my debt of gratitude to the men and women
who worked with me.
ix
DEDICATORY
It is to them and to Woodrow Wilson great and in-
spired leader in the fight for the moral verdict of mankind
that this volume is dedicated.
THE AUTHOR.
NEW YORK, May l t 1920.
A very special word of thanks is due to Mr. Maurice
Lyons, secretary of the Committee from first to last, and
to Mr. Harvey J. O'Higgins, associate chairman.
FOREWORD 1
IN view of the fact that the works which Mr. Creel
has performed are supposed to have been performed under
the guidance of, or, at least, in association with, the Com-
mittee on Public Information, consisting of the Secretary
of State, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary
of War, I am afraid that if I were to indulge in extravagant
eulogy of the wise and helpful things Mr. Creel has done
it might be assumed that I was seeking to reserve for the
remainder of the Committee some share of the praise.
I feel sure, however, that if the Secretary of State were
present he would assent, as the Secretary of the Navy,
being present, I know does assent, to a statement of the
attitude of the remaining members of that Committee
toward Mr. Creel; the feeling is that while our names
have been used as members of the Committee on Public
Information, its labors have been the labors of Mr. Creel,
and, for myself, at least, I can say that the helpfulness has
been from him to me rather than in the reverse direction.
I remember a statement of Sir William Hamilton that
there is nothing great in the world but man, and nothing
great in man but mind. It is obviously too soon to begin
to appraise either what this war means to mankind or
what forces have correlated in the winning of the war,
and yet our minds have been, I think, rather more occu-
pied in observing the correlation of physical forces than
1 Being the informal address of Mr. Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War, at
a dinner given to Mr. Creel in Washington, November 29, 1918.
xi
FOREWORD
they have in observing the correlation of mental forces;
and I have a feeling, a very strong feeling, that future
historians, when they are farther removed from the events
of to-day, will lay stress upon the latter, not neglecting,
but at least less emphasizing, the former. When you are
near the trenches the biggest thing in the world is the man
in the trenches, and he is a very big thing in the world
while the war is on. Our minds are fascinated by the
presence of Americans in France. We see stretching over
France the products of our mills and our factories; we
see the boys we have taken from field and workshop and
factory and office and school manufactured overnight
into an altogether unsuspected stature of heroism and
capacity for sacrifice in the field. We see the trained and
veteran armies of the countries which have long maintained
a great military policy caught up with by our own recruits,
hastily trained; we see the ocean, filled with new and
difficult perils, carrying larger numbers of American sol-
diers than have ever been transported in the history of
mankind. Perhaps the greatest foreign army that ever
crossed a sea in the history of the world prior to the present
war was the Persian army of a million men, which bridged
and crossed the Hellespont, and here the American army
has sent two millions of men across the Atlantic. We see
workshops and factories in America transferred from civil-
ian occupations and learning new and difficult arts, ac-
customing their tools to the manufacture of war supplies,
and we see American labor learning new skills, new mechan-
ical inventions brought into quantity production among us.
So we think of the physical things accomplished because
we are close to them and because they are visible to the
senses. Our minds naturally dwell chiefly upon the
physical things that have been done. There are many
people in this room who have been in Europe since we
entered this war, and nobody could possibly go to France,
xii
FOREWORD
enter a port, and travel from any port of France to the
front-line trenches without recognizing the energy and
efficiency of his own nation; the strength and skill of his
own fellow-countrymen; the inventive genius of America;
the large capacity for industrial output of America stamped
all over France.
These things form our imagination; it is our disposition
to think of the war as a great conflict of physical forces in
which the best mechanic won, and in which the nation
that was strongest in material things, which had the
largest accumulation of wealth and the greatest power of
concentrating its industrial factors, was the victorious
nation. Yet, as I said at the outset, I suspect the future
historian will find under all these physical manifestations
their mental cause, and will find that the thing which
ultimately brought about the victory of the Allied forces
on the western front was not wholly the strength of the
arm of the soldier, not wholly the number of guns of the
Allied nations; but it was rather the mental forces that
were at work nerving those arms, and producing those
guns, and producing in the civil populations and military
populations alike of those countries that unconquerable
determination that this war should have but one end, a
righteous end.
The whole business of mobilizing the mind of the world
so far as American participation in the war was concerned
was in a sense the work of the Committee on Public In-
formation. We had an alternative to face when we went
into this war. The instant reaction of habit and tradition
was to establish strict censorship, to allow to ooze out just
such information as a few select persons might deem to
be helpful, and to suppress all of the things which these
persons deemed hurtful. This would have been the tra-
ditional thing to do. I think it was Mr. Creel's idea, and
it was certainly a great contribution to the mobilization
xiii
FOREWORD
of the mental forces of America, to have, in lieu of a Com-
mittee on Censorship, a Committee on Public Information
for the production and dissemination as widely as possible
of the truth about America's participation in the war.
Undoubtedly for the country to adopt the censorship plan
would have been to say, "Now, we must all sit still and
breathe cautiously lest we rock the boat." It was an
inspiration to say, instead: "Now, this boat is just so
many feet long, it is so many feet wide, it weighs just so
much, and the sea is just so deep. If, after having all of
these facts before you, you think rocking the boat will
help the cause, rock' 9 That is what the Committee on
Public Information did, and it required a stroke of genius
perhaps not a stroke of genius, but something better
than genius to see that it required faith in democracy,
it required faith in the fact; for it is a fact that our demo-
cratic institutions over here would enable us to deal with
information safely; that, as Mr. Creel believed, if we re-
ceived the facts we could be trusted.
Now the men who said that, and started out to give the
American people all the facts there were, to see that the
story was fully told, to dig it up out of hidden places and
put it before the people, performed a very distinct service
in the war, and, if I may say so, it seems to me a very
great service to the future of our development, and in the
application of the fruits of the victory which democracy
has just won in the world. But it did not stop there. Of
course, as the head of the War Department I am committed
irrevocably, and no matter what my private opinions may
be, to a belief on the much mooted question as to whether
the pen is mightier than the sword. I am obliged to be-
lieve that the sword is mightier than the pen. But this
war wasn't to be won by the sword alone. It was to be
won by the pen as well as by the sword, and I am not
speaking now of a purely military victory, because the
xiv
FOREWORD
victory is simply a point in time. The Germans signed the
armistice and began to go pell-mell toward the Rhine;
they turned over a certain number of ships and railroad-
cars and big guns, etc., and if that were to end the war, the
end of it would be no end whatever. The question which
still remains as a part of winning the war is gathering up
the results of that war and extracting the real fruits. Of
course, we should all be happy over the military victory,
but the things in the victory that will make for our happi-
ness and for the happiness of our children twenty years
from now, and our grandchildren forty years from now,
are the real winnings of the war; these are the things that
will count most both for our enduring happiness and the
profit of our children and grandchildren, the things that
will make most for the truth and the freedom and liberty
of mankind always; and these are the things that are to
be won out of this war, not by our way of fighting, but by
what we fought for, and what other people believe we
fought for.
So, it was of the greatest importance that America in
this war should be represented not merely as a strong man
fully armed, but as a strong man fully armed and believing
in the cause for which he was fighting. It was necessary
to have somebody who understood why we were at war,
and in saying that I speak not of a man who could com-
prehend merely the difficult international problems with
regard to it, but the spirit that made us go into this war,
and the things we were fighting for. Wars are sometimes
fought for land, sometimes for dynastic aspiration, and
sometimes for ideas and ideals. We were fighting for ideas
and ideals, and somebody who realized that, and knew it,
had to say it and keep on saying it until it was believed.
That was a part of the function of the Committee on
Public Information. Its body was in Washington, but
its hands reached out into the capitals of neutral countries
xv
FOREWORD
and elsewhere; its representatives were in constant com-
munication by cable and telegraph and letter with the
central place here in Washington where there were gathered
together men of talent and genius and comprehension, and
the inspiration of their appreciation of America had to go
out from Washington to all of these outlying places.
Sometimes it appeared in the newspapers of neutral capi-
tals, and sometimes it dropped from balloons in written
statements that were meant to convey to the enemy not
the size of our army, not the dreadfulness of our means of
conducting warfare, but the invincible power of our ideas.
So, when the military end came to this war, it was a
composite result which was won undoubtedly in part by
the superb heroism of the American soldiers and the
veteran soldiers of the nations with whom we were asso-
ciated. Nothing that is said about any other part of it
ought to be permitted to take away from these splendid
soldiers in their hour of triumph any part of the imperish-
able glory which they have brought to themselves and to
the nation which they have served. But it was this un-
seen but persuasive and unending flood of ideas that
aroused a correct apprehension of the true spirit and
idealism of America in the war, and when the armistice
was signed and peace came back into the world, it came,
led by one hand by the military prowess of the great free
peoples, and led by the other hand by the conquering idea
of justice and freedom as expressed in America's idealism.
Now we are all facing the future rather than the past.
We are thinking of what we are going to get out of this
war, and nobody is counting it in gains which can be
deposited in a bank; nobody is thinking of it in terms com-
posed of subject peoples, but in terms of the return of law,
the reign of justice, and the establishment of that com-
plete morality in the relations of people which we have
always observed as necessary in the relations of individuals.
xvi
FOREWORD
It is a great thing to have fought in this war. Every
man who fought in this war, and every woman who fought
in it, will for the rest of his or her life be telling those who
gather round of the stirring things which took place during
the years of the war. We shall be telling the new-comers
on the stage of life, or those who were very young while
the war was on, of the unselfishness of the sacrifices which
were made, of the beauty of community co-operation,
and of the great strength of a nation which is strength-
ened by high purposes. We shall be telling them all the
rest of our lives, and I say we because we share with the
soldiers who went to France the dignity and the glory of
having fought as they fought, along a somewhat different
front and with not quite the same peril; but we fought with
the same spirit, we fought for the same cause, we fought
with them, and when the night was dark in France, when
the stars were not visible over the trenches and the noise
of hostile artillery was menacing and fearful, when it was
lonesome for the sentinel, the thing that sustained him
there, the thing that made it possible for him to stay, was
the unseen but almost palpable hand of his country resting
on his shoulder. That country has kept true to its ideals
and its cause, and these have been kept untarnished by
the principles which were worked out in this country for
a democratic nation; our ideals have been strengthened
by their wide-spread dissemination throughout the world.
It would be impossible, if anybody wanted to do it, to
pick out the particular persons to whom credit is due for
these great things. Of course, it is very easy to know
where the chief credit lies. Nobody could deny that the
chief credit lies with the Chief Executive of this nation.
As to all the rest, it is glory enough and credit enough to
have been permitted to serve under his leadership, and
in the cause of which he was the leader; but I want to close
what I have to say by pointing out that the mobilization
xvn
FOREWORD
of America, superb as it was, was a mobilization not of
men alone, nor of money, nor of industry or labor, but a
mobilization of true appreciation of the rights of man.
It was a democratic movement which made this great
result possible, and in that mobilization of ideas the Com-
mittee on Public Information played a part of great dis-
tinction and value, and when I speak of the Committee
on Public Information, of course, I speak largely of Mr.
Creel. The land forces, for which I speak especially, recog-
nize with gratitude the debt which they owe for making
their victory possible, and also making it worth while.
Part I
THE DOMESTIC SECTION
HOW WE ADVERTISED
AMERICA
THE "SECOND LINES"
S Secretary Baker points out, the war was not fought
in France alone. Back of the firing-line, back of
armies and navies, back of the great supply-depots, an-
other struggle waged with the same intensity and with
almost equal significance attaching to its victories and
defeats. It was the fight for the minds of men, for the
"conquest of their convictions," and the battle-line ran
through every home in every country.
It w T as in this recognition of Public Opinion as a major
force that the Great War differed most essentially from
all previous conflicts. The trial of strength was not only
between massed bodies of armed men, but between op-
posed ideals, and moral verdicts took on all the value of
military decisions. Other wars went no deeper than the
physical aspects, but German Kultur raised issues that had
to be fought out in the hearts and minds of people as well
as on the actual firing-line. The approval of the world
meant the steady flow of inspiration into the trenches;
it meant the strengthened resolve and the renewed de-
termination of the civilian population that is a nation's
second line. The condemnation of the world meant the
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
destruction of morale and the surrender of that conviction
of justice which is the very heart of courage.
The Committee on Public Information was called into
existence to make this fight for the "verdict of mankind,"
the voice created to plead the justice of America's cause
before the jury of Public Opinion. The fantastic legend
that associated gags and muzzles with its work may be
likened only to those trees which are evolved out of the
air by Hindu magicians and which rise, grow, and
flourish in gay disregard of such usual necessities as roots,
sap, and sustenance. In no degree was the Committee an
agency of censorship, a machinery of concealment or repres-
sion. Its emphasis throughout was on the open and the
positive. At no point did it seek or exercise authorities under
those war laws that limited the freedom of speech and press.
In all things, from first to last, without halt or change,
it was a plain publicity proposition, a vast enterprise in
salesmanship, the world's greatest adventure in advertising.
Under the pressure of tremendous necessities an or-
ganization grew that not only reached deep into every
American community, but that carried to every corner of
the civilized globe the full message of America's idealism,
unselfishness, and indomitable purpose. We fought prej-
udice, indifference, and disaffection at home and we fought
ignorance and falsehood abroad. We strove for the main-
tenance of our own morale and the Allied morale by every
process of stimulation; every possible expedient was em-
ployed to break through the barrage of lies that kept the
people of the Central Powers in darkness and delusion;
we sought the friendship and support of the neutral na-
tions by continuous presentation of facts. We did not
call it propaganda, for that word, in German hands, had
come to be associated with deceit and corruption. Our
effort was educational and informative throughout, for we
had such confidence in our case as to feel that no other
4
THE "SECOND LINES"
argument was needed than the simple, straightforward
presentation of facts.
There was no part of the great war machinery that we
did not touch, no medium of appeal that we did not em-
ploy. The printed word, the spoken word, the motion
picture, the telegraph, the cable, the wireless, the poster,
the sign-board all these were used in our campaign to
make our own people and all other peoples understand the
causes that compelled America to take arms. All that was
fine and ardent in the civilian population came at our call
until more than one hundred and fifty thousand men and
women were devoting highly specialized abilities to the
work of the Committee, as faithful and devoted in their
service as though they wore the khaki.
While America's summons was answered without ques-
tion by the citizenship as a whole, it is to be remembered
that during the three and a half years of our neutrality
the land had been torn by a thousand divisive prejudices,
stunned by the voices of anger and confusion, and muddled
by the pull and haul of opposed interests. These were
conditions that could not be permitted to endure. What
we had to have was no mere surface unity, but a passionate
belief in the justice of America's cause that should weld
the people of the United States into one white-hot mass
instinct with fraternity, devotion, courage, and deathless
determination. The war-will, the will-to-win, of a de-
mocracy depends upon the degree to which each one of
all the people of that democracy can concentrate and con-
secrate body and soul and spirit in the supreme effort of
service and sacrifice. What had to be driven home was
that all business was the nation's business, and every
task a common task for a single purpose.
Starting with the initial conviction that the war was
not the war of an administration, but the war of one
hundred million people, and believing that public support
5
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
was a matter of public understanding, we opened up the
activities of government to the inspection of the citizen-
ship. A voluntary censorship agreement safeguarded mili-
tary information of obvious value to the enemy, but in
all else the rights of the press were recognized and furthered.
Trained men, at the center of effort in every one of the war-
making branches of government, reported on progress and
achievement, and in no other belligerent nation was there
such absolute frankness with respect to every detail of
the national war endeavor.
As swiftly as might be, there were put into pamphlet
form America's reasons for entering the war, the meaning
of America, the nature of our free institutions, our war
aims, likewise analyses of the Prussian system, the pur-
poses of the imperial German government, and full ex-
posure of the enemy's misrepresentations, aggressions, and
barbarities. Written by the country's foremost publi-
cists, scholars, and historians, and distinguished for their
conciseness, accuracy, and simplicity, these pamphlets
blew as a great wind against the clouds of confusion and
misrepresentation. Money could not have purchased the
volunteer aid that was given freely, the various universi-
ties lending their best men and the National Board of
Historical Service placing its three thousand members at
the complete disposal of the Committee. Some thirty-
odd booklets, covering every phase of America's ideals,
purposes, and aims, were printed in many languages other
than English. Seventy-five millions reached the people
of America, and other millions went to every corner of the
world, carrying our defense and our attack.
The importance of the spoken word was not under-
estimated. A speaking division toured great groups like
the Blue Devils, Pershing's Veterans, and the Belgians,
arranged mass-meetings in the communities, conducted
forty-five war conferences from coast to coast, co-ordi-
THE "SECOND LINES'*
nated the entire speaking activities of the nation, and as-
sured consideration to the crossroads hamlet as well as to
the city.
The Four Minute Men, an organization that will live
in history by reason of its originality and effectiveness,
commanded the volunteer services of 75,000 speakers,
operating in 5,200 communities, and making a total of
755,190 speeches, every one having the carry of shrapnel.
With the aid of a volunteer staff of several hundred
translators, the Committee kept in direct touch with the
foreign-language press, supplying selected articles designed
to combat ignorance and disaffection. It organized and
directed twenty-three societies and leagues designed to
appeal to certain classes and particular foreign-language
groups, each body carrying a specific message of unity
and enthusiasm to its section of America's adopted peoples.
It planned war exhibits for the state fairs of the United
States, also a great series of interallied war expositions that
brought home to our millions the exact nature of the
struggle that was being waged in France. In Chicago alone
two million people attended in two weeks, and in nineteen
cities the receipts aggregated $1,432,261.36.
The Committee mobilized the advertising forces of the
country press, periodical, car, and outdoor for the
patriotic campaign that gave millions of dollars' worth of
free space to the national service.
It assembled the artists of America on a volunteer basis
for the production of posters, window-cards, and similar
material of pictorial publicity for the use of various govern-
ment departments and patriotic societies. A total of
1,438 drawings was used.
It issued an official daily newspaper, serving every de-
partment of government, with a circulation of one hundred
thousand copies a day. For official use only, its value was
such that private citizens ignored the supposedly pro-
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
hibitive subscription price, subscribing to the amount of
$77,622.58.
It organized a bureau of information for all persons who
sought direction in volunteer war-work, in acquiring knowl-
edge of any administrative activities, or in approaching
business dealings with the government. In the ten months
of its existence it gave answers to eighty -six thousand
requests for specific information.
It gathered together the leading novelists, essayists,
and publicists of the land, and these men and women,
without payment, worked faithfully in the production of
brilliant, comprehensive articles that went to the press as
syndicate features.
One division paid particular attention to the rural press
and the plate-matter service. Others looked after the
specialized needs of the labor press, the religious press, and
the periodical press. The Division of Women's War W r ork
prepared and issued the information of peculiar interest
to the women of the United States, also aiding in the task
of organizing and directing.
Through the medium of the motion picture, America's
war progress, as well as the meanings and purposes of
democracy, were carried to every community in the United
States and to every corner of the world. "Pershing's
Crusaders," "America's Answer," and "Under Four
Flags " were types of feature films by which we drove home
America's resources and determinations, while other pict-
ures, showing our social and industrial life, made our free
institutions vivid to foreign peoples. From the domestic
showings alone, under a fair plan of distribution, the sum
of $878,215 was gained, which went to support the cost of
the campaigns in foreign countries where the exhibitions
were necessarily free.
Another division prepared and distributed still photo-
graphs and stereopticon slides to the press and public.
8
THE "SECOND LINES"
Over two hundred thousand of the latter were issued at
cost. This division also conceived the idea of the "permit
system," that opened up our military and naval activities
to civilian camera men, and operated it successfully. It
handled, also, the voluntary censorship of still and motion
pictures in order that there might be no disclosure of in-
formation valuable to the enemy. The number of pictures
reviewed averaged seven hundred a day.
Turning away from the United States to the world be-
yond our borders, a triple task confronted us. First, there
were the peoples of the Allied nations that had to be fired
by the magnitude of the American effort and the certainty
of speedy and effective aid, in order to relieve the war-
weariness of the civilian population and also to fan the
enthusiasm of the firing-line to new flame. Second, we
had to carry the truth to the neutral nations, poisoned by
German lies; and third, we had to get the ideals of America,
the determination of America, and the invincibility of
America into the Central Powers.
Unlike other countries, the United States had no sub-
sidized press service with which to meet the emergency.
As a matter of bitter fact, we had few direct news contacts
of our own with the outside world, owing to a scheme of
contracts that turned the foreign distribution of American
news over to European agencies. The volume of informa-
tion that went out from our shores was small, and, what
was worse, it was concerned only with the violent and
unusual in our national life. It was news of strikes and
lynchings, riots, murder cases, graft prosecutions, sensa-
tional divorces, the bizarre extravagance of "sudden mill-
ionaires." Naturally enough, we were looked upon as a
race of dollar-mad materialists, a land of cruel monopolists,
our real rulers the corporations and our democracy a
"fake."
Looking about for some way in which to remedy this
9
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
evil situation, we saw the government wireless lying com-
paratively idle, and through the close and generous co-
operation of the navy we worked out a news machinery
that soon began to pour a steady stream of American
information into international channels of communication.
Opening an office in every capital of the world outside the
Central Powers, a daily service went out from Tuckerton
to the Eiffel Tower for use in France and then for relay to
our representatives in Berne, Rome, Madrid, and Lisbon.
From Tuckerton the service flashed to England, and from
England there was relay to Holland, the Scandinavian
countries, and Russia. We went into Mexico by cable
and land wires; from Darien we sent a service in Spanish
to Central and South-American countries for distribution
by our representatives; the Orient was served by telegraph
from New York to San Diego, and by wireless leaps to
Cavite and Shanghai. From Shanghai the news went to
Tokio and Peking, and from Peking on to Vladivostok for
Siberia. Australia, India, Egypt, and the Balkans were
also reached, completing the world chain.
For the first time in history the speeches of a national
executive_were given universal circulation. The official
addresses of President Wilson, setting forth the position
of America, were put on the wireless always at the very
moment of their delivery, and within twenty-four hours
were in every language in every country in the world.
Carried in the newspapers initially, they were also printed
by the Committee's agents on native presses and circu-
lated by the millions. The swift rush of our war progress,
the tremendous resources of the United States, the Acts
of Congress, our official deeds and utterances, the laws
that showed our devotion to justice, instances of our en-
thusiasm and unity all were put on the wireless for the
information of the world, Teheran and Tokio getting
them as completely as Paris or Rome or London or Madrid.
10
THE "SECOND LINES"
Through the press of Switzerland, Denmark, and Hol-
land we filtered an enormous amount of truth to the Ger-
man people, and from our headquarters in Paris went out
a direct attack upon Hun censorship. Mortar-guns, loaded
with "paper bullets," and airplanes, carrying pamphlet
matter, bombarded the German front, and at the time of
the armistice balloons with a cruising radius of five hun-
dred miles were ready to reach far into the Central Powers
with America's message.
This daily news service by wire and radio was sup-
plemented by a mail service of special articles and illus-
trations that went into foreign newspapers and magazines
and technical journals and periodicals of special appeal.
We aimed to give in this way a true picture of the American
democracy, not only in its war activities, but also in its
devotion to the interests of peace. There were, too, series
of illustrated articles on our education, our trade and in-
dustry, our finance, our labor conditions, our religions,
our work in medicine, our agriculture, our women's work,
our government, and our ideals.
Reading-rooms were opened in foreign countries and
furnished with American books, periodicals, and news-
papers. Schools and public libraries were similarly sup-
plied. Photographs were sent for display on easels in shop
windows abroad. Window-hangers and news-display sheets
went out in English, French, Italian, Swedish, Portuguese,
Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, and Dutch; and display-
sheets went to Russia, China, Japan, Korea, parts of India
and the Orient, to be supplemented with printed reading-
matter by the Committee's agents there.
To our representatives in foreign capitals went, also, the
feature films that showed our military effort cantonments,
shipyards, training - stations, war - ships, and marching
thousands together with other motion pictures expressing
our social and industrial progress, all to be retitled in the
11
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
language of the land, and shown either in theaters, public
squares, or open fields. Likewise we supplied pamphlets
for translation and distribution, and sent speakers, selected
in the United States from among our foreign-born, to lect-
ure in the universities and schools, or else to go about
among the farmers, to the labor unions, to the mer-
chants, etc.
Every conceivable means was used to reach the foreign
mind with America's message, and in addition to our direct
approach we hit upon the idea of inviting the foremost
newspaper men of other nations to come to the United
States to see with their own eyes, to hear with their own
ears, in order that they might report truly to their people
as to American unity, resolve, and invincibility. The
visits of the editors of Mexico, Italy, Switzerland, Den-
mark, Sweden, and Norway were remarkable in their
effect upon these countries, and no less successful were
the trips made to the American front in France under
our guidance by the newspaper men of Holland and
Spain.
Before this flood of publicity the German misrepre-
sentations were swept away in Switzerland, the Scandi-
navian countries, Italy, Spain, the Far East, Mexico, and
Central and South America. From being the most mis-
understood nation, America became the most popular.
A world that was either inimical, contemptuous, or indif-
ferent was changed into a world of friends and well-wishers.
Our policies, America's unselfish aims in the war, the ser-
vices by which these policies were explained and these
aims supported, and the flood of news items and articles
about our normal life and our commonplace activities
these combined to give a true picture of the United States
to foreign eyes. It is a picture that will be of incalculable
value in our future dealings with the world, political and
commercial. It was a bit of press-agenting that money
12
THE "SECOND LINES"
could not buy, done out of patriotism by men and women
whose services no money could have bought.
In no other belligerent nation was there any such degree
of centralization as marked our duties. In England and
France, for instance, five to ten organizations were in-
trusted with the tasks that the Committee discharged
in the United States. And in one country, in one year,
many of the warring nations spent more money than the
total expenditure of the Committee on Public Information
during the eighteen months of its existence in its varied
activities that reached to every community in America
and to every corner of the civilized world. From the
President's fund we received $5,600,000, and Congress
granted us an appropriation of $1,250,000, a total working
capital of $6,850,000. From our films, war expositions,
and minor sources we earned $2,825,670.23, and at the
end were able to return $2,937,447 to the Treasury.
Deduct this amount from the original appropriations, and
it is seen that the Committee on Public Information cost
the taxpayers of the United States just $4,912,553!
These figures might well be put in bronze to stand as an
enduring monument to the sacrifice and devotion of the
one hundred and fifty thousand men and women who were
responsible for the results. A world-fight for the verdict
of mankind a fight that was won against terrific odds
and all for less than five millions less than half what
Germany spent in Spain alone!
It is the pride of the Committee, as it should be the pride
of America, that every activity was at all times open to
the sun. No dollar was ever sent on a furtive errand, no
paper subsidized, no official bought. From a thousand
sources we were told of the wonders of German propaganda,
but our original determinations never altered. Always
did we try to find out what the Germans were doing and
then we did not do it.
13
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
There is pride, also, in the record of stainless patriotism
and unspotted Americanism. In June, 1918, after one year
of operation a year clamorous with ugly attack the
Committee submitted itself to the searching examination
of the House Committee on Appropriations. Every charge
of partizanship, dishonesty, inaccuracy, and inefficiency
was investigated, the expenditure of every dollar scruti-
nized, and the Congressmen even went back as far as 1912
to study my writings and my political thought. At the
end of the inquiry the appropriation was voted unani-
mously, and on the floor of the House the Republican
members supported the recommendation as strongly as
did the Democrats. Mr. Gillett of Massachusetts, then
acting leader of the Republican minority, and now Speaker,
made this declaration in the course of the debate:
But after examining Mr. Creel and the other members of his
bureau I came to the conclusion that as far as any evidence
that we could discover it had not been conducted in a partizan
spirit.
Mr. Mondel of Wyoming, after expressing his dis-
approval of Initiative and Referendum editorials written
by me in 1912, spoke as follows:
Having said this much about Mr. Creel and his past utter-
ances, I now want to say that I believe Mr. Creel has endeavored
to patriotically do his duty at the head of this bureau. I am
of the opinion that, whatever his opinions may have been or
may be now, so far as his activities in connection with this
work are concerned, they have been, in the main, judicious, and
that the work has been carried on for the most part in a business-
like, thoroughgoing, effective, and patriotic way. Mr. Creel
has called to his assistance and placed in positions of respon-
sibility men of a variety of political views, some of them Repub-
licans of recognized standing. I do not believe that Mr. Creel
has endeavored to influence their activities and I do not believe
there have been any activities of the bureau consciously and
14
THE "SECOND LINES"
intentionally partizan. A great work has been done. A great
work has been done by the Four Minute Men, forty thousand
of them speaking continuously to audiences, ready-made, all
over the country. A great work has been done and will be done
through the medium of the picture-film. A great work has been
done through the medium of the publications of the bureau,
which I believe can be commended and approved by every good
citizen. Much remains to be done, and I believe the committee
has not granted any too much money for this work.
II
THE "CENSORSHIP" BUGBEAR
THE initial disadvantages and persistent misunder-
standings that did so much to cloud public estimation
of the Committee had their origin in the almost instant
antagonism of the metropolitan press. At the time of my
appointment a censorship bill was before Congress, and
the newspapers, choosing to ignore the broad sweep of the
Committee's functions, proceeded upon the exclusive as-
sumption that I was to be "the censor." As a result of
press attack and Senate discussion, the idea became gen-
eral and fixed that the Committee was a machinery of
secrecy and repression organized solely to crush free speech
and a free press.
As a matter of fact, I was strongly opposed to the censor-
ship bill, and delayed acceptance of office until the Presi-
dent had considered approvingly the written statement
of my views on the subject. It was not that I denied the
need of some sort of censorship, but deep in my heart was
the feeling that the desired results could be obtained
without paying the price that a formal law would have
demanded. Aside from the physical difficulties of enforce-
ment, the enormous cost, and the overwhelming irritation
involved, I had the conviction that our hope must lie in
the aroused patriotism of the newspaper men of America.
With the nation in arms, the need was not so much to
keep the press from doing the hurtful things as to get it
16
THE "CENSORSHIP" BUGBEAR
to do the helpful things. It was not servants we wanted,
but associates. Better far to have the desired compulsions
proceed from within than to apply them from without.
Also, for the first time in our history, soldiers of the United
States were sailing to fight in a foreign land, leaving fami-
lies three thousand miles behind them. Nothing was more
important than that there should be the least possible im-
pairment of the people's confidence in the printed informa-
tion presented to them. Suspicious enough by reason of
natural anxieties, a censorship law would have turned
every waiting heart over to the fear that news was being
either strangled or minimized.
Aside from these considerations, there was the freedom
of the press to bear in mind. No other right guaranteed by
democracy has been more abused, but even these abuses
are preferable to the deadening evil of autocratic control.
In addition, it is the inevitable tendency of such legisla-
tion to operate solely against the weak and the powerless,
and, as I pointed out, the European experience was thick
with instances of failure to proceed against great dailies
for bold infraction.
Censorship laws, too, even though they protest that the
protection of military secrets is their one original object,
have a way of slipping over into the field of opinion, for
arbitrary power grows by what it feeds on. "Information
of value to the enemy" is an elastic phrase and, when
occasion requires, can be stretched to cover the whole
field of independent discussion. Nothing, it seemed to
me, was more dangerous, for people did not need less
criticism in tune of war, but more. Incompetence and
corruption, bad enough in peace, took on an added menace
when the nation was in arms. One had a right to hope
that the criticism would be honest, just, and constructive,
but even a blackguard's voice was preferable to the dead
silence of an iron suppression.
17
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
My proposition, in lieu of the proposed law, was a vol-
untary agreement that would make every paper in the
land its own censor, putting it up to the patriotism and
common sense of the individual editor to protect purely
military information of tangible value to the enemy. The
plan was approved and, without further thought of the
pending bill, we proceeded to prepare a statement to the
press of America that would make clear the necessities of
the war-machine even while removing doubts and distrusts.
The specific requests of the army and the navy were com-
paratively few, and were concerned only with the move-
ments of troops, the arrival and departure of ships, loca-
tion of the fleet, and similar matters obviously secret in
their nature. As illustrative of the whole tone of the dis-
cussion that accompanied the requests, these paragraphs
are cited:
The European press bureaus have also attempted to keep
objectionable news from their own people. This must be clearly
differentiated from the problem of keeping dangerous news from
the enemy. It will be necessary at times to keep information
from OUT own people in order to keep it from the enemy, but
most of the belligerent countries have gone much farther. In
one of the confidential documents submitted to us there is,
under Censorship Regulations, a long section with the heading,
"News likely to cause anxiety or distress." Among the things
forbidden under this section are the publication of "reports
concerning outbreaks of epidemics in training-camps," "news-
paper articles tending to raise unduly the hopes of the people
as to the success" of anticipated military movements. This
sort of suppression has obviously nothing to do with the keeping
of objectionable news from the enemy.
The motive for the establishment of this internal censorship
is not merely fear of petty criticism, but distrust of democratic
common sense. The officials fear that the people will be stam-
peded by false news and sensational scare stories. The danger
feared is real, but the experience of Europe indicates that censor-
ship regulations do not solve the problem, A printed story is
18
THE "CENSORSHIP" BUGBEAR
tangible even if false. It can be denied. Its falsity can be
proven. It is not nearly so dangerous as a false rumor.
The atmosphere created by common knowledge that news is
being suppressed is an ideal " culture " for the propaganda of the
bacteria of enemy rumors. This state of mind was the thing
which most impressed Americans visiting belligerent countries.
Insane and dangerous rumors, some of obvious enemy origin,
were readily believed, and they spread with amazing rapidity.
This is a greater danger than printing scare stories. No one
knows who starts a rumor, but there is a responsible editor
behind every printed word. But the greatest objection to cen-
soring of the news against the home population is that it has
always tended to create the abuse of shielding from public
criticism the dishonesty or incompetency of high officials. While
it certainly has never been the policy of any of the European
press bureaus to accomplish this result, the internal censorship
has generally worked out this way. And there are several well-
established instances where the immense power of the censor
has fallen into the control of intriguing cliques. Nominally striv-
ing to protect the public from pernicious ideas, they have used
the censorship to protect themselves from legitimate criticism.
A proof of the statement was sent to every member of
the press gallery, and after sufficient time for proper
study a meeting was called at which Mr. Arthur Bullard,
Mr. Edgar G. Sisson, and I presented ourselves for ques-
tioning and full examination. We explained that as the
agreement was to be both public and voluntary, their assent
must not be qualified by any doubt, and that we stood
ready to make any proper changes, either in phraseology
or principle. The temper of the gathering, hostile at first,
grew more friendly as understandings were reached, and
when we left it seemed a certainty that the plan would be
approved. Unfortunately, however, the papers of the fol-
lowing morning contained a letter from the President in
which he entered denial of the report that he had with-
drawn his support from the proposed censorship law.
This was the position of the military authorities, and as the
19
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
President had agreed to their suggestions in the beginning,
he felt, without doubt, that his pledge of approval could
not be canceled while the various generals and admirals
were still unchanged in their insistence that they must
have the protection afforded by an explicit statute.
Even though we knew the utter hopelessness of it, we
went ahead with our plans and issued the statement to
the press exactly as presented to the Washington corre-
spondents. What followed quickly was another act in the
serio-tragic drama of misunderstanding. The Secretaries
of State, War, and the Navy had each been asked to give
his views, and those that came from the office of Mr.
Lansing read as follows:
The Department of State considers it dangerous and of
service to the enemy to discuss differences of opinion between
the Allies and difficulties with neutral countries.
The protection of information belonging to friendly countries
is most important. Submarine-warfare news is a case in point.
England permits this government to have full information,
but as it is England's policy not to publish details, this govern-
ment must support that policy.
Speculation about possible peace is another topic which may
possess elements of danger, as peace reports may be of enemy
origin put out to weaken the combination against Germany.
Generally speaking, articles likely to prove offensive to any
of the Allies or to neutrals would be undesirable.
Convinced that a trick had been attempted and eager
to find something to sustain their suspicions, the papers
seized upon Mr. Lansing's ideas and held them up to heaven
in witness of the Administration's dark plot. Not one
took into account that the whole proposal rested upon
voluntary agreement entirely, not upon law, and that the
suggestions of the Department of State were advisory
only and without larger power to bind than that
allowed by the individual editor. Equally did every paper
20
THE "CENSORSHIP" BUGBEAR
ignore the fact that the statement itself, in the outline of
fundamental principles, contained these explicit guaranties:
Nearly all the European belligerents have also tried to prevent
the publication of news likely to offend their allies or create
friction between them. The Committee is of the opinion that the
more full the interally discussion of their mutual problems the
better. Matters of high strategy, and so forth, will of course
have to be kept secret by the war council, but the more the
people of the Allied countries get acquainted with one another
through their newspapers the better. If any case arises where
one of our papers uses insulting or objectionable language against
our comrades in arms it had best be dealt with individually.
But so far as possible this Committee will maintain the rule of
free discussion in such matters.
The clamor refused to be stilled, however, and Mr.
Hearst and the Republican Senators reached the stage of
hysteria in their passionate defense of the "freedom of the
press," that "guardian of liberty," that "palladium," etc.
The bill, brought again into consideration, was defeated
decisively and finally. And with this irritation out of the
way, we had hope of a return to common sense and so,
without more ado, we issued the following card:
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT ASKS OF THE PRESS
The desires of the government with respect to the concealment
from the enemy of military policies, plans, and movements are
set forth in the following specific requests. They go to the
press of the United States directly from the Secretary of War
and the Secretary of the Navy and represent the thought and
advice of their technical advisers. They do not apply to news
despatches censored by military authority with f he expeditionary
forces or in those cases where the government itself, in the form
of official statements, may find it necessary or expedient to
make public information covered by these requests.
For the protection of our military and naval forces and of
3 21
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
merchant shipping it is requested that secrecy be observed in all
matters of
1. Advance information of the routes and schedules of troop
movements. (See Par. 5.)
2. Information tending to disclose the number of troops in the
expeditionary forces abroad.
3. Information calculated to disclose the location of the
permanent base or bases abroad.
4. Information that would disclose the location of American
units or the eventual position of the American forces at the
front.
5. Information tending to disclose an eventual or actual port
of embarkation; or information of the movement of military
forces toward seaports or of the assembling of military forces at
seaports from which inference might be drawn of any intention
to embark them for service abroad; and information of the
assembling of transports or convoys; and information of the
embarkation itself.
6. Information of the arrival at any European port of American
war-vessels, transports, or any portion of any expeditionary
force, combatant or non-combatant.
7. Information of the time of departure of merchant ships
from American or European ports, or information of the ports
from which they sailed, or information of their cargoes.
8. Information indicating the port of arrival of incoming ships
from European ports or after their arrival indicating, or hinting
at, the port at which the ship arrived.
9. Information as to convoys and as to the sighting of friendly
or enemy ships, whether naval or merchant.
10. Information of the locality, number, or identity of vessels
belonging to our own navy or to the navies of any country at
war with Germany.
11. Information of the coast or anti-aircraft defenses of the
United States. Any information of their very existence, as
well as the number, nature, or position of their guns, is dangerous.
12. Information of the laying of mines or mine-fields or of any
harbor defenses.
13. Information of the aircraft and appurtenances used at
government aviation-schools for experimental tests under military
authority, and information of contracts and production of air
material, and information tending to disclose the numbers and
22
THE "CENSORSHIP" BUGBEAR
organization of the air division, excepting when authorized by
the Committee on Public Information.
14. Information of all government devices and experiments in
war material, excepting when authorized by the Committee on
Public Information.
15. Information of secret notices issued to mariners or other
confidential instructions issued by the navy or the Department
of Commerce relating to lights, lightships, buoys, or other guides
to navigation.
16. Information as to the number, size, character, or location
of ships of the navy ordered laid down at any port or shipyard,
or in actual process of construction; or information that they
are launched or in commission.
17. Information of the train or boat schedules of traveling
official missions in transit through the United States.
18. Information of the transportation of munitions or ol war
material.
Photographs. Photographs conveying the information speci-
fied above should not be published.
These requests to the press are without larger authority than the
necessities of the war-making branches. Their enforcement is a
matter for the press itself. To the overwhelming proportion of
newspapers who have given unselfish, patriotic adherence to the
voluntary agreement the government extends its gratitude and
high appreciation.
COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION,
By GEORGE CREEL, Chairman.
Will any American deny that these requests proceeded
properly and inevitably from the necessities of war, and
that each one had its base in common sense? Do they sug-
gest any attempt on the part of the government to curb,
influence, or confine the right of criticism? Even to-day,
when the war is a thing of the past, can it be said that the
card contained a word or a phrase to which any decent
American could take objection? Newspaper men, it must
be remembered, were holding peace-time jobs while others
sacrificed or fought. Should it not have been their glad
duty to aid enthusiastically in the provision of a veil of
23
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
secrecy that meant larger safety for American ships and
troops and larger chances for American military success?
Our European comrades in arms viewed the experiment
with amazement, not unmixed with anxiety, for in every
other belligerent country censorship laws established iron
rules, rigid suppressions, and drastic prohibitions carrying
severe penalties. Yet the American idea worked. And it
worked better than any European law. Troop-trains
moved, transports sailed, ships arrived and departed, in-
ventions were protected, and military plans advanced, all
behind a wall of concealment built upon the honor of
the press and the faith of the individual editor. Yet while
the thing itself was done there was no joy and pride in
the doing. Never at any time was it possible to persuade
the whole body of Washington correspondents to think of
the voluntary censorship in terms of human life and na-
tional hopes. A splendid, helpful minority caught the idea
and held to it, but the majority gave themselves over to
exasperation and antagonism, rebelling continuously against
even the appearance of restraint. Partizanship, as a matter
of course, played a larger part in this attitude, but a great
deal of it proceeded from what the French call "profes-
sional deformation." Long training had developed the
conviction that nothing in the world was as important as a
"story," and not even the grim fact of war could remove
this obsession.
In face of the printed card, with its simple requests un-
supported by law, the press persisted in spreading the
belief that I was a censor, and with mingled moans and
protests each paper did its best to make the people believe
that the voluntary censorship was not voluntary, and that
the uncompelled thing the press was doing was not really
uncompelled at all.
When one paper violated the agreement, as many did
in the beginning, all the others were instant in their
24
THE "CENSORSHIP" BUGBEAR
clamor that the Committee should straightway inflict some
sort of "punishment." This was absurd, for we had no
authority, and they knew that we had none, yet when we
made this obvious answer, a general cry would arise that
the "whole business should be thrown over." Never at
any time did it occur to the press to provide its own dis-
cipline for the punishment of dishonor.
All through the first few months it was a steady whine
and nag and threat. Every little triviality was magnified
into an importance, and the manufacture of mole-hills
into mountains was the favorite occupation. The follow-
ing letter, written on July 12, 1917, to the editor of a great
metropolitan daily may serve to give some idea of the
general attack:
Your signed article on censorship, "What We, and You,
Are Up Against," is written so fairly, and in such evident honesty
of purpose, that I feel sure you will be glad to have me inform
you with respect to its various inaccuracies.
1. Never at any time did this Committee ask suppression of
the name of the monitor Amphitrite that rammed the steamer
Manchuria. It is the policy of the navy to give instant and
complete publicity to all accidents and disasters, and a full
report of the ramming was sent out at once. Your own corre-
spondent argued that the name of the Amphitrite should not be
used, and if you did not get the information it was because he
did not send it. Even so, you had the name in the Associated
Press despatches with full permission to use it.
2. With regard to the closing of the port of New York, this
was done by order of the port commandant. The Navy Depart-
ment was not informed officially, and when queried by the press
asked that the news be withheld until an explanation could be
gained from the New York authorities. This was at 11 A.M.
At one o'clock this Committee gave out a complete statement
as to the closing and reopening, and all the afternoon papers,
in their later editions, carried the story. No request of any
kind was made upon the morning papers.
3. You state that your paper applied to the Committee for
permission to print that the Root Mission was passing through
25
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Chicago on its way to Russia, and that it was given. Your
Washington correspondent cannot tell us the name of the man
that answered the telephone, nor have I been able to discover
it myself. I do not doubt for a minute that the call was made,
but the fact remains that it was not until a full week after the
Root incident that this Committee commenced its day and
night reference service. At the time we were about ten days
old and trying to get offices.
4. The facts regarding the landing of the first contingent of
the Pershing expedition are few and simple. The War Depart-
ment had requested that no announcement of any kind be made
until the arrival in port of the last troop-ship. The Associated
Press released the news from its New York office. This was
done without the consent or knowledge of this Committee or of
the War Department.
Our first intimation was a telephone-call from the United
Press, stating the action of the Associated Press, and informing
us that the United Press felt itself released from its word, and
was sending the news out over its own wires. I told the United
Press manager that the War Department still insisted upon
secrecy, and he straightway issued a bulletin asking a "kill."
I called up the Associated Press at once, and was informed that
the story had been released from the New York office an hour
before, that it was "on the street," and that a "kill" was im-
possible. I then telephoned the United Press that it was at
liberty to disregard my request for the "kill." I have no apology
whatever to make for this honest attempt to protect good faith.
5. With regard to Secretary Daniels's statement of encounter
with submarines, any doubt you may have had as of its accuracy
should have been dispelled by a careful reading of your own
paper. In the same issue that carried your article on censorship
there appeared a front-page story that told of two separate
attacks by submarines, making the claim that two U-boats were
sunk. If you should be worried again as to the truth of Secre-
tary Daniels's statement, I would urge you to read your own
vivid, convincing narrative.
So much, then, for what you term "hodge-podge official
handling of information." In view of my explanations, will
you still insist that we are to blame for the "hodge-podge*'?
But if all that you allege were true, if we had been guilty of the
blunders that you charge, what of it?
26
THE "CENSORSHIP" BUGBEAR
The secrecies sought to be obtained by the War and Navy
Departments have concern with the lives of America's youth.
Irritation and impatience are the worst that can possibly befall
you and your readers, but death may be the fate of the soldiers
and sailors that are called upon to run the gantlet of submarines.
When men are going forth to fight and die, surely it is not a time
for those who remain at home in ease and safety to wax angry
over things that, even if true, are essentially trivial.
Very sincerely,
[Signed] GEORGE CREEL.
This voluntary agreement, having no force in law, and
made possible only by patience, infinite labor, and the
pressure of conscience upon the individual, was the Com-
mittee on Public Information's one and only connection
with censorship of any kind. At no time did the Com-
mittee exercise or seek authorities under the war measures
that limited the peace-time freedom of individuals or pro-
fessions. Not only did we hold aloof from the workings
of the Espionage law, operated by the Postmaster-General
and the Attorney-General, but it was even the case that
we incurred angers and enmities by incessant attempt
to soften the rigors of the measure.
Ill
THE "FOURTH OF JULY FAKE"
ASIDE from the regulation "censorship" cry, the thing
2\ that worked principally to the prejudice of the Com-
mittee on Public Information was the charge that I "elab-
orated" a "cryptic" cable sent by Admiral Gleaves, and
gave to the country an utterly false account of submarine
attack upon our first transports. Although disproved
fully, the falsehood persisted to our hurt and discredit,
and even to this day there are people honestly of the
opinion that the initial troop-ships had a "safe and un-
eventful voyage." Of the many lies leveled against the
Committee during its existence, I think I minded this lie
the most, for not only was it peculiarly indecent in its
groundlessness, but its contemptible course carried far
beyond me and struck down a people's pride in their navy
at the exact moment when that pride was a war necessity.
For the first time in history American soldiers were being
sent to fight on foreign soil, traveling ocean lanes thick
with U-boats, and the period of suspense was our "zero
hour." The news of safe arrival, of dangers met and con-
quered, was a clarion to the courage of the nation, yet this
helpful enthusiasm was changed into a sneer for no greater
reason than that a press association might have a "story"
and that partizan Senators might take a fling at the Ad-
ministration. Here are the facts:
The first transports, leaving in June, sailed in four sep-
28
THE "FOURTH OF JULY FAKE"
arated groups to minimize the danger of submarine at-
tack. We had no cable censorship at the time, and out of
fear of enemy communication, the press was asked to
make no announcement of departure or arrival until the
last of the four groups reached St. Nazaire. On June
27th, however, through some blunder in France, the As-
sociated Press received a despatch announcing the arrival
of the first group, and without reference to the War De-
partment or to the Committee it put the news upon its
wires from its New York office. By way of contribution
to the general confusion, various correspondents attempted
to prove that I had given the Associated Press authoriza-
tion for the release, and printed the falsehood that the Secre-
tary of War had "broken" relations with the Committee
in consequence.
At the very time of the premature announcement we
knew that the other three groups were either in or near the
danger zone. Adding to the anxiety occasioned, a cable
came from Admiral Gleaves in command of the transports,
telling of attacks by submarines, their repulse, and the
certain sinking of one U-boat. Even without this news
the tension was extreme and there was not a heart in any
department in Washington that did not wait in sick
impatience.
Late in the afternoon of July 3d the navy received the
flash that announced the safe arrival of the last group, and
the correspondents were told on the instant. As the word
traveled a great happiness took possession of every one.
When I entered the office of Secretary Daniels in response
to a summons, tears were in his eyes, and his first words
were, "What a Fourth-of-July present for the people!"
As a matter of course, the press clamored for the details
of the submarine attack and I urged the verbatim release
of the cable received from Admiral Gleaves. The high
admirals flatly refused permission, informing me that it
29
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
was the immemorial policy of the navy, in time of war,
not to employ the language of a message coming in code,
as it would acquaint the enemy with the cipher. Moreover,
the Gleaves cable gave the names of the ships, set down
latitude and longitude, and furnished other information of
equal value to the enemy.
Because of these considerations, it was then determined
to issue the information in the form of a statement to the
people from the Secretary of the Navy. Out of his relief,
his pride and joy, Mr. Daniels gave me his ideas as to the
subject-matter, naval experts checking from the Gleaves
cable, and the statement was written then and there.
With every correspondent in Washington panting for the
release, and with wires cleared for the sending, there was
not time for word-picking and word-shading, even had the
emotions of the moment not precluded all thought of
"style" and meticulous phrasing. Every care was taken
to set down the facts, but the spirit of thanksgiving that
flooded every heart insensibly took charge of phraseology.
This was the statement that went to the press within one
hour from the time of the original announcement:
PRESS STATEMENT
[From the Committee on Public Information. For immediate
release.]
July 3, 1917.
The Navy Department at five o'clock this afternoon received
word of the safe arrival at a French port of the last contingent
of General Pershing's expeditionary force. Announcement was
made instantly, and at the same time the information was re-
leased that the transports were twice attacked by submarines
on the way across.
No ship was hit, not an American life was lost, and while the
navy gunners report the sinking of one submarine only, there is
reason to believe that others were destroyed in the first night
attack.
30
THE "FOURTH OF JULY FAKE"
OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF SECRETARY DANIELS
It is with the joy of a great relief that I announce to the people
of the United States the safe arrival in France of every fighting-
man and every fighting-ship.
Now that the last vessel has reached port it is safe to disclose
the dangers that were encountered and to tell the complete story
of peril and courage.
The transports bearing our troops were twice attacked by
German submarines on the way across. On both occasions the
U-boats were beaten off with every appearance of loss. One
certainly was sunk, and there is reason to believe that the
accurate fire of our gunners sent others to the bottom.
For purposes of convenience, the expedition was divided into
contingents, each contingent including troop-ships and a naval
escort designed to keep off such German raiders as might be met.
An ocean rendezvous had also been arranged with the American
destroyers now operating in European waters, in order that the
passage of the danger zone might be attended by every possible
protection.
The first attack took place at 10.30 on the night of June 22d.
What gives it peculiar and disturbing significance is that our
ships were set upon at a point well this side of the rendezvous,
and in that part of the Atlantic presumably free from submarines.
The attack was made in force, although the night made im-
possible any exact count of the U-boats gathered for what they
deemed a slaughter.
The high-seas convoy, circling with their search-lights,
answered with heavy gun-fire, and its accuracy stands proved
by the fact that the torpedo discharge became increasingly
scattered and inaccurate. It is not known how many torpedoes
were launched, but five were counted as they sped by bow and
stern.
A second attack was launched a few days later against another
contingent. The point of assault was beyond the rendezvous
and our destroyers were sailing as a screen between the transports
and all harm. The results of the battle were in favor of American
gunnery.
Not alone did the destroyers hold the U-boats at a safe dis-
tance, but their speed also resulted in the sinking of one sub-
marine at least. Grenades were used in firing, a depth-charge
31
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
explosive timed to go off at a certain distance under water. In
one instance oil and wreckage covered the surface of the sea
after a shot from a destroyer at a periscope, and the reports
make claim of sinking.
Protected by our high-seas convoy, by our destroyers, and by
French war-vessels, the contingent proceeded and joined the
others in a French port.
The whole nation will rejoice that so great a peril is past for
the vanguard of the men who will fight our battles in France.
No more thrilling Fourth-of-July celebration could have been
arranged than this glad news that lifts the shadow of dread from
the heart of America.
A wave of joyful enthusiasm swept the nation. Every
newspaper in the land carried the statement in full, and
not even the partizan press, always so eager to criticize,
had a word to say about "bombast" or "flamboyancy."
For the moment, at least, the meannesses of prejudice
were subordinated to the exaltations of patriotism.
Three days later Mr. Melville Stone, of the Associated
Press, received a despatch from his London correspondent
stating that officers at the American flotilla base in Eng-
lish waters had declared that the transports were not at-
tacked by submarines at all, and that it was more than
likely that the supposed U-boats were merely floating
spars or blackfish. Mr. Stone telephoned the Secretary
of the Navy from New York and Mr. Daniels gained the
impression that a representative of the Associated Press
would call upon him with the despatch before its release.
When the Washington correspondent came, however, the
Secretary was astounded to learn that the London cable
had already been put on the wires and that the visit had
no greater purpose than to find out "if he had anything to
say." Mr. Daniels pointed out that the despatch was ab-
solutely anonymous in that it did not give the name of a
single American officer responsible for the slander, and de-
clared his sense of outrage that the comment of unknown
32
THE "FOURTH OF JULY FAKE"
persons, far from the scene of the incident, should be
matched against the report of an admiral of the navy.
As a result the Associated Press sent out a "kill," but with
such a start the story could not be caught.
The partizan press leaped forward instantly in eager
acceptance of the truth of the anonymous cable, and even
friendly papers, unwilling to lose a "good story," joined in
the hue and cry. The Secretary of the Navy was besieged
by correspondents demanding the original cable from Ad-
miral Gleaves, and when he refused for the very same rea-
sons that had prevented publication in the beginning, a
great shout arose that the whole occurrence had been
nothing more than a "Fourth of July hoax." Then, and
only then, did every solemn editorial ass discover that the
statement was "lurid" and "bombastic."
A reporter of The Tribune called at my office the fol-
lowing afternoon on some personal matter, and while we
were discussing it several other correspondents came into
the room. The submarine controversy came up, and I
told them, naturally enough, that I had no comments to
make whatsoever, as any statement must properly come
from the Secretary of the Navy. In the course of what I
conceived to be personal conversation I tried to explain
the point of view of the admirals, citing the importance of
the navy code, the value to the enemy of the information
as to longitude and latitude, and remarked also that a
navy cable would have small news value, anyway, inas-
much as its technical wording made it cryptic to civilians.
One of the men then sneered something about "elabo-
ration," and I answered that the veriest fool could see that
the release did not purport to be the Gleaves cable, but was
openly and frankly a statement of the Secretary of the
Navy based upon the facts contained in the cable. I
should have been conscious of the possibility of distortion,
but aside from the fact that I did not consider it an inter-
33
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
view, the savage contempt that filled my heart left little
room for other considerations. The men standing before
me, every one husky, healthy, and within the military age,
were holding down their peace-time jobs, while others
sailed across the sea to offer their lives on the altar of
American ideals. Surely the least that they could do was
to think in terms of helpfulness, yet there they were,
fairly quivering with eagerness to attack, to decry, and to
defame.
The two words, "cryptic" and "elaboration," were
fatal. Although only the three or four reporters saw me,
virtually every paper carried a story the following day in
which I was actually quoted as having admitted that the
Gleaves cable was "cryptic" and that I "elaborated" it
in the sense of supplying facts and details out of my own
fancy. Senator Penrose, an ancient enemy, rose joyfully
to take advantage of the opportunity for a display of
scurvy partizanship. His resolution not only called for
an investigation of the "Fourth of July fake," but for an
inquiry into every act and activity of the Committee.
Reed, Watson, Johnson, and other Senators with old angers
to satisfy, joined in the attack and the press came in as
chorus.
What gave a touch of malignancy to the whole affair
was that reports fully corroborating Secretary Daniels's
statement were regularly pouring in from independent
sources. As early as July 7th The New York Times carried
an account of the attack on the transports, written by its
Paris correspondent. The New York World a few days
later printed an interview with "the captain of an Amer-
ican ship " telling of the encounters and quoting him to the
effect that "almost every vessel in the convoy was fired
at by the U-boats, but American gunners proved too
quick for the Germans." The correspondent of The Phila-
delphia Public Ledger cabled a graphic story of submarine
34
THE "FOURTH OF JULY FAKE"
attack, claiming the destruction of one U-boat, and in
a score of metropolitan dailies appeared interviews with
sailors, hospital apprentices, officers, etc., all thrilling in
their description of the sea battle. On July 20th The
New York Tribune, a paper most horrified by our "fake,"
published a letter received from a private in France in
which these statements were made:
The Dutch must have known we were coming, because they
took their first crack at night, before the destroyers joined up
with the fleet. It was about eleven o'clock and dark, but there
was some phosphorus in the water and it was easy to see the
bubbles from the torpedoes. The "subs" took two shots at one
transport. They didn't miss her much. The "subs" got busy
and shot at five other boats. They missed them all, but it was
close squeaking all right. It was sort of bad that night because
the destroyers didn't meet up with the fleet until the morning.
They put a smoke screen around the transports and went out
after the "subs." One of our ships got one spotted close and
nailed her after she dodged. That was pretty neat. She
nailed her Vay down under the water. We got the "sub" all
right. There was more than oil came up.
Most delightful contribution of all was this report that
the Associated Press itself sent out:
HALIFAX, N. S., July 25th. British sailors arriving here to-day,
who claim to have been among crews of vessels in the vicinity
of the transports which conveyed the first American troops to
France, say they were credibly informed that German sub-
marines made a concentrated attack and were beaten off, with
a loss of six U-boats, only one submarine escaping.
The sailors said they were within three miles of the transports
and witnessed heavy and continuous fire. The men were on
three former Dutch vessels which had been taken over by the
British government and were on their way to Europe.
The very papers, however, that carried sensational
and even lurid accounts of the battle in their news
35
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
columns at the very same time thundered editorially
against the "Fourth of July hoax" and gravely con-
demned me for what they were pleased to term my
" flamboyancies."
All the while we were awaiting the return of Admiral
Gleaves in order to receive the full report that it was his
duty to file with the Commander-in-Chief of the fleet.
In the mean time, just as the newspaper attack was abat-
ing, Senator Penrose called up his resolution and for a
day the Chamber rang to a bitter debate. In his most
brazen manner, Penrose declared that the American public
had been "regaled on the Fourth of July with the bom-
bastic account of a battle which never occurred, and re-
lating to a squadron which crossed the ocean in placid
seas and arrived on the other side without an important
event."
Senator Swanson of Virginia openly charged dishonest
purpose. Senator Penrose, he said, had been informed by
the Navy Department that every one of the documents
in the case was at his disposal, including the original cable
from Admiral Gleaves, and his flat refusal to avail himself
of the offers proved that he had no interest in facts. Sena-
tor James of Kentucky talked plainly of "copperheadism"
and coined a new word when he substituted "Penrosing"
for "sniping." Nothing came of the resolution because it
was never meant that anything should come of it. Hav-
ing hurled his insults and launched his charges, nothing
was farther from the Penrose mind than that there
should be any hearing at which his assertions might be
answered.
At last, however, after what seemed an interminable
delay, the report of Admiral Gleaves came to hand, and
not only did it bear out the original statement in every
degree, but went beyond it. I submit a verbatim copy of
the document :
36
THE "FOURTH OF JULY FAKE"
REPORT OF ADMIRAL GLEAVES
DESTROYER FORCE,
ATLANTIC FLEET, FLAGSHIP,
, France, July 12, 1917.
From: Commander, Destroyer Force.
To: Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet.
Subject: Attacks on convoy by submarines on the nights of
June 22d, June 26th, and June 28th, 1917.
1. About 10.15 P.M., June 22d, the first group of the expedi-
tionary force of which the flagship was the leader, encountered
the enemy's submarine in latitude ., longitude W.
2. At the time it was extremely dark, the sea unusually
phosphorescent; a fresh breeze was blowing from the north-
west which broke the sea into whitecaps. The condition was ideal
for a submarine attack.
3. (Paragraph 3 gives the formation and names of the vessels,
together with the speed they were making and method of pro-
ceeding; nothing else. It is therefore omitted for obvious reasons.)
4. Shortly before the attack the helm of the flagship had
jammed, and the ship took a rank sheer to starboard; the whistle
was blown to indicate this sheer. In a few minutes the ship
was brought back to the course. At this time the officer of the
deck and others on the bridge saw a white streak about 50 yards
ahead of the ship, crossing from starboard to port, at right angles
to our course. The ship was immediately run off 90 to star-
board at full speed. I was asleep in the chart-house at the time.
I heard the officer of the deck say, "Report to the admiral a
torpedo has just crossed our bow." General alarm was sounded,
torpedo crews being already at their guns. When I reached the
bridge the A and one of the transports astern had opened fire,
the former's shell fitted with tracers. Other vessels of the convoy
turned to the right and left, in accordance with instructions.
B crossed our bow at full speed and turned toward the left column
in the direction of the firing.
5. At first it was thought on board the flagship that the wake
was that of a torpedo, but from subsequent reports from other
ships and in the opinion of Lieut. X, who was on the bridge, it
was probably the wake of the submarine boat itself. Two tor-
pedoes passed close to the A from port to starboard, one about
4 37
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
30 yards ahead of the ship and the other under her stern, as the
ship was turning to the northward. Capt. Y reports the incident
thus:
" Steaming in formation on zigzag courses, with base course 75
p. s. c., standard speed. At 10.25 sighted wake of a torpedo
directly across our bow about 30 yards ahead of the ship. Changed
course 90 to left and went to torpedo-defense stations. Fired
two 1-pounder shots and one 5-inch shot from port battery in
alarm in addition to six blasts from siren. Passed through two
wakes, one being that from the U. S. S. C. in turning to north-
ward, the other believed to have been from the passing sub-
marine. A second torpedo wake was reported at about 10.35
from after lookouts. After steaming in various courses at full
speed, resumed course 89 p. s. c. at 11.10 for rendezvous. At
12 set course 56 p. s. c. ."
6. The torpedo fired at the D passed from starboard to port,
about 40 yards ahead of the ship, leaving a distinct wake which
was visible for about four or five hundred yards. Col. Z, United
States Army, was on the starboard wing of the bridge of the D
at the time and states: "I first saw a white streak in the water
just off the starboard bow, which moved rapidly across the bow
very close aboard. When I first saw it, it looked like one very
wide wake and similar to the wake of a ship, but after crossing
the bow and when in line with it there appeared two distinct and
separate wakes, with a streak of blue water between. In my
opinion they were the wakes of two torpedoes."
7. The submarine, which was sighted by the flagship, was
seen by the B and passed under that ship. The E went to quar-
ters. When the alarm was sounded in the E, Lieut. W was
roused out of his sleep, and went to his station and found un-
mistakable evidence of the presence of a submarine. He had
been there only a few seconds when the radio operator reported,
"Submarine very close to us." As the submarine passed the E
and the flagship's bow and disappeared close aboard on our port
bow, between the columns, it was followed by the E, which ran
down between the columns, and when the latter resumed her
station she reported that there were strong indications of the
presence of two submarines astern, which were growing fainter.
The E was then sent to guard the rear of the convoy.
8. When I was in Paris I was shown by the United States
naval attache* a confidential official bulletin of information
38
THE "FOURTH OF JULY FAKE"
issued by the General Staff, dated July 6th, which contained the
following :
"Punta Delgada, Azores, was bombarded at 9 A.M., July 4th.
This is undoubtedly the submarine which attacked the E on
June 25th, 400 miles north of the Azores, and sank the F and G
on the 29th of June, 100 miles from Terceira (Azores). This
submarine was ordered to watch in the vicinity of the Azores
at such a distance as it was supposed the enemy American convoy
would pass from the Azores."
9. It appears from the French report just quoted above, and
from the location of the attack, that enemy submarines had been
notified of our approach and were probably scouting across our
route. It is possible that they may have trailed us all day on
June 22d, as our speed was well within their limits of surface
speed, and they could have easily trailed our smoke under the
weather conditions without being seen; their failure to' score
hits was probably due to the attack being precipitated by the
fortuitous circumstances of the flagship's helm jamming and the
sounding of her whistle, leading enemy to suppose he had been
discovered.
10. The H, leading the second group, encountered two sub-
marines, the first about 11.50 A.M., June 26, 1917, in latitude
N., longitude W., about a hundred miles off the coast of
France, and the second two hours later. The I investigated the
wake of the first without further discovery. The J sighted the
bow wave of the second at a distance of 1,500 yards and headed
for it at a speed of 25 knots. The gun-pointers at the forward
gun saw the periscope several times for several seconds, but it
disappeared each time before they could get on, due to the zig-
zagging of the ship. The J passed about 25 yards ahead of a
mass of bubbles which were coming up from the wake and let
go a depth charge just ahead. Several pieces of timber, quan-
tities of oil, bubbles, and debris came to the surface. Nothing
more was seen of the submarine. The attacks on the second
group occurred about 800 miles to the eastward of where the
attacks had been made on the first group.
11. The voyage of the third group was uneventful.
12. In the forenoon of June 28th, when in latitude N.,
longitude - - W., the K opened fire on an object about 300
yards distant which he thought was a submarine. The com-
mander of the group, however, did not concur in this opinion,
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
but the reports subsequently received from the commanding
officer of the K and Lieut. V are too circumstantial to permit
the incident from being ignored. The commanding officer
states :
" (b) The only unusual incident of the trip worth mentioning
was on the 28th day of June, about 10.05 A.M., the lookouts
reported something right ahead of the K. (I had the bridge at
the time.) When I looked I saw what appeared to be a very
small object on the water's surface, about a foot or two high,
which left a small wake; on looking closer and with the aid of
binoculars I could make out a shape under the water about 250
to 300 yards ahead and which was too large to be a blackfish,
lying in a position about 15 degrees diagonally across the K's
course.
" (b-1) I ordered the port-bow gun to open fire on the spot in
the water and sounded warning siren for convoy. When judging
that ship had arrived above the spot first seen I ordered right
rudder in order to leave the submarine astern.
"(&-#) A minute or two later the port after gun's crew re-
ported sighting a submarine on port quarter and opened fire at
the same time. The lookouts from the top also reported seeing
the submarine under the water's surface and about where the
shots were landing.
"(b-3) The ship kept zigzagging and firing from after guns
every time something was sighted.
"(b-4) Lieut. V, United States Navy, was in personal charge
of the firing and reports that he saw, with all the gun crews and
lookouts aft, the submarine fire two torpedoes toward the direc-
tion of the convoy, which sheered off from base course to right 90
when alarm was sounded.
" (b-5) All the officers and men aft had observed the torpedoes
traveling through the water and cheered loudly when they saw
a torpedo miss a transport. They are not certain, though, which
one it was, as the ships were not in line then and more or less
scattered.
"(6-0) The gunnery officer and all the men, who were aft at
the firing, are certain that they saw the submarine and the tor-
pedoes fired by same.
" (6-7) A separate report of Lieut. V, United States Navy, the
gunnery officer, is herewith appended.
"(6-5) The K kept zigzagging until it was considered that
40
THE "FOURTH OF JULY FAKE"
danger was past, and in due time joined the escorts and convoy,
formed column astern.
"(6-9) Report by signal was made to group commander of
sighting submarines and torpedoes."
13. (Paragraph 13 deals exclusively with a recommendation
as to the best methods to be employed in the future for the
purpose of saving life. It is plain this ought not to be made
public.)
14. Copies of reports of commanding officer's flagship, A, D,
and H, are inclosed; also copy of report of Lieut. V, of the K.
ALBERT GLEAVES.
Here at last was the ultimate word, the complete story,
the conclusive proof. The Secretary of the Navy had not
lied, the first joy and enthusiasms of the people were not
unjustified. Even though a month of lying had worked
grave injury to American morale, it seemed a certainty
that the publication of the report would remedy the evil
in great degree. What happened? The Senate ignored the
report, and the press, almost without exception, chopped
it to pieces and printed it, obscurely, as the "last chapter
in an unfortunate incident."
I had no intention of letting the matter rest, however,
and under my insistence a request was made upon Admiral
Sims to investigate the sending of the Associated Press
despatch that started the whole train of calumny. In due
time the following report was received:
3 August, 1917.
From: Commander J. R. P. Pringle, U. S. Navy.
To: Commander, U. S. Naval Forces Operating in European
Waters.
Subject: Cablegram OpNav. 49.
1 . Upon receipt and after consideration of the above-mentioned
cable forwarded from your office in London, I decided that the
matter was one which would have to be brought to the attention
of the Commander-in-Chief, Queenstown, since the sending of
the despatch referred to in OpNav. 49 had not been authorized
41
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
by me and, as a consequence, if authorized at all, could only
have been authorized by competent British authority.
2. I accordingly requested an interview with the Commander-
in-Chief and also permission to bring with me Mr. Frank America,
the Associated Press Correspondent at Queenstown. At 10.30
A.M. to-day I went, in company with Mr. America, to the Com-
mander-in-Chief s office and found Lieutenant-Commander
Olebar, R. N., the British Naval Censor for Queenstown also
there.
3. The Commander-in-Chief read the cablegram (OpNav.
49) and then interrogated Mr. America, who stated in substance
as follows: That he had received a wire from the London office
of the Associated Press stating that certain information had been
given out by the Secretary of the Navy, and asking if there was
a Queenstown end to the story. That he had received shortly
afterward a second wire from the same source telling him that a
"follow up" story was desired. That he got into communication
with Commander Pringle and asked permission to write a
"follow up" story. That Commander Pringle refused to allow
him to do so as the Censorship Regulations would not permit
of its being done, and that Commander Pringle refused to enter
into any further discussion of the subject. That he sent to
the London office of the Associated Press a wire intended for
the private information of his superiors in that office and not
intended for publication, and that since the wire was "private"
he did not consider it necessary to submit it to censorship by
either the British authorities or myself, and accordingly did not
submit it. That the information contained in this wire was
substantially as given in OpNav. 49, and represented his general
impression formed as the result of casual conversations held with
a couple of officers and some men. That he did not know any
one of the officers or men, but had met them on the pier, in the
streets, or at the hotel.
4. About July 5th or 6th, Mr. America came on board the
Melville to see me and showed me a wire which he had received
from his London office which stated in substance that the Navy
Department denied the statements contained in his (Mr.
America's) wire, and, further, that the statement given out by
the Secretary of the Navy was based upon official reports made
by Rear- Admiral Gleaves. This was the first intimation that I
had of Mr. America's having sent his wire, and, as Mr. America
42
THE "FOURTH OF JULY FAKE"
seemed to wish to renew his efforts to get me to discuss the
subject, I sent for the Executive Officer of the Melville, Lieut.-
Commander Arwine, and, in his presence, informed Mr. America
that I had declined to permit him to send any communication
on the subject in question; that it would be entirely improper
for me to discuss statements which had been issued by the Sec-
retary of the Navy, and that, once again, I declined to do so.
5. In accordance with your verbal instructions, I had an
interview with Mr. America shortly after your departure from
Queenstown and informed him that he should come to me for
information; that I would always give him such items as it was
possible to give without violating the Censorship Rules, and
that what news he got from me would be accurate. It was,
therefore, entirely proper for him to have come to me for per-
mission to write the "follow up" story requested.
6. The above is a recital of the facts in the case so far as I
am able to ascertain them.
7. As a matter of opinion, it appears to me that, so far as
the publication of his despatch is concerned, Mr. America is
more sinned against than sinning, if the ordinary procedure
regarding the publication of despatches received by the Central
Office from correspondents is as stated by him. He felt that
his despatch would not be published, and it seems to me that,
if he was justified in his belief, his superiors in London have put
him in a very embarrassing position.
8. With regard to any criticism either express or implied of
statements given to the press by the Secretary of the Navy, I
doubt very much whether any of the persons from whom Mr.
America got his information were aware of the fact that the
Secretary had given out a statement. There is a general tendency
among officers and men of the Force to attribute many cases
of supposed torpedo attack to the sighting of blackfish or por-
poise, while spars are sometimes mistaken for periscopes, and
any statements made are much more likely to have been intended
to express a belief that the reports were exaggerated at the
source than to express anything else.
J. B. P. PRINGLE.
Forwarded, approved.
WM. S. SIMS.
What a record!
43
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
The word of an admiral of the navy, the authorized
statement of the Secretary of the Navy, set aside and pub-
licly shamed on the authority of men "met on the docks,
at the hotels, and in the street," and whose names were
not even known to the correspondent!
The message sent as private meaning that it was not
intended for publication thereby evading the censorship!
IV
THE COMMITTEE'S "AIRCRAFT LIES"
THE only other charges of inaccuracy against the Com-
mittee were based upon announcements with respect
to the progress of the aircraft program. On February 21,
1918, we released a statement from the Secretary o War
in which this assertion was made: "The first American-
built battle-'planes are to-day en route to the front in
France. This first shipment, though in itself not large,
marks the final overcoming of many difficulties met in
building up this new and intricate industry."
Almost immediately it developed that one 'plane only
had been delivered for shipment to the American Expedi-
tionary Forces, and that even this single machine was not
yet on the water. Straightway the storm broke and the
press vied with the Senate in denunciation of the Com-
mittee for its "brazen attempt to deceive the public."
Utterly ignoring the report of Admiral Gleaves, the attack
upon the Fourth-of-July statement was revived in order
to give keener point to my own personal disregard for
truth.
A sure defense was at hand had we cared to use it.
The information as to the shipment of battle-'planes did
not originate in the Committee, but came directly from
Col. Edward A. Deeds, the officer in virtual charge of air-
craft production at the time. More than that, Secretary
Baker himself had formally authorized its issuance, ac-
cepting responsibility for its accuracy. The original copy
45
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
was in our possession, carrying the initialed approval of
these officials and containing certain corrections in Colonel
Deeds's handwriting. All that was necessary to establish
the Committee's complete innocence was to produce this
sheet.
As a matter of course, we did not take advantage of our
position. The Secretary of War stood at the head of the
armed forces of America, while upon the shoulders of
Colonel Deeds, in large measure, rested the burden of the
great aircraft program. Public confidence in them was
more important than public confidence in the Committee,
and if, by accepting the role of scapegoat, we were able to
guard executives from the delays of harassment, it seemed
a service. We made no defense, therefore, permitting
press and partizans to continue in the assumption that the
Committee was primarily responsible.
The facts in the case did not come out until October
25th, when Judge Charles E. Hughes reported the results
of his investigation into the whole conduct of aircraft pro-
duction. We were absolved from all responsibility, and
one of the two counts returned against Colonel Deeds
was that he had given "to the representatives of the
Committee on Public Information a false and misleading
statement with respect to the progress of aircraft produc-
tion for the purpose of publication with the authority of
the Secretary of War." Not a paper, nor yet a Senator,
took sufficient cognizance of this vindication to withdraw
their charges against the Committee, and, after a cautious
interval, even commenced to repeat them.
I would not have it believed, however, that we sought,
by our course, to conceal dishonesty or to protect bad
faith. I had then, as I have to-day, the fullest confidence
in Colonel Deeds's honor and high purpose, and his fault,
if it can be called that, was an amazing enthusiasm that
persisted in discounting the possibilities of delay. At the
46
THE COMMITTEE'S "AIRCRAFT LIES"
time he gave the statement, machines had been shipped
from the factory bound for France: what happened
was that they were suddenly diverted to Gerstner Field
to undergo further radiator tests. Out of his certainty
that quantity production was achieved at last, and in his
eagerness to relieve the impatiences and anxieties of the
public, Colonel Deeds simply failed to make sure that the
machines were safely in the hold of a ship before making
his announcement.
At about the same time, Colonel Deeds also gave four
photographs to the Division of Still Pictures, a branch of
the Committee that tried to meet the demands of the press
for photographs taken by the Signal Corps in France and
in those factories in the United States where private
camera-men were not allowed. The pictures showed air-
plane bodies and engines, and under the thrall of Colonel
Deeds 's enthusiasm one of the young assistants in the
division put captions on them that were admittedly flam-
boyant and overcolored.
This fault was freely admitted by us, and the four
pictures were withdrawn. The services of the caption-
writer were dispensed with, and orders given that all
future pictures should be released with no more descriptive
matter than the bare titles supplied by the Signal Corps.
A Senate committee, however, continued to attack us
because we had not attached to the pictures some such
legend as this: "Do not be deceived, good people. These
engines and bodies that you see before you are not battle-
'planes."
The next explosion in connection with airplane photo-
graphs occurred in the following July. It is interesting
as showing how painstaking hands can fashion a lie out
of whole cloth. On the floor of the Senate one day, Reed
of Missouri made the charge that the Committee on Public
Information had issued a statement to the effect that
47
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Secretary Baker, while in France, had seen "one thousand
American airplanes in the air." Also that the Committee,
in order to support this false claim, had issued photographs
of "penguins," a training-'plane that rises only a few feet
from the ground. Further, on the word of one Woodhouse,
editor of a flying-paper, Reed charged that the Committee
had deliberately attempted to make it appear that these
"penguins" were battle-'planes.
Our investigation instantly proved the utter falsity of
the whole rigmarole. The statement about Secretary Baker
and the one thousand American airplanes was not a prod-
uct of the Committee at all, but merely a story in
the Paris Herald. As for Woodhouse, his explanation as
to the manner in which we practised deception was followed
by this naive remark, "I am taking this for granted and
have nothing to base it on."
Utterly without faith in Reed, but in order that the record
should be kept clear, I sent him this letter, together with
a bundle of photographs :
July 17, 1018.
HON. JAMES A. REID,
United States Senate,
Washington, D. C.
DEAR SIR:
In The New York Times of July 13th, under the heading,
"Says Creel Misled Public; Reed on Assertion that Baker Saw
1,000 American 'Planes in France," there appeared an article
that commenced as follows:
"Senator Reed read to the Senate to-day parts of the
testimony of Henry Woodhouse of the Aero Club of America
before the Senate Aircraft sub-committee to prove that
pictures and statements sent out by the Committee on
Public Information to prove that Secretary of War Baker,
on his trip to France, saw 1,000 American airplanes in the
air, were false and misleading."
I am sure that you will be glad to know that the Woodhouse
charges and inferences are without the slightest foundation in
48
THE COMMITTEE'S "AIRCRAFT LIES"
truth. Never at any time did this Committee, or any other de-
partment of government, issue any statement to the effect that
Mr. Baker "saw 1,000 American airplanes in France." It may
be, as alleged, that the Paris Herald printed the statement, but,
if so, it came through no official source and had no official
sanction.
I send you herewith copies of all aircraft photographs sent
to us from France, together with the captions, submitting them
as a complete answer to the charge that we issued pictures of
non-flying machines in an attempt to make the people believe
that they were fighting-'planes. As you can see for yourself,
the majority of the pictures show machines high in the air, and
in all cases of ground-machines the caption is explicit.
These photographs were made by the Signal Corps operators
in France, the captions were written by Signal Corps officials
in France, and our release of them in this country is a purely
mechanical function.
These photographs come to us as part of regular deliveries
from the Signal Corps in which the entire activities of the
American Expeditionary Force are covered by the camera. No
one branch of the service is put before another, and the inference
that the Signal Corps in France is lending itself to a campaign
of deceit is as untrue as it is unjust.
Very truly,
[Signed] GEORGE CREEL,
Chairman.
As a matter of course, Reed paid no attention to the
letter. Having gained circulation for his falsehoods, there-
by gratifying his hatred of me and his antagonism to the
Administration, his interest ended. Nothing is so keen a
commentary upon the honesty of this whole inimical
Senate group as the fact that not once was I called before
a committee, either for explanation or defense.
To sum up then, the entire attack upon the credibility
of the Committee on Public Information centered in these
four charges:
(1) Falsely informing the people that the first trans-
ports were attacked by submarines.
49
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
(2) Issuing a false statement as to the shipment of
airplanes to France.
(3) Issuing four photographs of airplane production
designed to make the people believe that battle- 'planes
were being produced.
(4) Releasing a false statement that Secretary Baker
saw one thousand airplanes in France, and supporting the
lie by releasing pictures of ground-machines.
The answer to the first is found in the report of Admiral
Gleaves; the answer to the second in the report of Judge
Hughes; the answer to the third is the misguided enthusiasm
of a young subordinate, and the answer to the fourth is
contained in the letter to Senator Reed.
Consider for a moment! More than six thousand sep-
arate and distinct news releases, each one dealing with an
importance; some half -hundred separate and distinct
pamphlets, brimmed with detail; seventy-five thousand
Four Minute Men speaking nightly; other hundreds de-
livering more extended addresses regularly; thousands of
advertisements; countless motion and still pictures, post-
ers and painted signs; war expositions; intimate contacts
with twenty-three foreign-language groups; the Official
Bulletin, appearing daily for two years; and in every
capital of the world, outside the Central Powers, offices
and representatives, served by daily cable and mail ser-
vices rich in possibilities for mistake.
All done by an organization forced to function from the
moment of its creation, working at all times under ex-
tremest pressure, handicapped by insufficient funds and
harassed by partizanship.
And only the four charges!
The record stands unparalleled for honesty, accuracy,
and high purpose, and in itself is an enduring testimonial
to the sincerities of the thousands of men and women who
made possible the accomplishments of the Committee.
50
RELATIONS WITH CONGRESS
SINCE the discussion of falsehood and slander has been
commenced, it may be well to exhaust the subject be-
fore proceeding with the detailed story of the Committee
and its activities. Let me make the statement, therefore,
calmly and carefully, that domestic disloyalty, the hos-
tility of neutrals, and the lies of the German propagandists,
all combined, were not half so hard to combat as the
persistent malignance of a partizan group in the Congress
of the United States. From the very day of its creation
to the day of its assassination, the Committee was com-
pelled to endure an incessant fire from behind, working
at all times under this handicap of a blind malice that had
all the effect of treachery.
Our case, however, was neither isolated nor peculiar.
Of all the war- work executives in Washington, Republicans
and Democrats alike, it is safe to say that there was not
one who did not go to bed at night with the prayer that
he might wake in the morning to find Congress only the
horrible imagining of uneasy slumber. It was not that
any one resented criticism or inquiry or feared investiga-
tion. As a matter of fact, every man of them begged
criticism, invited inquiry, and hoped with all his heart for
a real investigation that would put an end to slanderous
rumors. But Congress refused to do any of these things,
confining itself entirely and enthusiastically to the busi-
ness of attack.
51
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Washington heard many absurdities, but most absurd
of all was the frequent bleat that the trouble was due to
"misunderstanding," and that the quick and easy remedy
was to "establish closer relations with Congress win their
friendship and support by explanation." One might as
well have babbled about establishing "closer relations"
with a water-moccasin. Men like Penrose, Sherman,
Watson, New, Johnson, and Longworth had no interest
in "better understanding." Bushwhacking was their busi-
ness. And while the Committee on Public Information
was a favorite target, no war organization escaped their
fire. Bernard Baruch and his associates on the W T ar In-
dustries Board were accused of using their positions to
get inside information for Stock Exchange deals. John
D. Ryan was held up to shame as a man who spent air-
craft funds to enlarge his personal profits; Clarence Woolley
was charged with manipulating the War Trade Board for
the benefit of the American Radiator Company; Julius
Rosen wald was regularly dragged in mud; Vance McCor-
mick was branded as a rascal who made thousands out of
our dealings with Russia; Col. E. A. Deeds was continually
accused of secret corruptions, etc. To be sure, many
of these men were Republicans, but that did not matter.
They were part of the war-machine, and, since this machine
was operating under the direction of a Democratic Presi-
dent, it had to be discredited.
There was no way in which effective reply could be made.
Under the provisions of our Constitution a member of
Congress cannot be held to account for any utterance on
the floor of the Senate or House. It is the one place in
the whole United States in which a mouth is above the
law, and in which there is not only free speech, but im-
munity for speech. The heavens may fall, the earth be
consumed, but the right of a Congressman to lie and defame
remains inviolate. Even were this constitutional pro-
52
RELATIONS WITH CONGRESS
tection lacking, conditions would be about the same. It
is Congress that makes the appropriations with which to
carry on the business of government the iron hand that
holds the purse-strings. If denial of a Congressman's
charge does manage to escape contempt proceedings, there
is still his power to curtail or to deny requested funds.
Strangely enough, however, Congress is not a body
without its strong, honest men. Fully 50 per cent, of
the membership of the House and Senate are above the
average in ability and conscientious purpose. The trouble
is that these men seldom figure in public print. And they
do not figure because the press has no interest in them.
There are to-day, and have always been, two kinds of
news : one is concerned with the fundamental significances
of life and is educational, vital, and interpretative, the other
deals entirely with the satisfaction of curiosity and dies
with the day that witnesses the events which it chronicles.
One is truth; the other is tattle. It is this second definition
that is accepted by the press, and as a consequence the
Congressman who gets into print is not the worker, but
the blatherskite; not the man concerned with service,
but the man concerned with sensationalism. It is this
condition that puts a premium on blackguardism and
places public servants at the mercy of reckless attack.
Of all the assaults made upon the Committee by Sena-
tors and Representatives, not one was ever prefaced by
any attempt at investigation, not one was ever followed
through, and not once was I ever allowed to appear before
a committee to make answer to specific accusations.
Throughout the Fourth-of-July furor and the aircraft
mess I was not seen by a single Congressman or allowed
to state the facts in the case at any hearing. Charges of
partizanship, dishonesty, and disloyalty were hurled regu-
larly at the Committee, and when I asked to be heard I
was told, invariably, that "the incident was closed."
5 53
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
As an instance of procedure, a Representative from
Massachusetts named Treadway emerged from obscurity
one day by charging that the soldiers of the American
Expeditionary Force were not able to get letters because
the "Creel Committee filled the mails to France with tons
of pamphlets." Others joined in the attack and the result
was a resolution calling upon the Postmaster-General to
report the amount of matter sent to the American soldiers
abroad by the Committee on Public Information. Mr.
Burleson, naturally enough, was not able to find any
records on the subject, inasmuch as the Committee had never
sent a single pamphlet of any kind to any member of the
American Expeditionary Force. In order to make assur-
ance doubly sure, he asked me for specific information,
and in my letter of reply I finished by saying that Mr.
Treadway had made "an assertion the absolute baseless-
ness of which could have been ascertained by telephone
inquiry."
Because of this paragraph the House declined to receive
the report. At a time when the war hung in the balance
virtually a day was wasted on this absurd debate and then
the report was referred to a special committee to decide
whether or not I should be brought before the bar of the
House on a contempt charge. To the very last, Mr.
Treadway insisted that he could "produce evidence in
this House that there have been placed in the hands of
the soldiers abroad tons of the Creel reports." There the
matter dropped. The special committee never reported,
Mr. Treadway never produced any such evidence, nor was
I given the chance to face him.
Representative Fordney, a perfect type of a partizan,
rose in the House one day and made the flat charge that I
was issuing pamphlets in support of Free Trade and other
Democratic heresies. The one specific instance he cited
was a pamphlet by a writer named Burt Etheridge Barlow.
54
RELATIONS WITH CONGRESS
The attack was vicious, and after it had continued for
quite a while another Congressman managed to obtain
a copy of the pamphlet and this dialogue ensued:
MR. GANDY. I just wanted to know if the gentleman meant
to leave the inference by the statement he made that the publi-
cation he referred to, which I have in my hand, was a government
document?
MR. FORDNEY. I think so.
MR. GANDY. Will the gentleman look at it.
MR. FORDNEY. I think it was sent out by George Creel.
There is a slip pasted on the first page, headed, "Committee
on Public Information, George Creel, chairman"; and I think
undoubtedly George Creel induced Burt Etheridge Barlow to
write the article.
MR. GANDY. If the gentleman will look at that statement he
will find that it is simply a statement by Mr. Creel that that
publication has passed the military censor. It is not a govern-
ment publication and does not purport to be a government
document, and it is not sent out by the Committee on Public
Information.
MR. FORDNEY. You cannot make me believe that George
Creel can send that out broadcast without it costing the govern-
ment some money.
I wrote a letter to Mr. Fordney at once stating that
not only had the Committee never sent out one single copy
of the pamphlet, but was without other knowledge of its
existence than the mechanical act of returning it to the
author after his submission of it to the Division of Military
Intelligence out of an over-scrupulous desire not to print
anything that might reveal military information. Mr.
Fordney refused to retract his falsehoods and continued
them at every opportunity.
Another Congressman, Knutson of Minnesota, charged
that the pamphlets issued by the Committee were Demo-
cratic doctrines from cover to cover. These pamphlets,
prepared by American historians of the highest standing,
55
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
were not only going into every home in the United States,
but were being circulated by the hundreds of thousands
in neutral countries. A work of fundamental importance,
yet this petty malignant did not scruple to attempt its
discredit and destruction. And they shoot a soldier for a
passive act like sleeping at his post!
Our motion-picture activities were a constant source of
attack. Any "movie" man angered by our refusal to give
him special privileges for money-making could slip up
to Congress in full confidence that his lies would be shouted
from the floor. The usual procedure was the making of
the charge, the introduction of a resolution, and then
futile efforts on my part to get a hearing. Once when I
had secured permission to testify before the House Com-
mittee on Military Affairs, the chairman immediately gave
out a statement that I had "refused to appear," and when
I duly presented myself the committee declined to hear
me on the usual "closed incident" grounds. This method
permitted free circulation of lies even while it denied me
the right of answer.
A chief offense of the Committee was its attitude in
regard to "atrocity stories." From the very first we held
that unprovable accounts of "horrors" were bound to
result in undesirable reactions, for if the Germans could
manage to refute one single charge, they would straightway
use it to discredit our entire indictment. This view was
shared by the War Department, and once on the authority
of General Pershing, and a second time by direction of
General March, we issued denials of gross exaggeration.
Senator Poindexter, who made up in voice what he other-
wise lacked, was the "atrocity expert of Congress," and
because of these denials he charged the Committee with
the circulation of German propaganda and devoted much
of his time to a direct attempt to discredit our work.
We sent him two of our pamphlets, German War Practices
RELATIONS WITH CONGRESS
and German Treatment of Conquered Territory, perhaps the
most terrible indictment ever framed against a nation,
and explained to him that these established facts were
preferable to baseless rumors, but it changed his malice
in no degree.
In the Senate, however, most of my trouble came from
enmities of long standing. The persistent attacks of John-
son of California and Reed of Missouri were in no sense
due to what the Committee did or did not do, but were
absolutely and entirely personal. Back in 1913 I wrote
an article for Everybody's Magazine in which I tried to
give a fair and dispassionate study of Johnson as a presi-
dential candidate. It was not a flattering estimate and the
abnormal vanity of the man never forgave it. The Johnson
wattles swelled and reddened to a state of chronic inflam-
mation as far as I was concerned, and my assumption of
public office gave him the chance for which he had been
waiting. As for Reed, I had known the fellow from the
start of his career, and during the ten years in which I
lived and wrote in Kansas City there was not a week in
which I did not try to hold him up to the contempt and
ridicule that were deserved by his character and abilities.
Another ancient foe was "Jim" Watson of Indiana.
At various times in my writings I had voiced the opinion
that the "Mulhall exposures" should have retired Wat-
son from public life. His anger, coupled with malig-
nant partizanship, made him at all times an unscru-
pulous enemy. Reed and Johnson contented themselves
with daily abuse, but Watson was more thorough. One
of his dignified activities was to send to Denver for a
thorough investigation of my "past." Unfortunately,
however, his agents in Colorado were not able to develop
anything that shamed my character or general reputation,
and were forced to rely entirely upon editorials that I
had written in The Rocky Mountain News between 1912
57
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
and 1914. At that time I was supporting certain initiated
measures that gave us the right to recall officials, including
judges, and the phraseology in many cases reflected the
heat of a bitter campaign.
In the midst of an important debate Senator Watson
wasted hours of time by reading these editorials, written
seven years before, and, what was worse, he did not scruple
to separate passages from the context in order to produce
false impressions. For instance, he recited certain charges
in which I was made to appear as having alleged a dia-
bolical conspiracy between the Supreme Court, President
Taft, and the Vatican in order to sway and deliver the
Catholic vote. As a matter of fact, the charges were not
made by me, but by others, and I recited them merely
in order to disapprove them. What he did, maliciously and
dishonestly, was to put the charges in my mouth, carefully
omitting the disproof.
Senator Sherman of Illinois charged on the floor that
I had given a monopoly of war films to one moving-picture
concern, and others accused me repeatedly of having
turned over valuable motion-picture rights to Hearst. I
spent two days trying to get before some committee to
answer these plain, downright lies, but failed absolutely
in the attempt. This, however, was about the only specific
attack that ever came from Senator Sherman. As a rule,
he confined himself to billingsgate directed against me
personally, devoting whole days to speeches in which he
characterized me as a "toad-eater," a swollen "rake hell,"
and other gentlemanly epithets. As a matter of fact,
Sherman always aroused pity in me rather than anger.
We were in the middle of a great war, with civilization
hanging in the balance, and here was the Senator from a
great state without ability to make any other contribution
to the national service than dreary maunderings.
In open debate, Senator Penrose made the specific
58
RELATIONS WITH CONGRESS
charge that the Committee on Public Information, after
establishing certain rules of censorship, "shocked and sur-
prised the censorship authorities" by its own violations
of the rules. He cited the case of a despatch filed by the
manager of the Central News in New York which was
stopped by the censors until they learned that the in-
formation came from the Committee. Of his own volition,
Mr. Edward Rascovar, president of the Central News,
wrote a letter to The New York Times in which he said
that "no such story was ever filed," and Captain Todd,
head of the Naval Censorship, also branded the Penrose
charge as absolute fiction. Penrose kept insisting that he
"had the proof," but we were never able to make. him
produce it.
Senator Lodge, in the course of a tirade, made this state-
ment: "The question before us is that of Mr. Creel, a
man to whom Congress refused to give power. The office
he holds is created under the one-hundred-million-dollar
fund given to the President for the general defense of the
country. Mr. Creel, apparently, is part of the general
defense of the country, and the little government publica-
tion which he is publishing, and the scores of people whom
I am told he has employed to do what might be done by
a stenographer and a couple of clerks, are being paid for
out of that fund."
Either he was premeditatedly untruthful or else incredibly
ignorant, for at the time the Committee's foreign activities
were well known, its pamphlets were in circulation by the
millions, the Four Minute Men were already famous, our
motion pictures filled the theaters, and every Washington
correspondent was receiving the official news from our
office. I was always inclined to give Senator Lodge the
benefit of the doubt, crediting him with ignorance rather
than dishonesty. As some one once said, the Lodge mind
was like the soil of New England highly cultivated, but
59
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
naturally sterile. An exceedingly dull man and a very
vain one deadly combination his vanity fosters his igno-
rance by persistent refusal to confess it. More than any
other Senator he has the conviction of omniscience, and
his solemn expression and conservative whiskers persuade
many people to accept him at his own valuation.
This "sniping" kept up steadily throughout the first
year of the Committee's existence, each day bringing new
charges and fresh abuse. Congressmen refused to see me
and I could not get an opportunity to see Congress. We
made attempt after attempt to establish a basis of under-
standing, if not friendship, for it was not only that the
continual sharpshooting interfered with the workers, but
it hurt the work itself. In virtually every foreign country
we were preaching the gospel of an honest, idealistic
America, and the task was difficult enough without having
German propagandists quoting American Senators to the
effect that the Committee on Public Information was a
"pack of liars." And then in May, 1918, there came the
explosion that brought things to a climax.
After a speech at the Church of the Ascension in New
York, I yielded to the custom of Doctor Grant's forum and
submitted to questions. The majority of the audience
were "radicals," out of sympathy with the war, and their
rapid-fire interrogations had the spat of bullets. At the
end of an hour, when the questions were getting fewer
and weaker, and when fatigue had robbed me of mental
quickness, some fool asked what I thought about the "heart
of Congress." A titter swept the crowd, and because the
absurdity was so plain, I made the quick and thoughtless
answer that "I had not been slumming for years." The
moment the words left my mouth I could have bitten my
tongue out, but I did not dare to give the incident point
by attempting any withdrawal. It was one of those arrant,
incredible stupidities for which there is no excuse. I sup-
RELATIONS WITH CONGRESS
pose that the mention of Congress evoked instant thought
of Reed, Penrose, Watson, Longworth, and others of their
kind, and that the retort slipped out before my tired mind
could call a halt.
As a matter of course, the morning papers ignored the
carefully prepared speech of an hour, and made no com-
ment upon the second hour of serious questioning, but put
entire emphasis upon the "slumming" remark. My en-
emies in the House and Senate rallied with a cry of joy,
and the dictionary was brought into play to prove that
I had accused Congressmen of being "poor, dirty, degraded,
and often vicious." The hatreds and accusations of the
whole past year were resurrected, the inevitable Treadway
introduced a resolution to institute contempt proceedings
and the clamor rose high above the noise of the war itself.
My one decent, honorable course was an open apology,
for nothing had been farther from my thought than in-
sult or defiance. My soul ached to make the flat statement
that I was not referring to Congress as a whole, but had
only Reed, Penrose, Watson, et al., in mind. I swallowed
the impulse, however, and wrote as follows to Mr. Edward
W. Pou, chairman of the House Rules Committee:
May 11, 1918.
MY DEAR MR. Pou:
While the Rules Committee has not yet indicated any course
of action with respect to the resolution of Mr. Treadway, I
cannot permit myself to remain under the imputation of having
passed public and insulting criticism upon the Congress of the
United States.
My estimate of your honorable body is expressed in the
pamphlet issued by the Committee on Public Information in
October, 1917, under the title, First Session of the War Con-
gress. So remarkable did the record of achievement appear
to me that I had it summarized for general distribution, and
in the signed preface I tried to bear testimony to the courage
and patriotism of the men behind the record.
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HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Even were it not the case that I am so committed by the
frank and uncompelled expression of an honest conviction, I
beg you to believe that I am not so lost to the proprieties as to
indulge in attack upon the legislative branch while I myself am
in the service of the government.
At a time like this I would take shame to myself if I attempted
to weaken in any degree the public confidence in any public
body, much less the great legislative body of our nation.
At the Church of the Ascension, I had spoken for an hour,
and for more than an hour answered questions bearing upon
every phase of public misunderstanding. The question under
discussion seemed so utterly silly, and its silliness was so well
understood by the audience, that I made a quick and thoughtless
answer that lent itself to exaggeration and distortion. I admit
the indiscretion and regret it deeply.
I have given my thought so wholly to the service of this war
that I have, perhaps, been careless in the matter of guarding
every word of my utterances against the possibility of miscon-
struction. But I have the feeling that sincere men see down to
the heart of intent and will appreciate my desire at all times
to avoid anything that might create the dissension and con-
fusion so dangerous to our necessary unity.
Please let me take this opportunity to assure you of my willing-
ness at all times to co-ordinate the work of the Committee with
the wish and thought of Congress. What we have done and are
doing is always open to the inspection of the individual member
or committee, and I cannot but feel that our task here would be
wisely strengthened by more intimate contact and co-operation.
The fair-minded members of Congress accepted the
apology in the spirit in which it was written, but those
who hated me refused to be placated, and conceived an
attack that had every promise of success. At the outset
of the war the President had been voted the sum of fifty
million dollars to be used for the National Security and
Defense, a mobile body of money designed to meet emer-
gencies and for the support of organizations whose neces-
sities were too immediate to wait on red tape. The Com-
mittee on Public Information operated from this fund,
RELATIONS WITH CONGRESS
and here was the spot at which the opposition struck.
Word went to the President that he must discharge me
if he expected to have the appropriation renewed on
June 30th.
It was a blow that menaced the proper prosecution of
the war, and as a matter of course there was but one thing
for me to do. I saw the President at once and offered my
resignation. He refused to accept it, generously insisting
that one indiscretion was not heavy enough to weigh
against a year of effective service. It was also the case,
he pointed out, that the Committee was so peculiarly my
own creation that its manifold and important activities
would suffer hurt if transferred to other hands. Moreover,
he was of the opinion that my "manly letter" met the
situation, and that the unfortunate incident would soon
be closed.
While deeply grateful, the position in which I found
myself was unendurable. It was a certainty that the
President would be attacked for keeping me, and while
I had no doubt of his ability to win out on the issue, the
fight constituted another burden that no one had the
right to impose. What I suggested was this that he
should cut me loose from his fund as far as the domestic
work of the Committee was concerned, letting me go to
Congress with my own request for an appropriation for
the Committee. This, I urged, would give me the long-
sought opportunity to make full and official report on the
work, meeting accusers and accusations squarely and in
the open. If I failed I would have had my day in court,
while if I succeeded there would be an end to the cry that
the President was "defying Congress" by his mainte-
nance of the Committee.
I carried my point, filed my request for an appropriation,
and on June llth presented myself before the House Com-
mittee on Appropriations to justify my official existence.
63
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Among those who faced me I did not find a friend. Mr.
Sherley and Mr. Byrnes, the two Democrats, were of
another school of political thought, while of the Republi-
cans, Mr. Gillett and Mr. Mondell had only horror for
my economic beliefs. As for "Uncle Joe" Cannon, he
was on record with the statement that I "ought to be taken
by the nape of the neck and the slack of the pants and
thrown into space."
All Washington had its eyes on the hearing, and gossip
had but one verdict. The Committee "was going to be
exposed as a worthless, partizan body," not a dollar would
be granted, nor would continued existence be allowed.
For three days, eight hours a day, the Committee's ac-
tivities and personnel were subjected to the most search-
ing examination, and while the general attitude was critical
to the point of hostility, they gave me a "square deal"
every step of the way. Division by division, man by
man, dollar by dollar, we offered the Committee for
scrutiny, and when this inspection was finished, I insisted
that every charge of partizanship, inaccuracy, and dis-
honesty should be taken up. One by one we nailed the
lies that had bedeviled the Committee, laying down our
proof, submitting to cross-examination, and inviting con-
tradiction of our facts. The Fourth-of-July story, the
aircraft publicity, the political affiliations of executives,
my speeches, every published criticism and attack all
were considered in turn, and at the end there was a verdict
in our favor with not even "Uncle Joe" raising his voice
in dissent.
The one question remaining was as to my "temper-
amental qualifications." The editorials that I wrote in
Colorado in 1912 and 1913 in support of the Initiative and
Referendum, the right of the people to recall elected
officials, etc., were read at length, and on the following
morning the press carried the statement that I had "re-
64
RELATIONS WITH CONGRESS
canted." While it is true that I regretted certain phrases,
I recanted no belief, but asserted my continuing faith in
these words:
MR. CREEL. I want to say that every single thing in which I
have believed and every single thing for which I have fought
and this is without exception is to-day law, either in federal
statutes, state statutes, or in municipal charters. There is not
a single advocacy of mine that has not been approved by Amer-
ican majorities. My crime is that I fought for these things before
they became fashionable. I think it is significant also that it
has never once been charged that I have intruded a single pre-
war enthusiasm into the discharge of my duties here; that no
allegation has been made that I have allowed the specific reforms
in which I believed before the war to influence me or even to
appear in my work since our declaration of war. They go back
ten years to things I wrote, but avoid carefully any investigation
of my activities since April 6, 1917.
THE CHAIRMAN. Aside from the character of the editorials
themselves, the charges that have been brought, in large measure,
are that they show the viewpoint, touching the Presidency,
touching the Constitution, touching the Supreme Court, and
touching the Congress, of one who believed that these various
institutions were of such a character as to prevent the man
holding such views from being now the advocate of this govern-
ment and of democracy in its warfare against autocratic govern-
ment. That is the essence, is the gravamen of the charge, as I
understand it.
MR. CREEL. Never at any time have I urged any instrument
of change except the ballot; it is true that I have urged consti-
tutional changes, nor do I feel that this was sacrilege. I think
it is one of the greatest documents ever written, but times
change, new needs arise, and I hold it well within the rights of
citizens to alter and advance. Never at any time have I preached
any doctrine of revolution, only the propriety of change. I
have always held steadfastly, and to-day more so than ever, to
the belief that this is the greatest government in the history of
the world; that its institutions represent all that is best in
human thought and all that is best in human endeavor. My
animating impulse has been the belief in larger civic intelligence
and enthusiasm; my effort to get citizenship, the electorate, to
65
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
take a more active interest in governmental affairs to vote
honestly and solemnly almost. As a consequence, I have urged
all those things that would more closely identify people with
government, seeking to intensify interest in public business and
public affairs. I do not believe there is a man in the United
States who has a firmer belief in our form of government and in
our institutions than myself, and if I made attacks upon them
it was because I felt there were certain things which were the
proper subjects of change.
MR. MONDELL. You realize, I assume, that the German
propagandists could make very effective use now of these utter-
ances of the gentleman who, at the present time, is at the head
of the publicity of the government and is leading the propaganda
to express and prove the splendor and justice of our institutions?
MR. CREEL. I feel that if the gentleman who introduced
these editorials into the Record had troubled to make some in-
vestigation of my present work, instead of going clear out of
Colorado to find out what I wrote seven years ago, probably
the German propagandists would not have any chance for ex-
ploitation, Mr. Mondell.
At the close, character witnesses" were put on the
stand, as it were, in an effort to develop my "temper-
amental" fitness or unfitness. Mr. Blair and Mr. Byoir,
business men and Republicans, were asked as to my ex-
ecutive abilities, and Professor Ford, as a Republican and
as one holding the sane and conservative post of dean of
the University of Minnesota, was told to give his frank
opinion of me. The statement of Professor Ford contains
points that lift it above the personal:
MR. FORD. I never saw Mr. Creel until I came down to
Washington in response to a telegram from him. It was through
no personal connection of any kind, so that my view of him has
been to that extent simply that of a man dispassionately watch-
ing him. He was directing what seemed to me to be one of the
most important functions that had been created as a result of
war activities. I feel that I can say now that it seems to me that
Mr. Creel has really succeeded in this work. Apparently he
66
RELATIONS WITH CONGRESS
lacked all of the qualifications that most of us would have put
together as making up the ideal man to do this job. He suc-
ceeded because he lacked most of the qualities and all of the
experience that an average wiseacre would have said were
essential to success. If anybody had asked me to sit down and
say what kind of man should be put in such a position, I should
have said, "This man must have certain ideas about adminis-
tration and organization; he must have worked in organizations;
and he must be a man who sits down and thinks out plans and
then has the plan of an organization all charted out with which
to execute his plans." I should have said that he must be a man
who would be able to drive those other men in the organization
as the usual so-called executive type drive other men.
This war has put most such standards of judging men entirely
out of business. What Mr. Creel really was I saw it at once
was an educator running what might be called a war Chautauqua.
Now, for the purpose of doing that, the man who has fixed
ideas, and who has had an experience that makes him discard
everything except certain "safe and sane" things, would have
followed his own rule-of-thumb methods, and would never have
exhibited the ideals and encouraged the development of the
things that have gone on here. The "safe and sane" type could
have kept himself out of the press and free from criticism, but the
Committee would have early made its appearance in the obituary
column. The thing wanted in this work was not any definable
administrative experience or any set of fixed ideas about organi-
zation. What you want are two things: You want a man with
the right spirit, and that spirit can be covered in just one word,
and that is "service." The second thing is that you want a man
who is open-minded and responsive and quick to accept sugges-
tions and see possibilities beyond the vision of the man who
makes them. I think that Mr. Creel possesses pre-eminently
these two essential things.
That is the reason why this Committee has grown so flexible,
has met situations that none of us foresaw, and has done a work
so big that none of us could ever conceive for a moment it was
within the range of possibilities in twelve months. The Com-
mittee has done big things and worked effectively. Mr. Creel
took things that the normal routine mind would have discarded.
I know what my reaction was when a man came from Chicago
to suggest to us that we take the Four Minute Men. I hesitated,
67
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
but Mr. Creel said, go ahead. Nothing like that had ever been
done. It was a perilous experiment in many ways to organize
men all over the country to speak for the government with
something like the authority of the government. They had
never had such responsibility and one could easily imagine indis-
cretions that would keep us in hot water. Mr. Creel took it
as a form of service to meet something that had never occurred
before, and he was right, and the thing has worked out well.
A man who had worked in the government in the ordinary
way would have said at once, "The government cannot go into
the motion-picture business." But here was a man who saw
what others had not seen clearly enough in the past, that such
a thing has infinite possibilities for good if it is organized in the
right way, and that you can teach through the eyes and through
these pictures what neither the printed nor spoken word can
teach. He caught the idea and he pushed it; and its possibilities
as an instrument in patriotic education are evident. I could go
from point to point, but I want to emphasize this fact, that he
has constantly kept before his mind the idea of service and just
doing the job and thinking of everything simply in relation to
the great task. Notwithstanding the extraordinary situation
which confronted him in an office which brought endless strain
and ceaseless labor, he has made decisions that were right in the
long run and which have been extraordinarily fruitful in results.
He has made them quickly, made them advisedly, and he has
done the work of a real executive. We have had a sense of
responsibility, but everything we have done has been under his
supervision. It may be said that this Committee, in its spirit of
service, in its willingness to get behind any good thing and
claim no vainglorious credit, has really shown the spirit of service
that has animated the chairman. All of us had this spirit, of
course, or we would not have gone into the work and stuck to it
through misrepresentation and misunderstanding; but that
spirit of service would not have been dominant in the Committee
on Public Information except under a man who clearly was above
self-seeking and pettiness.
When it was all over I had the feeling that the Commit-
tee had won respect and approval. Developments bore
me out, for, while cuts were made, an appropriation of
68
RELATIONS WITH CONGRESS
$1, 250,000 was voted. The committee members were
unanimous in allowing it, and, as I have stated in a previ-
ous chapter, Republicans and Democrats were equally
generous on the floor of the House, reporting that the
work was important and that it had been discharged
competently and patriotically.
All of us had the hope that this would end our troubles,
but the respite was brief. The press generally ignored
the hearing, and after a lapse of time sufficient to dull
memory the same old lies were brought forth again and
put through their spavined paces.
6
VI
THE DIVISION OF NEWS
EOKING back, it seems a miracle that the original
purpose of the Committee's existence should have
survived the terrific strain of creation. Everything with
which we had to do was new and foreign to the democratic
process. There were no standards to measure by, no trails
to follow, and, as if these were not difficulties enough, the
necessities of the hour commanded instant action. Even
before any allotment of funds, before an organization
could be gathered or quarters secured, the Committee
was forced into urgent duties and decisions.
We found temporary lodgment in the navy library, a
shadowy, shelf -filled room peopled by quiet, retiring gentle-
women, who shuddered in corners while noisy mobs invaded
their sanctuary. Every day saw and heard its hundreds
of callers eager patriots, duty-dodgers, job-hunters, cranks,
inventors, Congressmen with constituents to place buzz-
ing like a locust swarm and devouring time with much the
same rapacity.
Arthur Bullard and Ernest Poole, quitting their literary
work at the first call to arms, came to my aid, and were
followed by Edgar G. Sisson, who resigned his post as
editor of The Cosmopolitan that he might serve. When
I think of their unselfish drudgeries, their contributions
from loyal hearts and driving minds, I find fault with
every phrase designed to convey appreciation. Bullard,
7Q
THE DIVISION OF NEWS
with his first-hand knowledge of countries and peoples
and his even more intimate study of the Allied effort to
capture public opinion; Poole, with his clear, democratic
vision; and Sisson, with his tireless energy and rare exec-
utive genius shot light through the general confusion,
and, in spite of every hopelessness, purposes commenced to
take form.
The voluntary censorship, driven through in the best
fashion that conditions permitted, was companioned by
the creation of machinery for the collection and issuance
of the official news of government. Out of that early
chaos also came the Official Bulletin, the Four Minute Men,
the mobilization of the artists and the novelists, and vari-
ous other ideas that had a later fruitage.
For shelter we managed finally to rent quarters at 10
Jackson Place, an old dwelling-house once the home of
either Daniel Webster or John C. Calhoun, tradition divid-
ing sharply in the matter. What we should have done
was to have commandeered an apartment-house at the
very start, but as a result of incessant attack economy
obsessed me, an obsession, by the way, that remained to
hamper and delay. The house next door was not leased
until we had men and women working in basement cubby-
holes and attic cells, and a third dwelling was taken over
only when kitchens and hallways were filled to overflowing.
The Division of News, fitting the voluntary censorship
as skin fits the hand, was equally fundamental as far as
the purpose of the Committee was concerned. With the
press depended upon to protect military information of
tangible benefit to the enemy, it became an obligation to
meet the legitimate demand for all war news that contained
no military secrets. It was not a duty, however, that
could be left safely to the peace-time practice of the press
with its uninterrupted daily swing of reporters through
the various departments, the buttonholing of clerks, and
71
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
the haphazard business of permitting minor officials to
make unchecked and unauthorized statements. Nor was
there room for the "scoop," since war news could not be
looked upon in any other light than common property call-
ing for common issuance.
There were also dangers from the other side. Admirals
and generals had been reared in a school of iron silence,
and as a result of their training looked upon the war-
machinery as something that had to be hidden under lock
and key. To the average military mind everything con-
nected with war was a "secret," and the press itself had
no rights that needed to be respected. Even in the few
cases where officials appreciated the value of publicity
there was an utter lack of the "news sense," with the result
that trivialities were brought forward and real importances
buried.
What was needed, and what we installed, was official
machinery for the preparation and release of all news
bearing upon America's war effort not opinion nor con-
jecture, but facts a running record of each day's progress
in order that the fathers and mothers of the United States
might gain a certain sense of partnership. Newspaper
men of standing and ability were sworn into the govern-
ment service and placed at the very heart of endeavor in
the War and Navy departments, in the War Trade Board,
the War Industries Board, the Department of Justice, and
the Department of Labor. It was their job to take dead-
wood out of the channels of information, permitting a
free and continuous flow.
A more delicate and difficult task could not have been
conceived, for both the press and the officials viewed the
arrangement with distrust, if not hostility. On the side
of government there was the deep conviction that neces-
sary concealments were being violated, and even when
this antagonism was overcome there developed the assump-
72
THE DIVISION OF NEWS
tion that only "favorable news" should be given out for
publication. It was our insistence that the bad should
be told with the good, failures admitted along with the
announcements of success, and that the representatives
of the Committee should have the unquestioned right to
exercise their news sense and to check up every statement
in the interest of absolute accuracy. Owing to the un-
swerving support of Secretary Baker and Secretary Daniels,
we carried our contentions, and after much preliminary
creaking the machine commenced to function with smooth-
ness and certainty.
On the part of the press there was the fear, and a very
natural one, that the new order of things meant "press-
agenting" on a huge scale. This fear could not be argued
away, but had to be met by actual demonstration of its
groundlessness. Our job, therefore, was to present the
facts without the slightest trace of color or bias, either in
the selection of news or the manner in which it was pre-
sented. Thus, in practice, the Division of News set forth
in exactly the same colorless style the remarkable success
of the Browning guns, on the one hand, and on the other
the existence of bad health conditions in three or four of
the cantonments. In time the correspondents realized
that we were running a government news bureau, not a
press agency, and their support became cordial and sincere.
The Division of News kept open the whole twenty-four
hours. Every "story," on the moment of its completion,
was mimeographed and "put on the table" in the press-
room where the news associations kept regular men, and
to which the correspondents came regularly. . These
"stories" were "live news," meant for the telegraph-
wire, and the method employed assured speedy, authorita-
tive, and equitable distribution of the decisions, activities
and intentions of the government in its war-making
branches.
73
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Not only this, but the Division of News was the one
central information bureau. Before its creation Wash-
ington correspondents, running down a "story" or track-
ing a rumor, were compelled to visit innumerable offices,
working delay to overburdened officials, or else telephoning
endlessly, even dragging department heads out of their
beds at ungodly hours. Our desk men, in touch with every
happening at every hour of the day and night, were able
to confirm or deny, so that one visit or one telephone-call
met the need of the correspondent, saving his time and
likewise the time of officials.
No attempt was made, however, to prevent independent
news-gathering or to interfere with individual contacts.
It was our insistence and arrangement that correspondents
should have daily interviews with all executive heads,
and in every case where a correspondent, feature-writer,
or magazine- writer had an idea for a "story" either we
supplied him with the facts, information, and statistics
desired or else cleared the way for him to get his material
first hand.
When we found that the rural press was experiencing a
sense of neglect, in that it had neither wire service nor
Washington correspondents, we secured the services of a
capable "country editor" from the state of Washington,
and had him prepare a weekly digest of the official war
news that went to the country weeklies in galley form.
Country dailies also asked to be put on this list, which
grew to more than twelve thousand. At any intimation
that this matter was not desired the paper was removed
from the mailing-list, and by this and other checking we
were able to keep a more or less careful watch on the ex-
tent to which the service was used. It ran as high as six
thousand columns a week.
The Division of News also operated the voluntary censor-
ship, advising and interpreting the government's requests
74
THE DIVISION OF NEWS
for secrecy in the matter of purely military information.
Each Washington correspondent, likewise every news-
paper office in the United States, had the card that bore
these requests; nevertheless, there were hundreds of in-
quiries daily as to "what the government wanted" or did
not want. The men on the reference-desk either insisted
that the news item in point was fully covered by the card
or advised that there was no objection to publication.
In all cases of doubt, decision was referred to Gen. Frank
Mclntyre, acting for the War Department, or to the navy
representative, who rendered the official ruling. In no
instance, however, was any direct order laid upon the press.
It was up to each correspondent to comply with the wishes
of the government or to reject them, the decision being
left entirely to his common sense and patriotism. The
Committee itself was at all times careful to avoid any ap-
pearance of censorship, refusing to assume authorities and
holding fast to the safe role of adviser and interpreter.
There can be no question as to the value of the Division
of News to the government itself. Through its news-
gathering machinery it gave to the people a daily chronicle
of the war effort so frank, complete, and accurate that in
time it developed a public confidence that stood like iron
against the assaults of rumor and the hysteria of whispered
alarm.
Nor can there be any question as to the value of the
division to the press. It saved the newspapers thousands
of dollars in time and in men by the daily delivery and
equitable distribution of the official war news, and was
equally quick to assist in the handling of larger problems.
In the case of the casualty lists, for instance, ordinary
procedure would have compelled the three press associa-
tions, and such papers as maintained independent services,
to make separate copies for separate distribution over the
telegraph-wires. This duty was assumed by the Division
75
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
of News, and a plan was worked out by which the Com-
mittee printed the lists and mailed them to newspapers
with a five-day release date. By this method the press
was saved the time and money and the overburdened
wires out of Washington were relieved of a crushing bur-
den. The system meant no delay in the notification of rel-
atives, who received word by telegram from the Adjutant-
General's office several days in advance of publication in
the newspapers.
As a matter of fact, the Division of News stood at all
times as the servant and champion of the newspapers,
making daily and vigorous fight against unnecessary
secrecies. By way of illustration, it was the original de-
cision that correspondents should not be permitted to
accompany General Pershing and the first troops that went
to France. The Committee insisted that such a course
would arouse just and wide-spread indignation, and by
dint of unanswerable argument we won a ruling from
Secretary Baker that recognized the right of the press to
adequate representation. Commencing with the men se-
lected by the news associations, the number was increased
carefully and intelligently until twenty-three accredited
correspondents were at headquarters in France. At this
point General Pershing put his foot down hard, cabling
that there were twice as many correspondents with the
small American force as with the great armies of England
and France, a fact that was commencing to cause laughter
and ridicule.
All of which was true, but it was equally true that neither
England nor France was sending soldiers three thousand
miles from home, nor was it taken into consideration that
the United States had ten times as many papers as the
French or the English. The order held, but the Committee
refused to admit defeat and devised a scheme of "war-
zone visits." Our Paris office, working in conjunction with
76
THE DIVISION OF NEWS
the American, French, and English authorities, gained per-
mission to conduct correspondents to the various fronts
on inspection tours. This done, the Washington office
made itself reponsible for passports and letters of introduc-
tion, with the result that no responsible, duly accredited
American newspaper man was denied the right to see and
study the American effort in France.
The Grand Fleet was another case in point. We were
willing to admit that there should be secrecy as to the
number and whereabouts of our war-ships, but we saw
only absurdity in the attempt to hide the fact that there
really was a fleet and that it was ready to fight. One of the
most popular pre-war lies was the "demoralization of the
navy." What finer message to carry to the people than the
might of "the gray, mailed fist"? Secretary Daniels and
Admiral Mayo saw the force of the argument, and the
Committee was permitted to send party after party of
correspondents and writers to Yorktown, where the war-
ships of the United States lay at anchor in the early days
of the war. Not one word was ever printed as to location
or number, but the daily and periodical press was filled with
columns that told America of our naval invincibility. The
two articles by Mary Roberts Rinehart, published in The
Saturday Evening Post, were worth a host of recruiting
officers, for they told the people that the first line of defense
was worthy of full confidence and complete reliance.
The same system was followed with respect to canton-
ments, shipyards, and munition-factories, and as a result
a flood of positive news crowded out the negative and
destructive. Another thing that aided materially in the
stabilization of public opinion was the open pledge of the
army and the navy that all accidents, disasters, and cas-
ualties would be given instant announcement. It was a
pledge that was kept.
The Committee, while safeguarding the interests of the
77
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
government and upholding the rights of the press, felt
that its true responsibility was to the people of the United
States. As a consequence of this belief, which put us be-
tween the press and the government as an independent,
impartial force, the Committee met with almost constant
attack from either one side or the other. When we sup-
ported the contentions of the correspondents, the admirals
and generals declared that we wanted "to run the war in
the interest of the newspapers," and when we accepted
censorship rulings as sound and reasonable, the press
talked wildly of gags and muzzles. Sometimes it was the
case that both sides joined in attack, forgetting differences
in the joy of a common irritation.
For instance, in March, 1918, in the absence of Secretary
Baker, and without previous warning or consultation, the
War Department curtly informed us that thereafter all
casualty lists must be issued to the press without the home
address or the name of the next of kin. The form that
we had been following was as follows:
Wounded: Private John Jones. S. J. Jones (father)
2 Yale Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
The new War Department order prescribed this form:
Wounded: Private John Jones.
We realized at once that the thousands of identical
names in the United States made it certain that the new
form would work anxiety and suffering to countless homes.
Merely to announce that John Jones or Patrick Kelly was
killed or wounded meant that the parents, relatives, and
friends of the innumerable John Joneses and Patrick Kellys
would be given over to every fear and grief, since there was
nothing to indicate exact identity.
We took up the matter with Assistant-Secretary Crowell
78
THE DIVISION OF NEWS
at once, and asked the reason for the sudden and astonish-
ing change in plans. Boiled down, this was the explana-
tion given : The German spies, reading the printed casualty
lists, would proceed at once to the home and there, under
some pretense, worm out of the family the unit to which
the soldier belonged. Then the spy would transmit the
information to Berlin and Berlin would then send it to the
front, thus acquainting the German generals with the
character of the American troops that faced them.
As we pointed out, why should the Germans adopt this
tedious, roundabout method when a trench raid would give
them the same information in a night? And even if we
granted the absurd contention that there were .enough
German spies in America to visit homes in every city,
how would they convey then* information to Germany?
Assistant-Secretary Crowell ended the discussion by the
brusk declaration that the military authorities were in
possession of conclusive proof that Berlin received American
news within twenty-four hours of its publication. Unable
to secure any modification of the order, and deeply con-
vinced that it was as stupid as it was cruel, the Committee
refused to issue casualty lists in the new form.
For a full year the press had thundered at the Committee
as an "agency of repression," yet now, when we were
standing for a sane and proper publicity, the papers de-
scribed a virtuous roundabout, and attacked the Com-
mittee for its "impudent presumption" in daring to ques-
tion the War Department's efforts to safeguard the military
secrets of America.
The Committee stood by its position, and I deemed the
matter of sufficient gravity to carry it to the President
himself. I cited hundreds of cases of families needlessly
torn by anguish and told of the avalanche of telephone-
calls and telegrams from all parts of the country. In ad-
dition to this I insisted that the War Department should
79
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
produce its proof that German spies in tnis country were
in communication regularly with Berlin. Grudgingly
enough, the alleged proof was brought forward and was
seen to be the desired publication in German papers of
news of American effort designed to weaken German
morale by steady hammering on the inevitability of Ger-
man defeat from the growing American force news that
the Committee itself had sent to Holland and which our
representative in The Hague had managed to slip into
Germany past the censorship.
In five minutes the whole Crowell contention was shown
to be the last word in absurdity, and the President ordered
a return to the former method that gave the home address
and the next of kin
Such conditions inevitably made the Division of News
a storm-center, and the fact that it rode the waves to suc-
cess is in itself the best commentary upon the devotions
and abilities of the men who were called upon to direct this
most important department of the Committee's endeavor.
It was Mr. Sisson who gave form and purpose to the
division, organizing the machinery to operate the volun-
tary censorship, as well as gathering and training the or-
ganization for news collection and distribution. Passing
time compelled many changes, but they were in detail
only, for Mr. Sisson built on the solid rock of common
sense, justice, efficiency, and impartiality. L. Ames Brown,
the Washington writer and newspaper man, was the first
director of the division, and, when transferred to inaugurate
a new line of work, was succeeded by Mr. J. W. McConaghy,
who left his position in the New York newspaper field to
serve with us. He brought energy and ideas, and during
his regime the scope of the work was broadened materially.
Mr. McConaghy, drafted by the Foreign Section to make
a survey of the Central-American countries, was succeeded
by Mr. Leigh Reilly, formerly managing editor of The
80
THE DIVISION OF NEWS
Chicago Record-Herald, a man of rich experience and highest
standing in the newspaper profession. He bore the great
burden of the summer and autumn of 1918, and the credit
for efficiency in the period of supreme stress is his.
As far as the work itself was concerned, the two most
important tasks were in connection with the army and the
navy, for these afforded not only the bulk of the news, but
it was the news that dealt with the importances of life
and death. With respect to the navy, we were fortunate
at the very outset in securing the services of John Wilbur
Jenkins, dean of the Baltimore newspaper fraternity, for
in his indefatigable little body he coupled an invincible
placidity with amazing steadfastness. Storms might break
upon him and every wind of confusion roar about him, but
when the sun came out again it was invariably the case
that John Wilbur was to be seen plugging along at his
original task, serene and unchanged. He won the respect
of every naval official, and this relationship was no small
factor in promoting the success of a working arrangement
bound up with so many prejudices and decisions.
It was Secretary Daniels himself, however, who made
the Committee's contacts with the navy as effective as
they were pleasant, for, more than any other high official
in Washington, save the President, he had common sense
and abiding faith in straightforward truth-telling. He
wanted the people to know, and in every dispute his de-
cision was always on the side of openness. Admiral Benson
early caught the spirit of the Committee's endeavor, and
gave it confidence and undeviating support. Admiral
Earle, Admiral Taylor, and Admiral Palmer were also
our honored helpers.
The War Department was no such easy problem. In-
finitely more huge and complex than the navy, it bubbled
new activities each day, all far-reaching, and each one a
mass of delicate detail. First we "tried out" Hey wood
81
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Brown, of The New York Tribune, but he returned to his
paper in a short while, and we then reached forth and
plucked Wallace Irwin away from his prose and poetry.
While his bodily strength lasted the brilliance of his work
was equaled only by his personal popularity, but he didn't
last long enough. There was no question as to the drudgery
of the position, but what really brought about his col-
lapse was worry. Strangely enough for a poet and novel-
ist, Wallace had an ingrowing conscience, and after work-
ing eighteen hours a day he spent the remaining six fretting
over sins of omission. As a consequence, he took to his
bed one fine day, and an indignant wife transported him
to New York "beyond our clutches."
At that time Marlen Pew was running The Editor and
Publisher, and before that was one of the "star men" of
the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Of all the field,
he looked the best, and there was never occasion to regret
the choice. Every inch a progressive, with an insistent
belief in the right of the people to have the facts, he had
the courage of his very intense convictions, and he finished
his service with the proud record of never having lost a
battle with red tape or mossbackism. He created a ma-
chinery that functioned with almost automatic precision,
even winning the reluctant admiration of the Washington
correspondents to such a degree that they asked its con-
tinuance when the Committee abandoned the work after
the armistice. Mr. Arthur Crawford, formerly of The
Chicago Herald, looked after the Quartermaster's Depart-
ment; Mr. Edwin Newdick, who came to us from The
Christian Science Monitor, worked with the Surgeon-
General; Mr. Carl H. Butman covered the Aircraft Board;
and other representatives in other divisions of the War
Department were Mr. Livy Richards of Boston and Mr.
John Calvin Mellet, formerly with the International News
Service.
82
THE DIVISION OF NEWS
Other branches of the government were no less well
served by newspaper men of the same high character and
proved ability. Mr. Archibald Mattingly, Mr. Charles
P. Sweeney, Mr. Garrard Harris, and Mr. E. H. Hitch-
cock measured up to every demand of their difficult posi-
tions, contributing materially to the achievement of the
division.
Mr. Kenneth Durant and Mr. Charles Willoughby,
dividing the duties of the reference-desk, had difficult posi-
tions, for it was was to them that inquiries came. Hour in
and hour out, they answered them with ability, patience,
fairness, and never-failing tact.
Even to-day, when I review the work of the Division
of News in critical dispassion, I thrill to the sheer wonder
of the achievement. Here was a brand-new organization,
called to do a brand-new thing, assembled under highest
pressure and driven at top speed at all times, and yet its
record for accuracy is without parallel in the annals of
news-gathering. During the eighteen months of existence
it cleared all of the official war news of government, issuing
more than six thousand releases. Every one of these re-
leases ran the gantlet of incessant and hostile scrutiny,
yet only three were ever subjected to direct attack on the
score of inaccuracy. 1 In two of these cases the Committee
was justified by investigation, while the fault in the third
instance was that of a high official whose word could not
be questioned.
Chapters 3 and 4.
VII
THE FOUR MINUTE MEN
f 1 1 HERE was nothing more time- wasting than the flood
J. of people that poured into Washington during the war,
each burdened with some wonderful suggestion that could
be imparted only to an executive head. Even so, all of
them had to be seen, for not only was it their right as
citizens, but it was equally the case that the idea might have
real value. Many of our best suggestions came from the
most unlikely sources.
In the very first hours of the Committee, when we were
still penned in the navy library, fighting for breath, a hand-
some, rosy-cheeked youth burst through the crowd and
caught my lapel in a death-grip. His name was Donald
Ryerson. He confessed to Chicago as his home, and the
plan that he presented was the organization of volunteer
speakers for the purpose of making patriotic talks in motion-
picture theaters. He had tried out the scheme in Chicago,
and the success of the venture had catapulted him on the
train to Washington and to me.
Being driven to the breaking-point has certain compen-
sations, after all. It forces one to think quickly and con-
fines thought largely to the positive values of a suggestion
rather than future difficulties. Had I had the time to
weigh the proposition from every angle, it may be that I
would have decided against it, for it was delicate and dan-
gerous business to turn loose on the country an army of
84
WILLIAM I INGERSOLL
WILLIAM McCoRMicx BLAIR E. T. GUNDLACH
THE FOUR MINUTE MEN
speakers impossible of exact control and yet vested in
large degree with the authority of the government. In
ten minutes we had decided upon a national organization
to be called the "Four Minute Men," and Mr. Ryerson
rushed out with my appointment as its director.
When the armistice brought activities to a conclusion
the Four Minute Men numbered 75,000 speakers, more
than 7,555,190 speeches had been made, and a fair estimate
of audiences makes it certain that a total of 134,454,514
people had been addressed. Notwithstanding the nature
of the work, the infinite chances for blunder and bungle,
this unique and effective agency functioned from first to
last with only one voice ever raised to attack its faith and
efficiency. As this voice was that of Senator Sherman of
Illinois, this attack is justly to be set down as part of the
general praise.
The form of presentation decided upon was a glass slide
to be thrown on the theater-curtain, and worded as follows:
4 MINUTE MEN 4
(Copyright, 1917. Trade-mark.)
(Insert name of speaker)
will speak four minutes on a subject
of national importance. He speaks
under the authority of
THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION
GEORGE CREEL, CHAIRMAN
WASHINGTON, D. C.
A more difficult decision was as to the preparation of the
matter to be sent out to speakers. We did not want
stereotyped oratory, and yet it was imperative to guard
against the dangers of unrestraint. It was finally agreed
85
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
that regular bulletins should be issued, each containing
a budget of material covering every phase of the question
to be discussed, and also including two or three illustrative
four-minute speeches. Mr. Waldo P. Warren of Chicago
was chosen to write the first bulletin, and when he was
called away his duties fell upon E. T. Gundlach, also of
Chicago, the patriotic head of an advertising agency.
These bulletins, however, prepared in close and continued
consultation with the proper officials of each government
department responsible for them, were also gone over
carefully by Professor Ford and his scholars.
The idea, from the very first, had the sweep of a prairie
fire. Speakers volunteered by the thousand in every state,
the owners of the motion-picture houses, after a first
natural hesitancy, gave exclusive privileges to the or-
ganization, and the various government departments fairly
clamored for the services of the Four Minute Men. The
following list of bulletins will show the wide range of topics :
TOPIC PERIOD
Universal Service by Selective Draft. May 12-21, 1917
First Liberty Loan May 22-June 15, 1917
Red Cross June 18-25, 1917
Organization
Food Conservation July 1-14, 1917
Why We Are Fighting July 23-Aug. 5, 1917
The Nation in Arms Aug. 6-26, 1917
The Importance of Speed Aug. 19-26, 1917
What Our Enemy Really Is Aug. 27-Sept. 23, 1917
Unmasking German Propaganda .... Aug. 27-Sept. 23, 1917
(supplementary topic)
Onward to Victory Sept. 24-Oct. 27, 1917
Second Liberty Loan Oct. 8-28, 1917
Food Pledge Oct. 29-Nov. 4, 1917
Maintaining Morals and Morale. . . .Nov. 12-25, 1917
Carrying the Message Nov. 26-Dec. 22, 1917
War Savings Stamps Jan. 2-19, 1918
The Shipbuilder Jan 28-Feb. 9, 1918
THE FOUR MINUTE MEN
TOPIC PERIOD
Eyes for the Navy Feb. 11-16, 1918
The Danger to Democracy Feb. 18-Mar. 10, 1918
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Feb. 12, 1918
The Income Tax Mar. 11-16, 1918
Farm and Garden Mar. 25-30, 1918
President Wilson's Letter to Theaters. Mar. 31-Apr. 5, 1918
Third Liberty Loan Apr. 6-May 4, 1918
Organization (Republished Apr. 23, 1918)
Second Red Cross Campaign May 13-25, 1918
Danger to America May 27-June 12, 1918
Second War Savings Campaign June 24-28, 1918
The Meaning of America June 29- July 27, 1918
Mobilizing America's Man Power. . .July 29-Aug. 17, 1918
Where Did You Get Your Facts?.. . .Aug. 26-Sept. 7, 1918
Certificates to Theater Members Sept. 9-14, 1918
Register Sept. 5-12, 1918
Four Minute Singing For general use
Fourth Liberty Loan Sept. 28-Oct. 19, 1918
Food Program for 1919 Changed to Dec. 1-7; final-
ly canceled
Fire Prevention Oct. 27-Nov. 2, 1918
United War Work Campaign Nov. 3-18, 1918
Red Cross Home Service Dec. 7, 1918
What Have We Won? Dec. 8-14, 1918
Red Cross Christmas Roll Call Dec. 15-23, 1918
A Tribute to the Allies Dec. 24, 1918
Almost from the first the organization had the projectile
force of a French "75," and it was increasingly the case
that government department heads turned to the Four
Minute Men when they wished to arouse the nation swiftly
and effectively. At a time when the Third Liberty Loan
was lagging, President Wilson bought a fifty-dollar bond
and challenged the men and women of the nation to
"match" it. The Treasury Department asked the Com-
mittee to broadcast the message, and paid for the telegrams
that went out to the state and county chairmen. Within
a few days fifty thousand Four Minute Men were de-
87
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
livering the challenge to the people of every community
in the United States, and the loan took a leap that carried
it over the top. General Crowder followed the same plan
in his registration campaign, putting up the money for
the telegrams that went to the state and county chair-
men, and, like Secretary McAdoo, he obtained the same
swift service and instant results.
In June Mr. Ryerson left the Committee to take his
commission in the navy. The soul of honor and loyalty
and patriotism, and a dynamo of intelligent energy, the
only thing that lessened the blow of his departure was that
William McCormick Blair of Chicago, one of the origi-
nators of the idea, volunteered to build up a nation-wide
organization. There was nothing easy about the task, for it
demanded drudgery as well as vision, patience as well as
drive, and high ability as well as patriotism. That Mr.
Blair met these demands stands proved by the success
of the Four Minute Men. No one ever saw him weary
or discouraged, and his indomitable enthusiasm was at all
times a source of inspiration to the Committee as a
whole.
The first plan of an organization was the appointment of
chairmen according to Federal Reserve districts, but this
soon changed to organization by states, by counties, by
cities, and even down to wards and townships. In every
state the interest of the governor was enlisted, likewise the
close co-operation of the State Council of Defense. Mr.
Blair called to his side to serve on a National Advisory
Council such men as William H. Ingersoll of "Ingersoll
watch" fame, Prof. S. H. Clark of the University of
Chicago, Samuel Hopkins Adams, the author, and "Mac"
Martin of Minneapolis, and the work went forward until
it reached from coast to coast. Philip L. Dodge volunteered
to organize the New England States, Curtiss Nicholson
went through the South, and Bertram G. Nelson, professor
88
THE FOUR MINUTE MEN
of public speaking at the University of Chicago, journeyed
from city to city, gathering the Four Minute Men in
each locality for instruction in the art of "putting talks
across." These, men, together with Mr. Gundlach and Mr.
Thomas J. Meek, also served as associate directors.
The speakers in every case received their authority and
appointment from the chairmen of the local branches of the
organization, who, in turn, were appointed through the
state chairman or direct from headquarters at Washington.
Each local chairman was registered at once in Washington.
The original method of organizing a local branch was as
follows: The written indorsement of three prominent citi-
zens bankers, professional or business men written on
their own stationery in a prescribed official form, was re-
quired for the nomination of a local chairman. These in-
dorsements were forwarded to headquarters in Washing-
ton, together with the proper form of application for
authority to form a local branch, with the privilege of
representing the government, in which application the
number of speakers available was stated, in order that
material might be forwarded promptly in case the appli-
cation was approved.
There was pathos as well as humor in many of the in-
cidental happenings. Men of the most unlikely sort had
the deep conviction that they were William J. Bryans,
and when rejected by local organizations many of them
traveled clear to Washington for the purpose of delivering
a four-minute speech to me in order that I might see for
myself the full extent of the injustice to which they had
been subjected. Constant changes had to be made in
the interests of improvement, and every elimination held
its due portion of hurt. Through an effective system of
inspection, Mr. Blair managed to keep in touch with each
community, and the ax fell heavily whenever a speaker
failed to hold his audiences, or injected the note of par-
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
tizanship, or else proved himself lacking in restraint or good
manners.
As the organization grew, there came increasing pressure
to widen the scope of activities. Compelled to pinch pen-
nies and harassed at all times by lack of adequate funds,
we resisted expansion instead of encouraging it, but it
was not long until the new demands "ran over us," as
it were, giving us the choice between growth or dis-
integration. Even so, each new step was considered
carefully, and subjected to every possible restraint and
supervision.
National arrangements were made to have Four Minute
Men appear at the meetings of lodges, fraternal organiza-
tions, and labor unions, and this work progressed swiftly.
In most cases these speakers were selected from the mem-
bership of the organizations to whom they spoke.
Under the authority of state lecturers of granges, four-
minute messages, based upon the official bulletins, were
given also at all meetings of the granges in many states.
The work was next extended to reach the lumber-camps of
the country, some five hundred organizations being formed
in such communities. Indian reservations were also taken
in, and furnished some of the largest and most enthusiastic
audiences.
The New York branch organized a church department to
present four-minute speeches in churches, synagogues, and
Sunday-schools. The idea spread from city to city, from
state to state, and proved of particular value in rural com-
munities. Some of the states, acting under authority from
headquarters, organized women's divisions to bring the
messages of the government to audiences at matinee per-
formances in the motion-picture theaters, and to the mem-
bers of women's clubs and other similar organizations.
College Four Minute Men were organized, under in-
structors acting as chairmen, to study the regular Four
90
THE FOUR MINUTE MEN
Minute Men bulletins, and practise speaking upon the
subjects thereof, each student being required to deliver
at least one four-minute speech to the student body during
the semester, in addition to securing satisfactory credits,
in order to qualify as a Four Minute Man. This work was
organized in 153 colleges.
At the request of the War Department, bulletins similar
to those published for the use of the Four Minute Men were
produced by national headquarters, to be used by company
commanders in many cantonments throughout the country
in preparing short talks to their men on the causes and
issues of the war. The following campaigns of the kind were
conducted to the complete satisfaction of the War Depart-
ment, as expressed in its official report on the subject:
1. Why We Are Fighting. January 2, 1918.
2. Insurance for Soldiers and Sailors. February 1, 1918.
3. Back of the Trenches. April 6, 1918.
As a matter of fact, we went far beyond the request
and furnished hundreds of officers with the regular Four
Minute Men bulletins as well as with the Committee's
pamphlets. All were expected to make "morale talks"
to their men, yet nothing was done to aid them, and the
publications of the Committee were their one hope.
The Junior Four Minute Men was an expansion that
proved to be almost as important as the original idea, for
the youngsters of the country rallied with a whoop, and,
what was more to the point, gave results as well as en-
thusiasm. Like so many other activities of the Committee,
the Junior movement was more accidental than planned.
At the request of the state of Minnesota the Washington
office prepared a special War Savings Stamps bulletin. Re-
sults were so instant and remarkable that the idea had to
91
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
be carried to other states, more than a million and a half
copies of the bulletin being distributed to school-children
during the campaign. Out of it all came the Junior Four
Minute Men as a vital and integral part of the Committee
on Public Information.
It was our cautious fear, at first, that regular school- work
might be interrupted, but it soon developed that the idea
had real educational value, helping teachers in their task
instead of hindering. The general plan was for the teacher
to explain the subject, using the bulletin as a text-book,
and the children then wrote their speeches and submitted
them to the teacher or principal. The best were selected
and delivered as speeches or were read. In a few cases
extemporaneous talks were given.
Details of the contests were left largely to the discretion
of the teachers. In small schools there was generally one
contest for the whole school. In schools of more than five
or six classes it was usual to have separate contests for
the higher and lower classes, and sometimes for each grade.
There were many different ways of conducting these con-
tests. Sometimes they were considered as a regular part
of the school-work and were held in the class-room with no
outsiders present, but more often they were made special
events, the entire school, together with parents and other
visitors, being present. Both boys and girls were eligible
and the winners were given an official certificate from the
government, commissioning them as four-minute speakers
upon the specified topic of the contest.
Following the War Savings Stamps contest came the
Third Liberty Loan contest of April 6 to May 4, 1917.
A million copies of this bulletin were published and were
sent directly to the schools from the stencils of the United
States Bureau of Education in Washington. About two
hundred thousand schools in all parts of the country were
reached in this way. The same plan of distribution was
92
THE FOUR MINUTE MEN
used for the Junior Fourth Liberty Loan contest, and for
the Junior Red Cross Christmas roll-call, and these two
bulletins were published in connection with the School
Service bulletin, which was then going out from the Com-
mittee twice monthly to all schools on this list.
Another innovation, forced by a general demand, was
the addition of four-minute singing to the work. People
seemed to want to exercise their voices in moments of
patriotism, so a bulletin of specially selected songs was
prepared and issued. The various chairmen appointed
song-leaders, to take charge of motion-picture-theater
audiences, and the venture was a success from the first.
In the summer of 1918 Mr. Blair resigned to enter an
officers' training-camp, but again the Committee was for-
tunate in having a successor at hand. Mr. William H.
Ingersoll, a member of the Advisory Council since 1917,
put his own business to one side entirely, and poured the
full flood of his splendid energy into the task laid down by
Mr. Blair. To the three leaders Ryerson, Blair, and
Ingersoll must go all credit for the remarkable record of
accomplishment.
To summarize: Exact reports, covering approximately
one-half of the full activities of the organization, give a
total of 505,190 four-minute speeches made to audiences
totaling 202,454,514 people. This total does not cover the
six campaigns from October 27, 1918, to the closing date
of December 24th, nor does it include the first campaigns
from May 22 to October 27, 1917. At a very reasonable
estimate, these first campaigns added 40,000,000 to the
total audience reached and not less than 70,000 to the
number of speeches delivered, while the final six campaigns
added certainly not less than 72,000,000 to the total audi-
ence and 180,000 to the number of speeches. Adding these
conservative estimates to the above incomplete reports,
the following results are shown:
93
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Number of speeches given 755,190
Total audience 314,454,514
A very reasonable allowance for the considerable number
of communities from which incomplete or no reports were
received justifies an estimate of final totals of a million
speeches heard by 400,000,000 individuals during the
eighteen months' life of the organization an average of
about 28,000 speeches, reaching more than 11,000,000
people, during each of the 36 distinct campaigns covered
by the 46 bulletins.
And let it be borne in mind that these were no haphazard
talks by nondescripts, but the careful, studied, and re-
hearsed efforts of the best men in each community, each
speech aimed as a rifle is aimed, and driving to its mark
with the precision of a bullet. History should, and will,
pay high tribute to the Four Minute Men, an organization
unique in world annals, and as effective in the battle
at home as was the onward rush of Pershing's heroes at
St. Mihiel.
It was, and is to-day, our proud claim that no other war
organization, with the exception of the Food Commission,
paid such large returns on a small investment as the Com-
mittee on Public Information. The policy of almost nig-
gardly economy, forced upon us by the enmity of Congress,
compelled us to beg running expenses from individuals, as
well as the gift of time and specialized ability. Men and
women, coming to us with their offers of volunteer effort,
were not only drained of their energy, but were actually
induced to go into their pockets for cash contributions to
carry on the work. This was true of many divisions, but
it was peculiarly true in the case of the Four Minute Men.
Here, for instance, are the amounts expended from presi-
dential and Congressional appropriations:
94
THE FOUR MINUTE MEN
June, 1917-
June, 1918
July-Dec.,
1918
Totals
Salaries
$24,033 04
$18,711 96
$42 745 00
Printing .
29,107 06
7,344 82
36,451 88
Slides . .
7,300 08
7,300 68
Traveling .
4,942 09
1,000 00
5,942 09
General ....
5,856 90
3,258 55
9,115 45
Total
$71,239 77
$30,315 33
$101,555 10
What a showing! A national organization covering the
country like a blanket with a maximum membership of
75,000, working day in and day out, and conducted for a
year and a half at an expense of scarcely more than $100,-
000. Each state director and each local chairman had to
maintain his own office, as the Committee allowed nothing
for such expenses. Each speaker gave not only his time,
but had to foot his own bills, no matter what the amount.
These contributions, figured below, have been recorded
exactly wherever possible, and in other cases have been
estimated very carefully from accurate data.
Actual expenses of state director's offices $ 177,090
Expenses of local chairmen's offices; estimated at $10
monthly for the known average number of chairmen
(4,422 averaged over the entire eighteen months'
period) 795,960
Expenses of individual speakers, averaging ten speak-
ers to the chairman and allowing for each speaker
$2 monthly for all traveling and incidental expenses . 1,591,920
Total of contributed expenses $2,564,970
Thus it may be seen that the established amounts ex-
pended from voluntary contributions were more than
95
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
twenty-five times the expenditures from the official ap-
propriations.
These figures, however, are only part of the story. It
is, of course, impossible to set an adequate monetary
valuation upon services contributed so generously and so
patriotically as were those of all the Four Minute Men,
the motion-picture theaters, newspapers, churches, granges,
lodges, labor unions, and other agencies which furthered
the work. It is possible, however, and eminently proper
to put into some concrete and tangible form the material
value of this work in relation to the actual cost thereof to
the government.
It would not be reasonable to set a lower valuation than
four dollars on the delivery of a four-minute speech, re-
quiring the most painstaking and exact preparation and
unusual skill in condensation and forcefulness of delivery.
Not with any suggestion of undervaluing the inestimable
co-operation of the theaters and other places in which
speeches were delivered, but rather with a view to the
most thorough conservatism, we will estimate a "rental
value" for the delivery of each speech at one half the
speakers' rate.
In addition to the messages brought to the people by
means of the spoken word, the Four Minute Men secured
for the government publicity worth at least three-quarters
of a million dollars. Articles containing the pith of each
bulletin were sent out from headquarters and released
through local chairmen and publicity managers in thou-
sands of communities for use in the local papers.
The average number of press clippings received at head-
quarters from a single clipping bureau, covering only the
larger newspapers of the country, was 873 a month, or
more than 15,000 during the eighteen months' life of the
organization. These clippings averaged certainly not less
than 60 lines each, totaling 900,000 lines, which at a low
96
THE FOUR MINUTE MEN
rate for this type of publicity, if purchased, would have
cost $225,000.
Hundreds of newspapers mailed to headquarters from
the smaller towns indicate that much larger space was
consistently devoted to the government message in these
places, while during the ban on public meetings, due to the
influenza epidemic, newspapers in all parts of the country
devoted sufficient space to carry daily four-minute mes-
sages prepared for them by members of the organization.
It is extremely conservative to estimate the total value
of all this publicity at $750,000.
A summary of all these items gives the following figures:
Contributed expenditures $2,564,970
One million speeches at $4 each 4,000,000
"Rent" of theaters, etc., to deliver above 2,000,000
Speeches (331) of traveling speakers 8,275
Publicity contributed by press 750,000
Grand total $9,313,245
All this on a government investment of $101,555.10.
No less an official than the President of the United States
returned the thanks of the government to the Four Minute
Men, and who shall say that the following tribute, impelled
by sincere conviction, was not deserved:
THE WHITE HOUSE,
WASHINGTON, November 29, 1918.
To all the Four Minute Men of the Committee on Public Information:
I have read with real interest the report of your activities, and
I wish to express my sincere appreciation of the value to the
government of your effective and inspiring efforts. It is a re-
markable record of patriotic accomplishment that an organiza-
tion of 75,000 speakers should have carried on so extensive
a work at a cost to the government of little more than $100,000
97
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
for the eighteen months' period less than $1 yearly on an
individual basis. Each member of your organization, in receiving
honorable discharge from the service, may justly feel a glow of
proper pride in the part that he has played in holding fast the
inner lines. May I say that I, personally, have always taken the
deepest and most sympathetic interest in your work, and have
noted, from time to time, the excellent results you have procured
for the various departments of the government. Now that this
work has come to its conclusion and the name of the Four Minute
Men (which I venture to hope will not be used henceforth by
any similar organization) has become a part of the history of
the Great War, I would not willingly omit my heartfelt testimony
to its great value to the country, and indeed to civilization as
a whole, during our period of national trial and triumph. I shall
always keep in memory the patriotic co-operation and assistance
accorded me throughout this period and shall remain deeply
and sincerely grateful to all who, like yourselves, have aided so
nobly in the achievement of our aims.
Cordially and sincerely yours,
WOODROW WILSON.
VIII
THE FIGHT FOR THE MIND OF MANKIND
DURING the Congressional hearing on our budget,
which resolved itself into a searching inquiry into the
work of the Committee, one of the Representatives asked
if I did not think that the spectacle of American boys
sailing for France was sufficient in itself to rouse the people
of America. I answered that this very fact of departure
for military service in a foreign land made it more impera-
tive than ever that there should be a fundamental under-
standing of the causes of the war and of the absolute justice
of America's position. A wave of national feeling might
carry us into the war and national passions and hatred
might whip us on, but froth and dregs would be the only
ultimate result. Such methods might carry a mob a city
block to tear something down, but they would not bear a
self-determining democracy along the road of travail and
uttermost sacrifice for great ideals. Could we count on a
national understanding of such ideals? Could we be sure
that a hundred million the fathers, the mothers, the
children of America, alien born and native alike under-
stood well enough so that they would support one loan after
another, would bear new burdens of taxation and send
wave after wave of America's young manhood to die in
Flanders fields?
That the nation felt dimly that great issues were at
stake was clear, but was it gripped by a conviction that
99
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
those issues and their proper solutions were bound up with
the permanent safety of America here and now and for-
ever? It would have been blindness to assume such an
understanding. Throughout our two and a half years of
neutrality there had waged a daily battle of controversy,
with press and public men alike divided. Some labored
to range us at once on the side of the Allies, and another
vigorous group, skilfully organized and cleverly directed,
strenuously defended the Imperial German government.
Public opinion was without shape and force. The country
was in a state of mind in which it accepted the war and said,
"The President has been patient; we are behind him;
we are patriotic; and we fear a great danger." But the
life-and-death character of the struggle was not under-
stood. We felt that it had to be brought home to them as
a matter of definite intellectual conviction. We wanted
to reach the people through their minds, rather than
through their emotions, for hate has its undesirable re-
actions. We wanted to do it, not by over-emphasis of
historical appeal, but by unanswerable arguments that
would make every man and woman know that the war was
a war of self-defense that had to be waged if free institu-
tions were not to perish.
How? There was no precedent to guide us; the ground
was unbroken. The various belligerents had issued White
Books, Yellow Books, and Blue Books, made up almost
entirely of state papers. The publication of diplomatic
documents covering our relations with Germany seemed,
therefore, the eminently respectable, safe, and accepted
thing to do. With the co-operation of the State Depart-
ment, we began the project, Arthur Bullard being assigned
to the task of selecting the documents. The farther we
went the more it seemed clear that we would be firing
very heavy ammunition, with the chance of a large per-
centage of such bulky volumes being "duds."
100
THE FIGHT FOR THE MIND OF MANKIND
Big books were not what we wanted, and long, tedious
state papers were not what we needed. Abruptly abandon-
ing the original idea that dealt with archives and formal
documents, we decided to go in for "popular pamphleteer-
ing." What faced us, therefore, was the problem of pro-
ceeding systematically with the work, of doing it with
accuracy, with thorough scholarship, and with a full sense
that what we put out would have the authority and re-
sponsibility of a government publication. Billiard was
needed in the Foreign Section, so what we had to look
for was a university man, the practised historian, the writer
skilled in investigation, one who knew America and Eu-
rope equally well. It was at this moment that there -came
into my hands a pamphlet containing a patriotic address
given out in Minnesota by one Guy Stanton Ford. I
have rarely read anything that made a more instant im-
pression, for it had beauty without sacrifice of force, sim-
plicity, remarkable sequence, and obvious knowledge of
every detail of America's spiritual progress. I made in-
quiries at once and found that Ford was head of the His-
tory Department of the University of Minnesota and
Dean of the Graduate School, and before that a professor
of Modern European History at the University of Illinois
after five years as an instructor at Yale. I wired him that
he was "drafted" and to report immediately. Here again
the value of quick decision was proved, for I would have
wasted months in search without finding any one so ad-
mirably fitted by temperament and training for the im-
portant position to which Professor Ford was called.
We were now prepared to initiate our first publication.
Here we had a great advantage over similar organizations
in England or other countries that had been drawn into
the war. That advantage lay in the clear and moving
address of President Wilson on April 2, 1917, before the
Congress. A group of men at the University of Minnesota,
8 101
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
headed by Prof. W. S. Davis of the Department of History,
set to work under Dean Ford's direction on the annotation
of that message, with the essential facts swept together in
the broad compass of the President's eloquent presentation.
The work was quickly and skilfully done and happily
gaged for easy comprehension and thorough conviction.
What should we do as to printing and distribution? We
studied the newspaper directories and estimated that we
could reach the press of the country with an edition of
twenty thousand. Then we would see and we did see.
The press seized it and the consequent publicity over-
whelmed us. The first day's mail was delivered to Professor
Ford and his one clerk in a peach-basket. The next day
there were two bushels of letters asking for copies. They
came from all ranks and kinds of people; from boys going
to the Officers' Reserve Training Camps, from fathers and
mothers whose sons were going into service from farms and
shops, banks and schools. One city superintendent wired
for fifteen thousand so that it might go into every home in
a community largely of foreign-born. As long as the war
lasted the demand for the annotated war address of the
President kept steadily up and the final figures at the end
of our work were two and a half millions of this pamphlet
alone.
When, with the aid of the Government Printing Office, we
had dug ourselves out of this rush, we turned at once to
the masterly introduction that Arthur Bullard had written
to the proposed W r hite Book. It was just the exposition of
America's cause that was needed. It dealt with the two
great American traditions, the Monroe Doctrine and the
Freedom of the Seas. It explained the American effort
to substitute arbitration for bloodshed; it followed the
purposes and hopes of our neutrality from beginning to
end, analyzed every note in the diplomatic exchange that
marked our effort to keep the peace, and chronicled faith-
102
THE FIGHT FOR THE MIND OF MANKIND
fully the bad faith of the Imperial German government, its
intrigue in the United States, the course of the submarine
warfare in fact, it was a simple, straightforward story
based upon the facts and ideals of America.
In authoritative judgment it stands to-day as the most
moderate, reasoned, and permanent pamphlet put out by
any government engaged in the war. And the way it was
prepared was a cheering demonstration of citizens of a
democracy doing its own defending and defining of its
ideals. Bullard had the laboring oar, and the body of this
anonymous pamphlet bears the imprint of his facile pen
and clear brain. Sisson and Ford and I reviewed it after
Ernest Poole had cast it into a popular form. Professors
Shot well of Columbia and Becker of Cornell, who were in
Washington on the National Board for Historical Service,
shaped up certain points more sharply and judiciously.
Then Secretary Lansing and, ultimately, President Wilson
himself went over it and approved. It went forth under the
title, How the War Came to America, the first of a proud
series the Red, W T hite, and Blue books. We printed
fifty thousand, but this time we were better prepared for
the public demand that ultimately carried the circulation
to six and a quarter millions in English and in translations.
Some of the great dailies issued it as a Sunday supplement,
and others in every part of the country ran it serially.
It was one pamphlet we could never let go out of print.
With these two pamphlets fairly swamping the Govern-
ment Printing Office, we felt more clearly than ever that
we were right in judging the need of the country for
information clearly put with a sound scholarship behind
every statement. Three series of pamphlets were ultimately
decided on the Red, White, and Blue books, the War
Information series, and the Loyalty leaflets. It was further
decided that we would develop our own machinery for
printing and distribution, as the Government Printing Office
103
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
was overburdened and unable to keep pace with our de-
mands. Our own frank and envelopes were more certain
of securing attention than the too familiar Congressional
frank, which many members willingly put at our disposal.
I can only indicate the method pursued in issuing the
several series. When the pamphlet was decided upon in
conferences, the next question was the proper man, or
men, to handle its preparation, and these men were then
telegraphed a request to come to Washington. In no
instance was there a refusal to serve, and not only is it
my privilege to pay a high tribute to the devotion of
individuals, but also to the patriotism of the universities,
who loaned members of their faculties generously and whole-
heartedly. The writers were given only one simple direc-
tion, and that was to do their work so that they would not
be ashamed of it twenty years later. When the pamphlet
was finished it was submitted to a general examination
and then referred to the various divisions of government
for checking, and it is my pride to be able to say that in
all the mass of matter issued by Professor Ford's division,
dealing with thousands of facts, only one public charge
of misstatement was ever voiced and this was followed
by an apology.
In the various series we set before ourselves three main
aims: The first was to make America's own purposes and
ideals clear both to ourselves and to the world, whether
ally or enemy. The sane execution of this purpose, in-
volving a presentation of what this great experiment in
democracy meant to its own people and to all forward-
looking peoples, had greater implications than the war
needs of the moment. Through war the menace of
autocracy made us conscious that here in the Western
World we were following ideals that made us one with other
great peoples and that separated us from the four in Middle
Europe by a wide gulf. What we had accepted as unchal-
104
THE FIGHT FOR THE MIND OF MANKIND
lenged had to be redefined as well for the Brahmin of the
Back Bay as for the Bolshevist of the Ghetto. When I
think of the many voices that were heard before the war
and are still heard, interpreting America from a class or
sectional or selfish standpoint, I am not sure that, if the
war had to come, it did not come at the right time for the
preservation and reinterpretation of American ideals. A
few years earlier would have found us still too absorbed
in the problems of a frontier nation, too provincial to have
responded unitedly to the world's cry of distress, too con-
fident that the Atlantic was a barrier and not a hand. A
decade or two later it might have found us unconsciously
stratified in our own social organization and thinking,
the prison-walks of class consciousness shutting out the
visions of our nation's youth, with something too much
gone of that abounding faith in ourselves and our institu-
tions that had been our heritage from the eighteenth cen-
tury, preserved by the pioneers and nation-builders of the
fading Western frontiers.
Coming when it did, it found us ready to respond with
the self-abandon of youth to great visions, and to direct
our policies and weigh our actions with the ripened wisdom
of maturity. President Wilson and his ultimate place in
American history may now be a subject of debate, but
there is one service that rises above the issues of war and
partizanship, and that is that, in this transition period, of
which the war made us conscious, he spoke the language
of the New American instinct with the spirit of all our
past history and traditions.
In this first series on our aims and purposes may be
listed, How the War Came to America, The Battle Line of
Democracy, War Labor and Peace, Some Recent Addresses
of the President, all in the Red, White, and Blue series. In
the War Information series, the War Message and Facts
Behind It, The Nation in Arms (two addresses by Secre-
105
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
taries Lane and Baker); The Great War: From Spectator
to Participant, by Prof. A. C. McLaughlin of Chicago;
American Loyalty by American Citizens of German Descent,
Lieber and Schurz, and American Interest in Popular Gov-
ernment Abroad, both by Prof. Evarts B. Greene of the
University of Illinois; American and Allied Ideals, by Prof.
Stuart P. Sherman of the University of Illinois; The War
for Peace, compiled by Arthur D. Coll, secretary of the
American Peace Society; and America's War Aims and
Peace Terms, by Prof. Carl Becker of Cornell University.
In the Loyalty leaflets could be counted Judge Buffington's
Friendly Words to Foreign Born; Labor and the War, by
Prof. John R. Commons of Wisconsin; and Plain Issues
of the War, by Elihu Root.
Almost equally important from the standpoint of the
unremitting prosecution of the war to a decisive finish
was a thorough presentation of the aims, methods, and
ideals of the dynastic and feudal government of Germany.
Upon no pamphlets did we lavish so much care and
scholarship as this series, and the pamphlets, as a group,
proceeded logically and remorselessly to tear the mask of
civilization and modernity from the medievally minded,
medievally organized Prussian militaristic state that was
dominating Germany and Central Europe and threatening
the world. Disregarding the order of publication, which
was by_no means accidental, this group was divided as
follows: In the Red, White, and Blue series, The Presi-
dent's Flag Day Address with Evidence of German Plans
and Conquest and Kultur, both prepared by Profs. Wallace
Notestein and E. E. Stoll of the University of Minnesota;
German War Practices and German Treatment of Conquered
Territory, both by Profs. D. C. Munroe of Princeton, G.
C. Sellery of Wisconsin, and A. C. Krey of Minnesota;
German Plots and Intrigues, by Profs. E. C. Sperry of Syra-
cuse and W. M. West, the historian. In the War In-
106
THE FIGHT FOR THE MIND OF MANKIND
formation series, The German Government of Germany, by
Prof. C. D. Hazen of Columbia; The War of Self-defense,
by Secretaries Lansing and Louis F. Post; The German War
Code, by G. W. Scott (formerly of Columbia) and Prof.
J. W. Garner of Illinois; German Militarism, by Charles
Altschul; Why America Fights Germany, by Prof. J. P.
Tatlock of Leland Stanford University; and The German
Bolshevik Conspiracy, by Edgar Sisson, our representative
in Russia. In the Loyalty leaflets, The Prussian System,
by Frederic C. Walcott of the Food Administration, was
an admirable thumb-nail sketch in this series.
Taken together, these pamphlets make the most sober
and terrific indictment ever drawn by one government of
the political and military system of another government.
It was a serious business to draw it; it was a highly im-
portant thing not only that it should sway the opinion of
the moment, but that it should stand in the court of all
time. To tamper with the opinion of an essentially fair-
minded nation in any crisis is the ready device of charla-
tans and demagogues, and neither they nor their works
have ever survived that moment when Truth dispels the
mists of momentary and misguided passion. Fortunately,
the Germans had made their own record, and from that
there was and can be no appeal. We could and did give
them their own day in court; let them reveal their own
purposes, describe their own methods, glorify their own
guilt, and it is their rulers and leaders that have been swept
into oblivion.
When I recall the mad swirl of the Washington days, the
pressure we were under to do this or to do that, to publish
or republish this address or that pamphlet, to indorse some
movement or idea, I am cheerful and a bit amazed at
our success in avoiding pitfalls. For this we may never
receive credit, least of all from the perfervid patriots who
would have smeared with blood every page we published,
107
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
or disfigured it by the distorted fancy they were willing
to accept for fact. Insistent people who know how to
save the country always throng to Washington even in
peace-times, and in war-times we sometimes had to stand
on tiptoe to see over their heads the great, grim, honest,
unselfish nation behind them. And it was to the heart and
mind of that nation that we directed our appeals and
their response was our reward.
The third group of pamphlets has as a purpose the giving
in convenient form of information which would help in a
constructive way in the daily tasks of a nation at war.
The National Service Handbook, edited by Dr. J. J. Coss
and James Gutmann of Columbia University, published
in the summer of 1917, was just such a compendium about
war-work and war organizations and served as a helpful
guide to the thousands who could not enter the ranks and
yet wanted to serve in some capacity, no matter how
humble. The War Cyclopedia, published afterward, not
only brought such information up to date, but made avail-
able, in compact form, all the information on war topics and
policies that any speaker or writer might want at hand.
Professors Paxson of Wisconsin, Corwin of Princeton, and
Harding of Indiana, with the aid of scores of scholars
throughout the land, did a permanently worth-while piece
of work under great stress for time and space. Together
with the syllabus, we published The Study of the Great War,
by Professor Harding, which became a text-book in schools,
colleges, and cantonments. Our last pamphlet, in distri-
bution when the armistice came, had moved us forward
into new ground by summarizing our peace terms and the
chief expressions of American and Allied statesmen on the
League of Nations. Our one disappointment was that the
second edition of The War Cyclopedia, then in the press,
never appeared. Perhaps an explanation of delay is due
to individuals and organizations, particularly to the several
108
THE FIGHT FOR THE MIND OF MANKIND
hundred colleges that planned to use it as a text-book for
the Student Army Training Corps. From July 1, 1918, we
carried forward our domestic work on a limited Congres-
sional appropriation. Foreseeing difficulties, we had asked
that receipts from those publications on which a nominal
cost price had been set might come into our receipts
for further use and later accounting. The usual precedents
had been followed, however, and all receipts, except from
the film division, went into the Treasury, and nothing but
another Act of Congress could make them available to
our use. The net result was that the more successful we
were, and the greater the demand for our publications, even
though we charged for some, the more quickly we ex-
hausted our fixed appropriation and brought our activities
to an end.
Each pamphlet has its own story from the first sugges-
tion through its execution by the best qualified scholar.
For many of them I must refer to the plain but significant
table in the appendix, and simply renew an expression of
my own personal sense of obligation to Guy Stanton Ford
and the distinguished leaders of thought who served with
him. The figures will tell something of their usefulness,
but not all. These pamphlets became an arsenal from
which speakers and newspapers drew whole batteries of
speeches and editorials and special articles. They helped
fill out many pages of privately published patriotic col-
lections and have even found their place in widely used
text-books in history and civics. Many a good and mis-
informed citizen, who had an unformed but vivid impression
that the "Creel Committee" was some iniquity of the
devil, took with his breakfast a daily diet of our material
from the same journal that had given him this impression,
met us again at lunch when his children came home with
what the teacher had given them from material we pre-
pared, heard us again through our Four Minute Men or-
109
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
ganization when he went to the "movies," where our
films might be part of the program, and rose to local
prominence by the speeches he drew from the pamphlets
of that other useful organization, the Committee on Public
Information. Like the truant boy who ran away from the
schoolmaster, Hugh Toil, he found us, recognized and
unrecognized, at every turn of the road.
This material went out almost exclusively by request,
either from individuals or responsible organizations, such
as defense councils or the Loyalty Legion in Wisconsin.
Even Congressmen, after the first few months, were fur-
nished not with the pamphlets, but with return postal-
cards on which was printed a list of our publications, any
two of which could be checked as desired by his constitu-
ents. This arrangement was a means of conserving our
limited resources and gave us a distribution to real readers.
In only one case did we vary from this program of dis-
tribution, and that was when we put in the hands of the
trusty Boy Scouts several million copies of the President's
Flag Day address with annotations on the German plans.
The boys delivered it directly to householders and were
to secure their promise to read it and pass it on. The boys
did their work faithfully, but reported that they partly
failed because they could not get the promise to pass on
the pamphlet to some other reader!
The States Section of the National Defense Council was
especially active in bringing our material to the attention
of state and county defense organizations. Newspapers in
all parts of the country willingly carried descriptive lists
without charge, and the information syndicate headed by
Frederick Haskins in Washington gave us publicity on
the front page of many great dailies.
Even more important, in the early days when Professor
Ford was first preparing pamphlets, was the support and
aid given by the National Board for Historical Service,
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THE FIGHT FOR THE MIND OF MANKIND
through which the historians of the country organized per-
haps more effectively than any similar group of scholars.
It was of great value to this division throughout the war
to have available the judgment and ripe scholarship of
men like Shotwell of Columbia, Greene of Illinois, Jameson
of The American Historical Review, Munro of Princeton,
Leland, secretary of the American Historical Association,
A. C. Coolidge and F. J. Turner of Harvard, Schafer of
Oregon, Johnson of Teachers College, Lingelbach of Penn-
sylvania, Hull of Cornell, Dodd of Chicago, Fish of Wis-
consin, Hunt of the Library of Congress, Hazen of Co-
lumbia, Connor of North Carolina, Victor Clark of the
Carnegie Institution, Notestein of Minnesota, and S. B.
Harding of Indiana. The last named joined our staff in No-
vember, 1917, and remained throughout the war as an
able assistant to Professor Ford in all the multitudinous
work of checking and editing the pamphlets.
Our efforts were supported and supplemented by so
many organizations that it is difficult to single out many.
Excellent series of pamphlets were put out by the universi-
ties of Chicago, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Illinois, and
Columbia. Publishing-houses gave precedence to patriotic
books without thought of profit and offered us all their
material at the cost of printing.
Our last and perhaps our most unique and effective pub-
lication was The National School Service, a sixteen-page
semi-monthly periodical going free of charge to every
public-school teacher in the United States about 600,-
000 in all. We foresaw a time when, perhaps, if the
war with its burdens and losses continued, the national
morale would need the support of a message that went
without fail into every home. For this purpose there was
no other agency so effective, so sure, as the public schools
with their twenty millions of pupils. Furthermore, so many
governmental and national organizations were flooding the
111
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
schools, as they had flooded the press, with their material
that there was danger of confusion, conflict, and ineffec-
tiveness. Could not the story of the war, of America's
effort and ideals, of the work of the Red Cross, the Food
Administration, the Liberty Loan, the War Savings
Stamps, Public Health, School Gardens, and a score of
other activities be brought together as a national unified
program and treated in a way that would make it pre-
sentable in the schoolroom and effective in the homes?
It was worth the effort, cost what it might in time and
money. With the support of the National Educational
Association, we engaged the co-operation of all the de-
partments in Washington and launched the first publica-
tion in which the national government of the United
States had ever attempted to reach every public school
and home in the land. W. C. Bagley of Teachers College
was enlisted as editor-in-chief, and J. W. Searson of Kansas
Agricultural College as managing editor, and a staff of
specialists prepared all the material so that it could be
presented effectively in every kind of school from the
primary to the high-school. Special editions were arranged
for the Red Cross, War Savings, etc. Junior Four Minute
Men contests were organized and supported with ma-
terial through special supplements prepared by the staff
and the Division of Four Minute Men. I shall always
treasure the memory of the gratitude with which the under-
paid and overworked school-teachers received National
School Service; most of all, the letters that came from iso-
lated rural teachers in out-of-the-way valleys and on the
far reaches of the prairies. The national government had
reached out and placed a hand on their shoulder to en-
courage them and to ask for their aid and support. They
saw a new vision and a new, vitalizing mission. At the
end, we were moved by the protests against discontinuing
National School Service to present the matter to the
THE FIGHT FOR THE MIND OF MANKIND
President, who promptly made available enough funds to
continue it to the end of the year under the Department
of the Interior with the same efficient staff of editors.
A number of the principal pamphlets were put into other
languages German, Italian, the Scandinavian tongues,
Spanish, Portuguese, Bohemian, Polish, Yiddish, etc.
and given careful distribution through the clubs and
churches of the foreign-language groups in America, while
the translations themselves were sent to the various coun-
tries to be printed on daily presses and circulated by our
representatives.
It is perfectly evident that we had to exercise care in
making these translations, especially the German versions.
We had in mind here not only our German-reading public,
but the Germans of the Empire. We hoped to make them
our readers if not in war-times, at least ultimately, when
they might really seek to understand the voice of a world
that had united against them. No awkward phrase or
American colloquial German could be allowed to excite
ridicule and rob our case of its full effect. A waif of the
war, a distinguished German scholar, who had lived long
in England before coming to America, did the work, and
did it so well that his translation of How the War Came to
America, and of the President's addresses, was adopted
by some schools as substitutes for the sycophantic texts
about modern Germany and its Hohenzollern readers.
This man was a technical "enemy alien," but if any one
doubts his spiritual kinship with the ideals of America
and the Allies, they should read his own tragic story under
the title, "A Man Without a Country," in The Ladies'
Home Journal for September, 1917.
Besides these translations, special material was pub-
lished for the foreign-language groups. In selecting this
material we had the benefit of advice from our represent-
atives abroad and our connection with the leaders of the
113
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
patriotic groups of the foreign-born in the United States.
While sternly revealing the methods and principles of
Germany, we emphasized again the ideals of America, of
the America that had drawn the foreigners to its shores,
and that was the home of their children, for we knew that,
whatever their own transplanted prejudices, the great mass
of the foreign-born, like the native Americans, were loyal
to the land of their children. An unwise use of the dis-
cretion granted us in presenting America's cause might
easily have helped hammer these foreign groups into per-
manently aggrieved and hostile elements.
All in all, more than seventy-five million copies of these
pamphlets went into American homes, each one a printed
bullet that found its mark. This does not include the cir-
culation given by the metropolitan dailies that printed
many of the pamphlets in full. Nor does it take account
of the hundreds of thousands of copies printed by state
organizations such as the Department of Education in
Michigan, or by private individuals at their own cost.
It is a matter of pride to the Committee on Public In-
formation, as it should be to America, that the directors
of English, French, and Italian propaganda were a unit
in agreeing that our literature was remarkable above all
others for its brilliant and concentrated effectiveness.
All this labor of preparation, publication, and distribu-
tion was heavy and exacting, but there is a gleam or two
when I view it in retrospect. I thought at one time that
we were in direct touch with all the people who knew how
to win the war. The White House and the War Depart-
ment may dispute this, but certainly all who thought the
Germans could be overwhelmed with printer's ink or ora-
tory landed on our door-step either in person or through
the intermediacy of the postmen. What we did not get
directly we got by reference from every other war agency
in Washington. We had considerable faith in the power
114
THE FIGHT FOR THE MIND OF MANKIND
of the press, but it was all quite overtopped by the old
German-American who pleaded with us to send him up
to the front-line trenches accompanied by one man who
could run a hand-press. Then there was the considerable
number who felt sure that some poem or song or sermon
not infrequently of their own composition would, if
printed and distributed to the whole nation, set the people
on fire with patriotic ardor.
Such material came in almost predictable waves, two
weeks of poetry, then two weeks of sermons. If a vigorous
article especially one with a large element of imagination
about a German invasion appeared in some journal of
wide circulation, we knew we would receive it, clipped and
sent in from all quarters as the best possible thing to which
we could give government sanction. Some of the more
discriminating suggestions were helpful. Some of the
material submitted was too valuable to lose and we sought
always to direct the writer toward an effective avenue of
publicity. We sought invariably to return the manu-
script with a courteous acknowledgment, for we knew it
came from people who really wanted to help "to do their
bit," was the phrase penned so often by hands that could
never hope to handle a musket. I remember one woman
who sent in a poem with a letter in which she told how
two of her sons were in the army and she, at seventy, was
earning her living by washing. Still, she wanted "to do
her bit" and had written this poem. You may be sure
that she had a special letter that convinced her we some-
times appreciated poetry by other standards than those
of the Browning circle.
All these letters were of immense value to us, for they
kept our hand on the pulse of the land, letting us know the
tides of hope and earnest purpose that were surging through
a great country. Often enough there was evidence of the
rapid spread of idle or vicious rumors or of the baneful
115
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
influence of some utterance of a picayune politician with
a statesman's responsibilities, but this was a momentary
phase or a purely surface matter, and the great mass of
the nation responded over and over again to every appeal
to their sturdy and enlightened patriotism.
I know the distressing illiteracy revealed by the draft
and I am disturbed by all the inadequacies of the public-
school system with its low salaries and immature and ever-
changing teaching corps, but I also know that the press
or politician who appeals to ignorance and prejudice is
not reckoning on the reading and thinking and dominant
mass of the American people. Great issues clearly put
will always arouse them and there is no need to talk in
words of one syllable to the man in the street. He wants
the truth and will read to get it far more closely than many
a man whom fortune has favored by putting him in a
swivel-chair behind a glass-topped desk. I know, for we
tried it out on a nation-wide scale, and that is why the
publications of Professor Ford's division will remain a
worthy evidence of the Committee's work in war education.
IX
THE BATTLE OF THE FILMS
>ERSHING'S CRUSADERS," "America's Answer,"
and "Under Four Flags" are feature films that will
live long in the memory of the world, for they reached
every country, and were not only the last word in photo-
graphic art, but epitomized in thrilling, dramatic sequence
the war effort of America. Yet these pictures, important
as they were, represented only a small portion of the work
of the Division of Films, a work that played a vital part
in the world-fight for public opinion. A steady output,
ranging from one-reel subjects to seven-reel features, and
covering every detail of American life, endeavor, and pur-
pose, carried the call of the country to every community
in the land, and then, captioned in all the various languages,
went over the seas to inform and enthuse the peoples of
Allied and neutral nations.
At the very outset, it was obvious that the motion picture
had to be placed on the same plane of importance as the
written and spoken word. There were, however, many
obstacles in the way that prevented straightforward,
driving action. In the first place, it was our original hope
that we could put our reliance upon commercial producers,
thus saving the time and expense that necessarily attended
the creation of new machinery. This theory had to be
abandoned, for the War Department issued a flat ruling
that only the photographers in actual service would be
permitted to take pictures of any kind either on the firing-
9 117
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
line in France or in the cantonments and other branches of
the military establishment in the United States. Aside
from the unwisdom of allowing individuals in private em-
ploy to have free run of aviation-fields and munition-
factories, there was also the physical impossibility of hand-
ling the army of individual photographers that equitable
representation would have demanded.
Going into the matter fully, we discovered that there
was to be a photographic section of the Signal Corps, with
first purpose to serve the fighting force and a second pur-
pose to make pictures for the historical record desired by
the War College. The Committee then went to the Secre-
tary of War with representations as to the publicity value
of much of the material that would be gathered. It was
pointed out that since protection of military secrets barred
private photographers, it was both wise and proper that
we should have the right to go through the Signal Corps
photographs, selecting such as were suitable for public
exhibition. The contention was granted by Secretary
Baker, and the Committee on Public Information was
recognized by the War Department as the one authorized
medium for the distribution of Signal Corps photographs,
still pictures as well as "movies."
All of which seemed encouraging enough until investi-
gation developed the sad news that the Photographic
Section of the Signal Corps was a hope rather than a fact.
Looking after film matters for the Committee at the time
were Kendall Banning, formerly editor of System, and
Mr. Lawrence E. Rubel, a young Chicago business man,
both of the temperament that found inaction intolerable.
The two made a survey of the photographers of the United
States, motion and still, and urged selections upon the
Signal Corps until an adequate force had been assembled
for duty at home and abroad. Mr. Banning accepted a
commission as major in the army, and as the distribution
118
CHARLES DANA GIBSON
THE BATTLE OF THE FILMS
of still pictures occupied Mr. RubePs full time, the motion-
picture end was turned over to Mr. Louis B. Mack, a
Chicago lawyer, and Mr. Walter Niebuhr, both volunteers.
The routine, as finally worked out, was as follows: The
negatives of still and motion pictures taken in France and
in the United States by the uniformed photographers of
the Signal Corps were delivered, undeveloped, to the Chief
of Staff for transmission to the War College division.
The material was "combed" and such part as was decided
to be proper for public exhibition was then turned over to
the Committee on Public Information in the form of
duplicate negatives. The Committee, out of its own funds,
made prints from these negatives.
Our first hope was to avoid all appearance of competition
with the commercial producers, and as a consequence the
bulk of material was distributed fairly and at a nominal
price among the film-news weeklies. Experts were then
engaged to put the remainder into feature form, and these
pictures were handed over to the State Councils of Defense
and to the various patriotic societies. They were not
shown in motion-picture theaters, nor was admission
charged except in the case of benefits for a particular pur-
pose. Among the early features thus produced were:
The 1917 Recruit, 2 editions (training of the National Army).
The Second Liberty Loan.
Ready for the Fight (Artillery and Cavalry maneuvers).
Soldiers of the Sea (Marine Corps in training).
Torpedo-boat Destroyers (naval maneuvers).
Submarines.
Army and Navy Sports.
The Spirit of 1917 (the largest maneuver staged in America;
an attack by the Jackies at Lake Bluff upon Fort Sheridan,
Illinois).
In a Southern Camp (general army maneuvers).
The Lumber Jack (showing the growth of the Lumber Jack
Regiment for reconstruction work in Europe).
119
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
The Medical Officers' Reserve Corps in Action (showing the
development of the Medical Corps and training).
Fire and Gas (showing maneuvers of the new Thirtieth En-
gineer Regiment).
American Ambulances (complete display of ambulance work).
Labor's Part in Democracy's War (labor-union activities in
the war).
Annapolis (naval officers hi the making).
Shipbuilding (construction of all types of ships).
Making of Big Guns.
Making of Small Arms.
Making of Uniforms for the Soldiers.
Activities of the Engineers.
Woman's Part in the War.
The Conquest of the Air (airplane and balloon maneuvers)
As time went on, however, it was seen that this method
of distribution not only put an unnecessary burden of
expense upon the government, but that it was failing ab-
solutely to place the pictorial record of America's war
progress before more than a small percentage of the motion-
picture audiences of the world. The growth of the Signal
Corps's great Photographic Section was producing an enor-
mous amount of material, both in the United States and
France, possessed of the very highest propaganda value,
and the existing arrangement wasted what it did not
fritter away. Mr. Charles S. Hart, about to take a com-
mission in the army, was persuaded to assume full charge
of the work of reorganization, and too much credit cannot
be given him for his accomplishment. He took an idea
and a policy, and with courage, imagination, and driving
genius he evolved a world machinery and built a business
that handled millions, all without a single breakdown at
any point.
One of Mr. Hart's first determinations was to take the
cream of the material received from the Signal Corps, put
it into great seven-reel features designed to set before the
120
THE BATTLE OF THE FILMS
people a comprehensive record of war progress both in the
United States and in France, and to have the government
itself present the pictures. In plain, the Committee on Pub-
lic Information went into the motion-picture business as a
producer and exhibitor. The funds received from these
sources were not to represent profit in any sense of the
word. Every cent was to go to the manufacture and dis-
tribution of the huge amount of film that we were compelled
to distribute without return in other countries as part of
the educational campaign of the United States. Wherever
possible this foreign distribution was made through the
regular commercial channels, but there were various na-
tions where these channels did not exist and where free
showings were a necessity. It was also the case that we
were put to heavy expense by the policy that sent all of
the Committee's films, free of charge, to the encampments
in the United States as well as to the picture-shows on
the firing-line in France. The other belligerent countries
all marketed their film. Why, then, was it not proper for
the United States to use its own product in an effort to
lighten the taxpayers' load, especially when commercial
distribution meant 100 per cent, exhibition?
Our first feature-film was "Pershing's Crusaders," and
at intervals of six weeks we produced "America's Answer"
and "Under Four Flags." The policy decided upon was
this : first, direct exhibition of the feature by the Committee
itself in the larger cities in order to establish value and
create demand; second, sale, lease, or rental of the feature
to the local exhibitors. This activity was placed in the
hands of Mr. George Bowles, an experienced theatrical
and motion-picture manager, who had made a name for
himself in exploiting "The Birth of a Nation." Mr.
Bowles operated as many as eight road companies in dif-
ferent sections of the country at one time, each with its
own advertising, advance sales, and business management.
121
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
The utmost care was taken with these "official showings,"
for what we sought was an impressiveness that would lift
them out of the class of ordinary motion-picture produc-
tions in the minds of the public. L. S. Rothapfel, of the
Rialto and Rivoli theaters in New York City, gave us his
own aid and that of his experts in the matter of scenic ac-
cessories, orchestra, and incidental music, while for "Amer-
ica's Answer" Frank C. Yohn painted a great canvas,
so much a thing of beauty and inspiration that it thrilled
audiences into enthusiasm for the motion pictures that
followed.
"Pershing's Crusaders" was officially presented in
twenty-four cities, "America's Answer" in thirty -four,
and "Under Four Flags" in nine. Each of these so-called
official showings extended over the period of a week or
more and was presented at municipal halls, well-known
legitimate or motion-picture theaters centrally located in
the respective cities. Wide and intensive publicity and
advertising campaigns were conducted by representatives
on the spot by means of department-store window and
hotel-lobby displays, street-car cards, and banners and
newspaper space donated by local advertisers, etc. This
campaign, under the direction of Mr. Marcus A. Beeman,
also included circularization and personal interviews with
representatives, officials, and leading citizens, clubs, so-
cieties, and organizations, including large industrial plants
and firms. Churches, schools, chambers of commerce,
political and social clubs, Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion, Red Cross, Liberty Loan, and fraternal organizations
were among those included in the lists.
Taking, for example, the official presentations in New
York City "Pershing's Crusaders" was shown at the
Lyric Theater; "America's Answer" was shown at the
George M. Cohan Theater; "Under Four Flags" was
shown simultaneously at the Rivoli and Rialto theaters on
122
THE BATTLE OF THE FILMS
Broadway. Each of these showings was preceded by a press
campaign of about two weeks, several hundred twenty-
four-sheet, three-sheet, and one-sheet posters were posted,
and thousands of window-cards were displayed, invitations
were sent to all local dignitaries, and the showings were
attended by representatives of the French, British, and
Italian High Commissions. In Washington, members of
Congress, the President, his Cabinet, and many other
officials attended, all of which facts were used extensively
in advertising the features for general distribution.
As features did not consume the whole of the Signal Corps
material by any means, we decided upon weekly releases,
and in order to give this the highest interest as well as to
emphasize the fact of partnership, we entered into co-
operative arrangements with the representatives of Eng-
land, France, and Italy. Each of the four nations con-
tributed a fourth of the material and shared in the profits,
and the joint product went forth as the Allied War Review.
Not one of the other governments, it may be explained,
made free gifts of its pictures to private enterprise, but
handled them upon commercial lines entirely, for in the
motion-picture world revenue and circulation are synony-
mous. It was the first contention of the representatives of
the English, French, and Italians that the War Review
should be offered to the highest bidder, but the Committee
on Public Information insisted that the four film-news
weeklies of the United States should be given prior con-
sideration. As a consequence, these four companies the
Hearst-Pathe, the Universal, the Mutual, and the Gau-
mont were offered a weekly release of 2,000 feet of firing-
line film at a flat rate of $5,000. The representatives of
the Allied governments felt that this price robbed them of
fair and demonstrated profits, but the Committee on Public
Information gained its point through insistence.
At that period in the negotiations when the largest of
123
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
the weeklies had accepted the contract, one company ad-
dressed a series of letters to various officials of the govern-
ment, complaining bitterly of the arrangement, not only
insisting that the films should be given free of charge, but
even hinting at a subsidy. As a consequence of this atti-
tude, the Official War Review was offered to the motion-
picture industry as a whole, as was the case with the
feature-film. Every exchange was given an opportunity
to bid, and the Pathe Exchange, Inc., was awarded the
contract on these terms: Eighty per cent, of proceeds and
a guaranty of showing in 25,000 theaters as a minimum.
Even after the making of the feature-films and the
Official War Review there remained a certain amount of
material that had as high publicity value as any of the
other footage, and we placed this at the disposal of the news
weeklies at the nominal cost of one dollar a foot, an equi-
table arrangement that worked.
With the tremendous advertising gained from these
governmental showings in the principal cities we were
then able to go direct to the exhibitor in the certainty of
his keen interest. Our aim was to secure the widest pos-
sible distribution of the government films in the shortest
possible time. To this end every effort was made to elim-
inate the competitive idea from the minds of exhibitors,
and wherever possible to secure simultaneous showings in
houses which ordinarily competed for pictures.
Mr. Denis Sullivan and his assistant, Mr. George Meeker,
who were in charge of domestic distribution through motion-
picture houses, inaugurated a proportionate selling plan
whereby the rental charged every house was based on the
average income derived from that particular house. By
this method the small house as well as the large one could
afford to run the government films. The result of these
efforts to obtain the widest possible showing for govern-
ment films was amazingly successful, and the showing of
124,
THE BATTLE OF THE FILMS
"America's Answer" broke all records for range of dis-
tribution of any feature of any description ever marketed.
On the basis of twelve thousand motion-picture theaters
in the United States, over one-half the total number of
theaters in the country exhibited the Official War Review
and nearly that portion of "America's Answer." In the
film industry a booking of 40 per cent, of the theaters is
considered as 100 per cent, distribution because of the close
proximity of a great number of theaters, rendering them
dependent on the same patronage that is, theaters are
plotted as available in zones rather than as individual
theaters; thus three theaters in one zone present but one
possible booking because of the identity of clientele.
Taking this into consideration, the distribution of govern-
ment features approximated 80 per cent, and 90 per cent,
rather than 50 per cent, distribution, although on "Amer-
ica's Answer," in certain territories such as New York and
Seattle, the percentage of total theaters booked reached
over 60 per cent, and 54 per cent., respectively, which on
the above basis would equal 100 per cent, distribution.
The success of the feature-films and the Official War
Review are best indicated by the following figures:
"Pershing's Crusaders" $181,741 69
"America's Answer" 185,144 30
"Under Four Flags" 63,946 48
Official War Review 334,622 35
Our Bridge of Ships 992 41
U. S. A. Series 13,864 98
Our Colored Fighters 640 60
News Weekly 15,150 00
Miscellaneous sales. . 56,641 58
Total sales from films $852,744 30
It was not only the case that the entire output of the
Division of Films was handed over to the Foreign Section
125
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
for circulation in the various countries of the world, but
the Educational Department saw to it that all of the Com-
mittee pictures were furnished free of charge to every
proper organization in the United States.
The films were loaned to army and navy stations, edu-
cational and patriotic institutions, without charge except
transportation. Other organizations and individuals were
usually charged one dollar per reel for each day used.
When it is considered that the average reel costs forty
dollars for raw stock and printing, and that the average
life of a reel is about two hundred runs, it can be readily
seen that this charge of one dollar per reel barely covered
cost. For the purpose of comparison the leading motion-
picture houses in New York pay as high as three thousand
dollars for the use of one picture for one week's run.
On June 1, 1918, the Division of Films formed a scenario
department to experiment with an interesting theory.
The departments at Washington had been in the habit of
contracting for the production of films on propaganda
subjects and then making additional contracts to secure
a more or less limited circulation of the pictures when pro-
duced. The general attitude of motion-picture exhibitors
was that propaganda pictures were uninteresting to audi-
ences and could have no regular place in their theaters.
The theory of the Division of Films was that the fault lay
in the fact that propaganda pictures had never been prop-
erly made, and that if skill and care were employed in the
preparation of the scenarios the resultant pictures could
secure place in regular motion-picture programs. Pro-
ducers were at first skeptical, but in the end they agreed
to undertake the production of one-reel pictures for which
the division was to supply the scenario, the list of locations,
and permits for filming the same, and to give every possible
co-operation, all without charge. The finished picture
became the sole property of the producer, who obligated
126
THE BATTLE OF THE FILMS
himself merely to give it the widest possible circulation
after it had been approved by the Division of Films.
Mr. Rufus Steele was given charge of the new venture,
and while many difficulties had to be overcome, the theory
proved sound.
The following one-reel pictures were produced:
By the Paramount-Bray Pictograph:
Says Uncle Sam: Keep 'Em Singing and Nothing Can Lick
'Em the purpose and method of the vocal training of
the army and the navy.
Says Uncle Sam: I Run the Biggest Life-Insurance Company
on Earth story of the War Risk Insurance Bureau.
Says Uncle Sam: A Girl's a Man for A' That story of 'women
in war-work.
Says Uncle Sam: I'll Help Every Willing Worker Find a
Job story of the United States Employment Service.
By thePatheCo.:
Solving the Farm Problem of the Nation story of the United
States Boys' Working Reserve.
Feeding the Fighter how the army was supplied with food.
By the Universal Co.:
Reclaiming the Soldiers' Duds the salvage work of the War
Department.
The American Indian Gets Into the War Game how the
Indian took his place, both in the military forces and in
food production.
By C. L. Chester:
Schooling Our Fighting Mechanics work of the Committee
on Education and Special Training of the War Department.
There Shall Be No Cripples rehabilitation work of the Sur-
geon-General's Office.
Colored Americans activities of the negroes, both in the
military forces and in war work at home.
It's an Engineers' War work of the Engineers' training-
camps of the War Department.
Finding and Fixing the Enemy certain work of the Engineer
Corps of the War Department.
Waging War in Washington the method of government
operation.
127
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
All the Comforts of Home methods of War Department in
providing necessities and conveniences for soldiers.
Masters for the Merchant Marine development of both
officers and men for the new merchant navy.
The College for Camp Cooks thorough training given men
who were to prepare the food for the soldiers.
Rail-less Railroads work of the Highway Transport Com-
mittee.
The following pictures, of more than one reel in length,
were made by private producers from our scenarios and
under our supervision:
By C. L. Chester:
"The Miracle of the Ships," a six-reel picture covering in de-
tail the construction of the carrier ships at Hog Island and
other yards, and showing every detail of construction.
By The W. W. Hodkinson Corporation:
"Made in America," an eight-reel picture telling the full story
of the Liberty Army. It follows the soldier through every
stage of the draft and through every step of his military,
physical, and social development and into the actual com-
bat overseas. Such a picture was greatly desired by Gen-
eral Munson, head of the Morale Branch of the War De-
partment, for circulation in the army and among the people
of the United States, as well as abroad. As this picture
was to show the relation of the home life to the soldier,
professional actors and actresses and much studio-work
were required. The Morale Branch had no funds to pay
for such a picture, and the Division of Films was able to
work out a scenario of such promise that the Hodkinson
Corporation agreed to produce the picture at their own
expense, which they did at a cost exceeding forty thou-
sand dollars.
Late in the summer of 1918, our system of production
through outside concerns having worked out satisfactorily,
it was decided to undertake production on our own account.
Accordingly, scenarios were written, and the following six
two-reel pictures were produced by the division :
128
THE BATTLE OF THE FILMS
"If Your Soldier's Hit," showing the operation of the regi-
mental detachment and field hospital unit in getting wounded
men off the front line, giving them first aid, and conveying them
safely to recuperation bases. This picture was made in con-
junction with the Surgeon-General's Office at the training-camp
at Fort Riley, Kansas, and the scenes were supplemented by
scenes from overseas.
"Our Wings of Victory/' showing the complete processes of
the manufacture and operation of airplanes for war purposes.
The construction scenes were taken in the chief 'plane-factories
and were supplemented by extraordinary scenes of flying.
"Our Horses of War," showing how the remount depots of
the army obtain and train the horses and mules for cavalry and
artillery purposes, and the feats performed by the animals so
trained under the manipulation of the soldiers.
"Making the Nation Fit," showing how new recruits -for the
great army and the great navy were developed to a stage of
physical fitness.
"The Storm of Steel," showing how twelve billions of the
Liberty Loan money was being expended in the construction
of guns and munitions. These scenes were taken in half a dozen
of the chief gun-plants of the country and on the proving-grounds
and are the most complete record in the government's posses-
sion of this undertaking.
"The Bath of Bullets," showing the development and use
of machine-guns in this war.
A second series of six two-reel pictures had been laid
out and the filming was about to proceed when the armistice
caused the division to suspend all new undertakings.
The distribution of still pictures under the direction
of Mr. Rubel and Mr. Harold E. Hecht also underwent
a process of reorganization as time presented new needs
and afforded new opportunities. One of the first of the
new plans was the inauguration of the "permit system."
While the military authorities were correct in refusing
general admission to ordnance and airplane factories, to
navy -yards and to certain cantonments where secret tests
were being made, there was no good reason for barring
129
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
private photographers from the majority of the camps
and factories. Mr. Rubel, therefore, in consultation with
the army and the navy, worked out a plan of permits that
safeguarded military secrets even while it opened up the
military effort to the cameras of civilians. Our procedure
investigated each applicant and certified him to the camp
commanders, and a "voluntary censorship" agreed to by
the commercial photographers protected against indis-
cretion. Under this system, and as illustrative of its
liberal provisions, the division issued more than six thou-
sand permits, the daily applications ranging from ten to
twenty-five.
This arrangement took care of domestic photographers,
permitting Mr. Rubel to devote all his energy to the dis-
tribution of still pictures taken by the Signal Corps in
France. In the first days, when the shipments were few,
it was a simple matter to spread the photographs among
the newspapers, but as great bundles commenced to be
received, our simple machinery broke down. To meet
the new demand, an arrangement was made with the
Photographic Association, including such firms as Under-
wood & Underwood, International Film Service, Brown
Bros., Paul Thompson, Kadel & Herbert, Harris & Ewing,
Western Newspaper Union, the Newspaper Enterprise
Association, and other firms that syndicated photographs
nationally and internationally. Through organized effort
these syndicate members placed our photographs in daily
newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines, technical
publications, and other mediums. To expedite production
and delivery, a laboratory was secured in New York City
and operated by the Signal Corps Photographic Division
in conjunction with Columbia University. The prices
fixed were nominal, designed only to cover expenses.
This department also furnished quantities of photo-
graphs each week to the Foreign Service Section of the
130
THE BATTLE OF THE FILMS
Committee for use in propaganda media in the Allied and
neutral nations. Photographs were also furnished for
publicity purposes for motion-picture features and we
reproduced in hundreds of newspapers reaching millions
of circulation. Another means of distribution of war
photographs was to private collections, to universities,
historical societies, state and municipal libraries, and any
organization that could make use of pictures for future
reference. Also, individuals who were interested in getting
pictures of war activities, more especially those who had
members of their families or friends directly connected
with the war.
The Department of Slides was next added to the, activi-
ties of the bureau and supplied a long-felt need for official
and authentic photographs in stereopticon form for the
use of ministers, lecturers, school-teachers, and others.
Mr. Rubel and Mr. Hecht succeeded in putting out stand-
ard size balck and white slides of the finest workmanship
at fifteen cents each, which price saved the user from
50 to 80 per cent. At first the production of slides
was entirely dependent on the laboratory of the Signal
Corps in Washington, which, as the orders increased in
volume, proved inadequate to turn out sufficient quantity.
The Committee on Public Information then built its
own laboratory with ample production facilities. Out
of this idea came another that of illustrated war lectures.
Taking the "Ruined Churches of France" as a first sub-
ject, for the original demand came from ministers for
the most part, we prepared 50 slides, and accompanied
them with a wonderful little lecture written movingly by
Dr. John S. P. Tatlock of Leland Stanford University.
Such was its enthusiastic reception that the following
lectures were issued in rapid sequence: "Our Boys in
France," 100 slides; "Building a Bridge of Ships to Persh-
ing," 50 slides; "To Berlin via the Air Route," 50 slides;
131
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
'Making the American Army," 50 slides. About 700 of
these sets were ordered by patriotic organizations and
individuals, as well as churches and schools.
The next series of illustrated lectures to be distributed
were as follows : " The Call to Arms," 58 slides ; " Trenches
and Trench Warfare," 73 slides; "Airplanes and How
Made," 61 slides; "Flying for America," 54 slides; "The
American Navy," 51 slides; "The Navy at Work," 36
slides; "Building a Bridge of Ships," 63 slides; "Trans-
porting the Army to France," 63 slides; " Carrying the Home
to the Camp," 61 slides. These sets were prepared and
the lectures written by George F. Zook, professor of Modern
European History in Pennsylvania State College. A
total of 900 were ordered. While the greater number of
orders came from various parts of this country, many
were received from foreign countries.
In the year of existence the Department of Slides dis-
tributed a total of 200,000 slides.
THE "BATTLE OF THE FENCES"
IN some respects the Division of Pictorial Publicity
was one of the most remarkable of the many forces
called into being by the Committee on Public Information.
Artists, from time immemorial, have been looked upon
as an irresponsible lot, given over to dreams and impracti-
cality and with little or no concern for the values that go
to make up the every-day world. At America's call,
however, painters, sculptors, designers, illustrators, and
cartoonists rallied to the colors with instancy and enthusi-
asm, and no other class or profession excelled them in the
devotion that took no account of sacrifice or drudgery.
As a consequence, America had more posters than any
other belligerent, and, what is more to the point, they
were the best. They called to our own people from every
hoarding like great clarions, and they went through the
world, captioned in every language, carrying a message
that thrilled and inspired.
Even in the rush of the first days, when we were calling
writers and speakers and photographers into service,
I had the conviction that the poster must play a great
part in the fight for public opinion. The printed word
might not be read, people might not choose to attend
meetings or to watch motion pictures, but the billboard
was something that caught even the most indifferent eye.
The old-style poster, turned out by commercial artists
10 133
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
as part of advertising routine, was miles away from our
need, however. The current Washington idea that imag-
ined art as a sort of slot-machine was a mistake that had
to be rectified. What we wanted what we had to have
was posters that represented the best work of the best
artists posters into which the masters of the pen and
brush had poured heart and soul as well as genius. Look-
ing the field over, we decided upon Charles Dana Gibson
as the man best fitted to lead the army of artists, and on
April 17, 1917, this splendid American entered the service
as a volunteer. He called F. De Sales Casey to his right
hand as vice-chairman and secretary, and the two formed
these committees:
Associate chairmen Herbert Adams, E. H. Blashfield, Ralph
Clarkson, Cass Gilbert, Oliver D. Grover, Francis Jones, Arthur
F. Matthews, Joseph Pennell, Edmond Tarbell, Douglas Volk.
Executive Committee F. G. Cooper, N. Pousette-Dart, I. Dos-
kow, F. E. Dayton, C. B. Falls, Albert E. Gallatin, Ray Green-
leaf, Miss Malvina Hoffman, W. A. Rogers, Lieut. Henry Reu-
terdahl, U. S. N. R. F., H. Scott Train, H. D. Welsh, J. Thompson
Willing, H. T. Webster, Walter Whitehead, Jack Sheridan.
Departmental captains C. B. Falls, H. T. Webster, Walter
Whitehead, Ray Greenleaf, I. Doskow, N. Pousette-Dart, H.
Scott Train.
Headquarters were opened in New York, and within a
month the organization had enlisted the great artists
of America, and was working with speed and precision.
H. Devitt Welsh of Philadelphia came to the office of the
Committee in Washington to serve as "contact man." He
went to the heads of all the war-making branches of govern-
ment, telling them of the mobilization of the artists, and ob-
taining from each department its list of poster needs. This
list was then sent to Mr. Gibson in New York, who made
134
THE "BATTLE OF THE FENCES"
the assignments as would the art manager of a magazine,
picking the artists best fitted for the particular need. The
work, when finished, was hurried to Washington, and
after approval was followed through the printing by ex-
perts. Not only this, but every man associated with Mr.
Gibson submitted poster ideas of his own, so that govern-
mental routines were soon broken up by the inrush of new
and more vivid thought.
Strange as it may seem, the Division of Pictorial Pub-
licity traveled no royal road to the favor of governmental
heads. Many of these executives knew nothing at all
about art or artists, and others, with greater knowledge,
were products of the "chromo school." As a matter of
fact, Mr. Gibson had to spend days in Washington actually
begging for the privilege of submitting sketches from men
and women whose names stood for all that was finest in
American art. Through it all he held to his patience and
enthusiasm, and at last the importance of the offering
penetrated the official consciousness, and that which had
been ignored came to be wildly pursued.
It was not only the case that the artists were subject
to call, like so many members of a volunteer fire depart-
ment, but they held regular weekly meetings at which
the task was discussed as a whole, every one present
contributing criticism, ideas, and inspiration. These meet-
ings of the division developed into the most interesting
series of dinners ever held in New York City. Under the
magnetic leadership of Mr. Gibson, the dominant note
was patriotic fervor. Everybody felt it a duty to come.
The most celebrated men in every branch of art met for
the first time at the same board with the younger men of
their profession. This set the highest standard for the
division and was an assurance to the government that it
could expect the best that American art could give. It was
also an inspiration to the younger men to be associated
135
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
in such a notable league of artists, and made it a dis-
tinguished honor to succeed in the friendly competition
for government acceptance of work.
The character of the division was best described in the
words of Mr. Gibson himself when he said: "This is a
schoolroom. All are welcome. We come here to learn
from one another, to get inspiration and get religion for the
great task the government has set for us. No artist is too
great to come and give his best. We are fortunate to be
alive at this time and be able to take advantage of the
greatest opportunity ever presented to artists."
Being chosen to speak through their work to the millions
of their countrymen, the artists felt a great sense of respon-
sibility that bound them into a harmonious unit. All
worked together in the common cause, sank personal
considerations, gave and received advice. A fine spirit
of helpfulness prevailed, the one aim the highest excel-
lence in all commissions executed. The steady appear-
ance of the division's work became a feature of the war,
not only stirring patriotism, but awakening in the public
mind the importance of artists. It was a wholesale edu-
cation to the country in that the division made the bill-
board "safe for art," the work standing out in sharp con-
trast to the commercial disfigurations of the past.
To increase the scope of the committee and to stimu-
late the personal interest of the artists outside of New York,
sectional branches were formed, and Oliver Dennett
Grover of Chicago became the chairman of the Western
Committee, Mr. E. Tarbell and Mr. Arthur F. Matthews
taking charge in Boston and San Francisco.
The full contribution of the artists of America to the
national cause, as well as the reliance placed upon the
Division of Pictorial Publicity by every department of
government, is shown by the following record of achieve-
ment:
136
THE "BATTLE OF THE FENCES"
Poster
designs.
Car, bus,
and
window
cards.
News-
paper and
other ad-
vertising.
'Cartoons.
Seals,
buttons,
banners,
etc.
American Red Cross, Washing-
100
25
100
50
War Savings Stamps
50
50
25
50
Liberty Loan (Third)
3
10
15
Liberty Loan (Fourth)
100
25
Shipping Board
100
g
1
American Library Association. .
7
43
War Camp Community Ser-
101
2
3
1
Ordnance Department
18
1
15
1
4
10
1
3
10
50
15
10
50
Fuel Administration
25
10
23
11
1
1
War Department
11
1
Public Health Service
14
6
3
Young Men's Christian Associ-
ation
6
7
Young Women's Christian Asso-
6
7
Signal Corps
4
3
15
1
2
...,.....
Division of Films
33
4
1
Committee of Patriotic Societies
3
2
20
United States Boys' Working
5
1
2
7
Committee on National Defense
1
3
Western Newspaper Union
2
2
2
1
Committee on Publio Infor-
4
6
5
Division of Advertising
11
10
3
1
Squad A, Magazine Gun
2
2
2
Food for France .
3
6
Department of Interior
2
1
1
United States Tank Corps
1
5
Treasure and Trinket Fund .
1
3
g
1
Jewish Welfare
5
1
Trades for Disabled Soldiers . .
6
2
8
Motor Corps
1
1
Federation of Neighborhood As-
1
Office of Chief of Staff
1
1
Bastile Day
3
14
5
Fifth Avenue Association
2
American Poets' Committee
2
Federal Food Board
3
Rehabilitating Wounded Sol-
2
2
1
1
Italian War Work
1
1
Official Bulletin
1
3
25
1
Pelham Naval Station
1
1
United War Work Campaign. . .
5
137
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
RECAPITULATION
Departments and committees requesting work 58
Poster designs submitted 700
Cards requested 122
Newspaper and other advertising. 310
Cartoons submitted 287
Seals, buttons, etc., executed 19
Total material (drawings, designs, etc.) 1,438
In addition to the above, Lieut. Henry Reuterdahl and
N. C. Wyeth worked on a painting ninety feet long, twenty-
five feet high, which was placed at the Subtreasury Building
for the Third Liberty Loan. Lieutenant Reuterdahl
made also three paintings, each over twenty feet, for the
publicity of the Fourth Liberty Loan in Washington, D. C.
During the United War Work Campaign the same plan
was followed, seven artists painting on days assigned,
in front of the Public Library, two others assigned in
front of the Metropolitan Museum. This work was
carried on by a committee of this division. These artists
were:
F. D. Steele, Young Men's Christian Association.
Middleton Chambers, Knights of Columbus.
C. B. Falls, Salvation Army.
I. Olinsky, Jewish Welfare.
Denman Fink, Library Association.
Jean McLane, Young Women's Christian Association.
Howard Giles, War Camp Community Service.
Charles Chapman and Luis Mora, Metropolitan Museum.
As showing the manner in which the artists rose to
high esteem, when General Pershing asked that the artists
be sent to the firing-line in France, the task of selection
was turned over to the Division of Pictorial Publicity
and these men received commissions: Capts. J. Andre
Smith, Ernest Peixotto, Harry Townsend, Wallace Morgan,
George Harding, William J. Aylward, W. J. Duncan,
and Harvey Dunn.
138
THE "BATTLE OF THE FENCES"
Almost three hundred drawings were received from
them, which were framed and sent throughout the country
for exhibition, and in addition to this the majority of them
were given exquisite reproduction in the great magazines.
The following characteristic comment, lifted out of a
recent letter from Mr. Gibson, gives a hint of the spirit
that made the Division of Pictorial Publicity a force and
an inspiration:
It always struck me as more than fortunate that your telegram
on the night of April 17, 1917, should have reached me when
and where it did. It was at a dinner at the Hotel Majestic,
the first gathering of artists after the declaration of war. We
were there to offer our services to the country, but were in
some doubt as to the method of procedure. We were sparring
for an opening. Some of the speeches were about half over
and some of them threatened to get us off the track, when just
at the psychological moment your telegram was handed to me
and we had a focusing-point. If it had all been prearranged
it could not have happened better.
If I remember rightly, it was the following Sunday we met at
your house, where the Division of Pictorial Publicity was formed.
As you say, the division met some rough going in the early days,
but for that matter so did every one who tried to elbow his
way into the front trenches. I dare say no one knows this better
than yourself. At any rate, it is easy to forget all those bumps
now. In fact, the suspicion with which some of those in Wash-
ington looked upon the artists was not to be wondered at and
bothered me less as I became better acquainted with the men
I met down there. After all, we were offering something for
nothing and that in itself was suspicious. We always felt that
your experience was more or less like ours, only on a much larger
scale, and you understood and were with us, so it was easy
to wait. There is nothing like good company when the going
is rough, and now that I look back upon it I dare say it really
made the job more interesting.
The Associate Chairmen were most useful in allaying the
fears of the heads of the different departments, and the work
done by Casey was invaluable. He had great knowledge of the
work and in addition possessed tact, even temper, and modesty.
139
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
There wasn't an artist in the country, man or woman, who didn't
offer the best that was in him, and the single one who hesitated
was a Quaker and he was only able to hold out for a short time.
THOUGHTS INSPIBED BY A WAR-TIME BILLBOARD
By Wallace Irwin
I stand by a fence on a peaceable street
And gaze on the posters in colors of flame,
Historical documents, sheet upon sheet,
Of our share in the war ere the armistice came.
And I think about Art as a Lady-at-Arms;
She's a studio character most people say,
With a feminine trick of displaying her charms
In a manner to puzzle the ignorant lay.
But now as I study that row upon row
Of wind-blown engravings I feel satisfaction
Deep down in my star-spangled heart, for I know
How Art put on khaki and went into action.
There are posters for drives now triumphantly o'er
I look with a smile reminiscently fond
As mobilized Fishers and Christys implore
In a feminine voice, "Win the War Buy a Bond!"
There's a Jonas Lie shipbuilder, fit for a frame;
Wallie Morg's "Feed a Fighter" lurks deep in his trench;
There's Blashfield's Columbia setting her name
In classical draperies, trimmed by the French.
Charles Livingston Bull in marine composition
Exhorts us to Hooverize (portrait of bass).
Jack Sheridan tells us that Food's Ammunition
We've all tackled war biscuits under that class.
140
THE "BATTLE OF THE FENCES"
See the winged Polish warrior that Benda has wrought!
Is he private or captain? I cannot tell which,
For printed below is the patriot thought
Which Poles pronounce "Sladami Ojcow Naszych."
There's the Christy Girl wishing that she was a boy,
There's Leyendecker coaling for Garfield in jeans,
There's the Montie Flagg guy with the air of fierce joy
Inviting the public to Tell the Marines.
And the noble Six Thousand they count up to that
Are marshaled before me in battered review.
They have uttered a thought that is All in One Hat
In infinite shadings of red, white, and blue.
And if brave Uncle Sam Dana Gibson, please bow
Has called for our labors as never before,
Let him stand in salute in acknowledgment now
Of the fighters that trooped from the studio door.
XI
THE WAR EXPOSITIONS
THE accidental quality that marked so many of our
ideas was never more apparent than in the United
States Government War Expositions that came to be one
of the principal activities of the Committee on Public
Information. These exhibitions, that had all the attraction
of a circus and all the seriousness of a sermon, were given
in twenty-one cities, were seen by more than 10,000,000
people, and earned a total income of $1,438,004.
In the spring of 1917, when the Committee was just
getting under way, the representatives of the state fairs
came to us and asked for a war exhibit. We took the matter
up with the army and the navy and received assurance
that the proper material would be provided. Unfortu-
nately, however, the promise was lost sight of in the rush
of more important things, and the Committee, as usual,
received the full blame for the failure. In the early
months of 1918 we entered into new communication with
the state fairs and expositions, this time assuming full re-
sponsibility for the preparation of an exhibit. Capt. Joseph
H. Hittinger was borrowed from the War Department,
and co-operative arrangements were made with the depart-
ments of War, Navy, Agriculture, Commerce, Interior,
and the Food Administration. From the army and the
navy we secured guns of all kinds, hand-grenades, gas-
masks, depth-bombs, mines, and hundreds of other things
142
THE WAR EXPOSITIONS
calculated to show the people how their money was being
spent. The other departments joined in with exhibits
of their own, all going to make up three carloads of ma-
terial. Thirty-five state fairs and expositions were reached
throughout the summer, soldiers and sailors accompany-
ing exhibits and acting as lecturers.
In June, 1918, the Committee on Public Information
was called before the Committee on Appropriations of the
House to tell why it wanted money and to explain what
it meant to do with the money. When I came to the item
of the state fair exhibits, and explained the general idea
of carrying the facts of war to the people of the United
States, there was not only a very notable lack of enthusiasm,
but even a distinct disposition to regard the idea as some-
what stupid and quite unnecessary. Here, for instance,
is an excerpt from the printed report of the hearing:
THE CHAIRMAN. The question I am going to ask you does
not express any opinion, but I am making the inquiry in order
that you may express an opinion: What have you to say as to
whether the fact that the mobilizing of men from nearly every
family in the land of itself brings the war so directly home and
in such a vital way as to make unnecessary this military prop-
aganda work in order to interest the people in the war?
MB. CREEL. There are two sides to that. In the first place,
the son in the service gives direct interest instantly, but that
interest may be of a nature so tinged with anxiety that it lends
itself to every rumor and every apprehension, and it is our duty
to work for enthusiasm and against depression. That is impor-
tant not only for the family, but for the boy who is fighting at
the front. We know that every letter that is written to a soldier
in a pessimistic tone tends to make him a poor soldier, and it is
just as much the business of war to keep the home happy and
ardent as it is to maintain courage on the firing-line.
We know from the experience of cantonments that the civilian
morale is highest near those cantonments where the general
in command has displayed his men most prominently, giving
frequent drills at exhibitions, visiting near-by cities, and where
143
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
he has made the most effective arrangements to bring the fathers
and mothers to the cantonments to see the boys in action, to
see how they are treated, to see how they look, and what they
are doing. That is the way we feel, and I think that practi-
cally every member of the military establishment will tell you
that it is of military value. The General Staff, as you know,
is continually placing emphasis upon what they term "morale."
The sum eventually allowed us for War Expositions was
five thousand dollars. A few days after this virtual re-
buff, I was visited by Mr. W. C. D'Arcy, Mr. Llewellyn
Pratt, and others, who explained that the Associated Adver-
tising Clubs of the World would hold their annual conven-
tion in San Francisco, July 4th. W T hat they wanted was
a collection of war trophies in order to give the gathering
a patriotic note. Going to the War Department, then to
the English, French, and Italian Commissions, and finally
to the Canadians, we collected every possible trophy and
hurried them out to San Francisco. It was not much of
an exhibition, even when viewed by the most enthusiastic
eye, but the advertising clubs put themselves whole-
heartedly behind the project and drove it through to
success. Los Angeles then asked for the collection and we
sent it there, doing even better with it than in San Fran-
cisco. Although the admission charge was small, in nei-
ther place did we lose money, a fact that gave us courage
to disregard the smallness of the capital allowed us by
Congress.
Making decision to go into the work on a huge scale,
we turned the exposition idea over to Mr. Charles S. Hart
of the Division of Films, who straightway gathered a staff
of exhibit experts about him. Under the new plan we
collected every possible trophy brought to this country
either by the War Department or by the Allies, and to
these we added everything that the army and navy could
give that would let the people see the machinery of war.
144
THE WAR EXPOSITIONS
The Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A., the Knights of Colum-
bus, the Jewish Welfare Board, the American Library
Association, the War Camp Community Service, the Red
Cross, and every other voluntary agency were also induced
to prepare exhibits, all making up a great tram of cars equal
in volume to a transcontinental circus.
Going into Chicago, we boldly took the Lake front and
proceeded to erect buildings and dig the trenches. Mr.
Samuel Insull, Chicago's dynamic public figure, was in-
duced to lend his powerful aid, and he swung every one
of the civic associations into line. W. H. Rankin, the ad-
vertising expert, joined in the executive direction and
attended to the publicity. Having committed ourselves
to the hazard, no expense was spared, and on the day that
the United States Government War Exposition opened
our commitments were well over two hundred thousand
dollars, a radical advance indeed over the five thousand
dollars allowed by Congress, and one that meant disaster
if our conclusions were wrong.
The gates opened in a downpour of rain and the first
day's attendance was appallingly small. When the news
reached Washington over the long-distance telephone, a
more heart-sick group of people could not have been im-
agined. The sun came out, however, and in the two weeks
that followed more than two million people visited the
exposition, the average daily attendance being in excess
of that of the World's Fair. When the books were bal-
anced it was seen that we had paid every cent of expense
and cleared for the government the sum of $318,000.
There was interest as well as inspiration in the exposi-
tion. Along the great stretches of promenade were dis-
tributed the trophies captured from the enemy by soldiers
of the United States and the Allies great thirty-five-
thousand-pound guns taken in hand-to-hand struggle,
battered remnants of U-boats that sent women and chil-
145
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
dren to their death, reservoirs for poison-gas, German
'planes brought down as they hovered over villages and
hospitals, helmets, gas-masks all the paraphernalia of
war. Our army and navy put on view all the varied
manufactures that would permit people to grasp the
extent of America's preparation, and from the Allies came
types of their war material. In the booths that stretched
in endless line all the various war organizations pictured
the life of the soldier and the sailor, and showed what they
were doing in the way of assistance and encouragement.
Through the generous co-operation of the army and the
navy, a remarkable sham battle was staged every after-
noon, and this daily spectacle of men going over the top
to the rattle of rifles and machine-guns, and the roar of
the navy ordnance, aroused the assembled thousands to
the highest pitch of enthusiasm. Pleading military neces-
sity, the army and the navy refused to lend us men after
the Chicago Exposition, with the result that the sham
battles had to be discontinued as one of our features.
Even so, the tour continued with remarkable results.
The following table, showing the cities visited and income
received, should serve as an ample vindication of the
Committee's decision:
San Francisco $ 54,274 80
Los Angeles 65,375 75
Chicago 583,731 24
Cleveland 167,355 51
Waco 16,904 70
Pittsburgh 147,804 16
Kansas City 28,646 20
Cincinnati 66,541 20
Buffalo 60,354 27
St. Louis 23,570 40
New Orleans 14,439 20
Toledo 50,003 02
Detroit 63,470 74
146
THE WAR EXPOSITIONS
Houston $22,684 05
Milwaukee 49,372 02
St. Paul (small exhibit) 9,065 34
Jackson (small exhibit) 5,169 29
Little Rock (small exhibit) 2,458 72
Oklahoma (small exhibit) 4,664 71
Great Falls (small exhibit) 996 07
Waterloo (small exhibit) 1,122 85
Total income, expositions $1,438,004 24
Its financial success did not result from a high admis-
sion price, but was due to the appeal of the exposition itself.
On the Pacific coast tickets were sold for 50 cents and were
redeemable at the gate for a 25-cent War Saving Stamp in
addition to an admission ticket. This plan was followed
for the purpose of creating the War Saving Stamp habit
in that territory. In Chicago and the other cities the
tickets were sold in advance for 25 cents, children J^ cents.
XII
THE SPEAKING DIVISION
THE United States, in the first months of the war, was
an oratorical bedlam. More than a dozen national
speakers' bureaus were being conducted by government
departments and by associations which were seeking to
promote the national interest. Scores of state speaking
campaigns were being inaugurated under the auspices
of Councils of Defense and other organizations. All these
were competing for speakers, duplicating each other's
activities, and failing to co-ordinate their efforts in an
effective and comprehensive campaign. Nothing was
more apparent than the need of some central clearing-
house in Washington through which these various organi-
zations, working for a great common purpose, but each
with its special message, could be brought into touch with
the affairs and facilities of other departments, and given
the inspiration and information which came from the vital
national interests involved.
In consideration of these needs, the Speaking Division
of the Committee on Public Information was created
September 25, 1917, the idea receiving the approval of the
President in the following letter:
MY DEAR MR. CREEL:
I heartily approve of the suggestion you have made that
through your Committee some effort be made to co-ordinate
the work of the various bureaus, departments, and agencies
148
THE SPEAKING DIVISION
interested in presenting from the platform various phases of the
national task. With the co-operation of the departments, the
Food Administration, the Council of National Defense, and the
Committee on Public Information, it would seem possible to
enlist the many state and private organizations who have put
the nation's cause above every other issue and stand ready to
participate in a speaking campaign that shall give to the people
that fullness of information which will enable and inspire each
citizen to play intelligently his part in the greatest and most
vital struggle ever undertaken by self-governing nations.
Your suggestion of Mr. Arthur E. Bestor, president of Chau-
tauqua Institution, to direct this work is excellent. You are
fortunate to be able to enlist one who has been so intimately
connected with a great American educational institution devoted
to popular instruction without prejudice or partizanship.^
Cordially and sincerely yours,
WOODROW WILSON.
Certain general policies were followed from the very
beginning with such modifications as from time to time
became necessary. It was not the purpose of the division
to attempt to combine the speakers' bureaus of the several
departments or private organizations, nor to assume any
responsibility for supervision over them, but rather to
establish a bureau to co-ordinate their efforts where they
related to common aims or activities. It was the purpose
to seek co-operation among these speakers' bureaus by
agreement and consultation; to offer a national clearing-
house for speaking campaigns; to avoid duplication of
effort and overlapping of territory; to supply speakers
with usable information from government departments;
to concentrate the attention of speakers during special
periods upon different national needs; and to foster in
all speakers a sense of the unity of the national purpose.
There was never an attempt to control and supervise the
speaking of the country the problem was simply one of
co-operation and co-ordination.
Through the medium of bulletins, conferences, and cor-
11 149
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
respondence, a direct relationship was maintained with
every government department, patriotic society, Chamber
of Commerce, Rotary Club, and similar associations,
and by this means a machinery was created by which
national speakers could be routed at short notice, with a
certainty of large audiences.
It was in direct line with his work, though seemingly
outside of it, that Mr. Bestor went from state to state in
the interests of better organization. His first trips were
concerned almost entirely with the State Councils of
Defense, and, it was in consequence of these meetings
that the great series of war conferences was held. Our
idea was that the facts and necessities of war must
be carried not only to every home in the cities and
towns, but to hamlets and the most remote farm-houses
as well.
Forty-five war conferences were held in thirty-seven
states, and, in addition, local conferences were called in
various sections. These official gatherings brought to-
gether all the effective war-workers in the state, usually
occupied two days, and in addition to the general meetings
addressed by the speakers sent out by the division there
were sectional conferences held by federal and state
officials who were carrying on war-work. These war
conferences were oftentimes the greatest gatherings held
within the states during the war. They had a profound
effect upon public opinion and upon the efficient organi-
zation of state war-work. Usually the state-wide con-
ferences were followed by county and town conferences
of the same character.
A card catalogue of over ten thousand speakers and
makers of public opinion was eventually gathered, and a
select list of three hundred effective speakers. Whenever
a request was made for an individual address, a list was
prepared of those available for such service. This resulted
150
THE SPEAKING DIVISION
in many appointments being made by organizations direct
with speakers recommended by the division.
It became more and more the practice, however, for
the division to assume entire charge of all tours. When
some distinguished speaker volunteered his services for
a week or a month, or even longer, it was the obvious
dictate of common sense that his time and value should
not be wasted. A steady and practical sequence of en-
gagements had to be arranged, and this called for the
central control and direction that only the Speaking Di-
vision was in a position to give.
In co-operation with the British War Mission, engage-
ments were made for Sir Frederick E. Smith, the British
Attorney-General; Sir Walter Lawrence, Sir George Adam
Smith, Gen. H. D. Swinton, Col. A. C. Murray, Maj. Ian
Hay Beith, Lieut. Hector MacQuarrie, Hon. Harald Smith,
Maj. Robert Massie, and Maj. Laughlin McLean Watt.
All were successes except Sir Frederick Smith, who proved
only irritating and offensive.
Lieutenant MacQuarrie was a peculiarly effective speak-
er, giving ninety-three addresses in four months in nine
states, everywhere arousing enthusiasm. Hon. Crawford
Vaughan, ex-Premier of South Australia, a noted labor
leader, was brought across the continent by the division,
spoke at several of the war conferences, and gave in all
twenty-two addresses under the auspices of the division
until he became connected with the United States Ship-
ping Board.
The French High Commission permitted us to make
engagements for M. Maurice Casenave and M. Edouard
de Billy, and placed at our disposal Countess Madeleine
de Bryas, Captain Paul Perigord, and Lieutenant Wierz-
bicki for national tours. Of all those who spoke in Amer-
ica during the war, native or foreign, Captain Perigord,
the warrior-priest, must be given first rank. This is not
151
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
to be taken as disparagement of the others, for Captain
Perigord was virtually in a class by himself. French by
birth, the outbreak of the war found him a priest in St.
Paul, serving in the Catholic University. Returning at
once to his native land, he went into the ranks as a private,
fought in battle after battle, and at Verdun won his com-
mission, leading the charge of a few heroes when every
officer had been killed. Blessed with a voice like an organ
note, he was more than a great speaker; he seemed in-
spired. For seven months he went about the country,
making 152 speeches in all, many of them to audiences
that numbered thousands, only quitting when sheer ex-
haustion brought him to a sick-bed from which he liked
not to have arisen.
Countess de Bryas was second only to Captain Perigord,
for in addition to brains and real oratorical ability she
had youth and beauty. Accompanied by her sister, the
Countess Jacqueline, she toured America from Atlantic
to Pacific, from North to South, speaking in cities and vil-
lages, before social and commercial organizations, in fac-
tories and churches, driving home the message of France,
and making Americans realize America. She was pecul-
iarly effective in factories, for her simplicity and sincerity
went straight to the hearts of workers, and her proudest
possession was a collection of grimy gloves made unwear-
able by the toil-stained hands of the hundreds who crowded
around her at the close of every meeting. As in the case
of Captain Perigord, Countess de Bryas broke under the
strain imposed upon her, but, recovering after an illness
of weeks, resumed her tour and carried it through to the
agreed conclusion.
The Speaking Division also handled the engagements
of the following officials of our own government:
Dr. Vernon Kellogg, Maj. W. L. Brown, Dr. Henry
J. Waters, and Dr. Henry C. Culbertson, of the Food
152
THE SPEAKING DIVISION
Administration; and Dr. Anna Shaw and Miss Ida Tar-
bell, of the Woman's Committee of the Council of National
Defense.
Hon. Wesley Frost, former consul at Queenstown, and
the official reporter of eighty-one submarine sinkings,
created profound sensation in his transcontinental tours,
and from September to February gave sixty-three addresses
in twenty-nine states for the Speaking Division.
Charles Edward Russell, a member of the President's
Commission to Russia, who was particularly effective
before labor audiences, gave fifty-eight addresses from
October to February in all parts of the country. Con-
gressman Albert Johnson, just back from the front, deliv-
ered nineteen addresses in nine states from December to
February.
In co-operation with the Friends of German Democ-
racy, Mr. Henry Riesenburg made twenty-seven addresses
in nineteen states; Dr. Frank Bohn, nine addresses in
three states; Dr. William H. Bohn, twenty-six addresses
in three states; Dr. Karl Mathie, eighteen addresses in
two states; and Prof. A. E. Koenig, nine addresses.
Some of the best features of the work were not the product
of plan, but sprang entirely from lucky accident. One
evening, at a dinner given by the French High Commission,
Marquis Crequi Montfort de Courtivron asked me, in
his precise English, if I knew where Richmond was. I
gave him the necessary information and casually asked
him why he wanted to know. He answered that his wife
was a daughter of Prince Camille de Polignac, who had
fought through the Civil War under the flag of the Con-
federacy, rising to the rank of general. On his death-bed
in France the year before, General Prince de Polignac had
asked his daughter to return his sword to the state of Vir-
ginia, and it was this sacred commission that the Marquis
desired to discharge.
153
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Here, as if made to order, was a splendid opportunity
to reach the entire South with the message of France.
Not only did the Marquise de Courtivron bear the sword
of her father, but her husband was a distinguished French
officer, and in the United States also was her cousin, the
Marquis de Polignac, who had married an American
woman, Mrs. James Eustace, of New York, only a short
time before.
Getting in communication with the governor of Vir-
ginia, Mr. Bestor gained an official invitation for the party,
and the governors of other Southern states, informed of
the visit, begged that the itinerary might be extended to
take in their capitals. By way of offsetting the titles
in case of any such prejudice, we added Mr. Charles
Edward Russell to the party, that distinguished Socialist,
who was also one of the greatest speakers that ever ad-
dressed a patriotic audience. The trip, commencing in
Richmond and ending in New Orleans, was a whirlwind
of enthusiasm, and did as much as any one thing to drive
home the facts of war.
Another feature was the American tour of Capt.
Roald Amundsen, in many respects the most powerful
individual in Scandinavia. We persuaded Captain Am-
undsen to go to the American lines in France for a visit
of inspection, and then we managed to bring him to the
United States, sending him to every part of the country
where Scandinavian peoples were gathered in any quantity.
Inasmuch as the division had relations with state
Councils of Defense in practically all the states and with
various organizations like the Chambers of Commerce,
Rotary Clubs, and others that had ready-made audiences,
the division came more and more to be the organization to
handle tours for patriotic purposes which were other than
merely speaking tours. The French Blue Devils, for in-
stance, were routed under the auspices of the division,
154
THE SPEAKING DIVISION
and the 344 Belgian soldiers returning from Russia were
brought across the continent by the division. The fifty
American soldiers sent by General Pershing to aid in the
Third Liberty Loan were, at the conclusion of that loan,
routed by the division for one month and heard in prac-
tically all of the states.
Mr. Bestor's experience as president of the Chautauqua
Institution, as well as his force and ability, was the principal
factor in driving the work of the Speaking Division to
complete success. Poor Bestor! No grand-opera im-
presario ever had greater difficulties, for many of our
orators had all the temperament of a prima donna and
had to be humored to a point where homicide appealed
as necessary and justifiable. And the booking of an
organization like the Blue Devils or Pershing's Veterans
required as much work as the routing of a score of theatri-
cal companies. Prof. J. J. Pettijohn, director of the ex-
tension division of Indiana University and head of the
Indiana State Speakers' Bureau, became associate di-
rector of the division on May 6, 1918, and from June was
in active charge in the absence of Mr. Bestor, until the
consolidation of the division with the Four Minute Men,
when he became the associate director of that division.
His wide experience in popular education and his ability
as an organizer were of great value to the division in the
last months of its separate organization.
Prof. Thomas F. Moran of Purdue University was
loaned to the division by that institution for service from
January to April, and performed brilliant service in the
editing of the bulletins and in addresses before the Southern
war conferences and individual addresses before many
audiences. Mr. W. Frank McClure, publicity director
of the Redpath Bureau, Chicago, was another who rendered
useful and devoted service.
XIII
THE ADVERTISING DIVISION
THE work of the Committee was so distinctly in the
nature of an advertising campaign, though shot
through and through with an evangelical quality, that we
turned almost instinctively to the advertising profession
for advice and assistance. As it happened, however,
there was a sad lack of accord in the initial contacts be-
tween the government and the advertising experts. When
the First Liberty Loan was announced a committee headed
by Herbert Houston, William H. Rankin, and O. C. Harn
came to Washington to urge a campaign based upon the
outright purchase of advertising space in newspapers
and other mediums.
There was no question as to the patriotism of the men,
nor do I think that there was much doubt as to the value
and efficiency of their plan. When one considers the dis-
ruption of business occasioned by each Liberty Loan and
the appalling waste in stupid or misapplied energy, the
conviction grows that paid advertising controlled, authori-
tative, driving to its mark with the precision of a rifle-ball
would have been quicker, simpler, and in the end far
cheaper.
It was in the first days of war enthusiasm, however,
and there was a definite repugnance to any suggestion
that savored of profit. "Voluntary" was the magic word,
and even though it took five dollars to secure the gift of a
156
THOMAS CUSACK JESSE H. NEALE 0. C. HARN
THE ADVERTISING DIVISION
dime, there was a glamour about the donation that blinded
every one to the economic waste. Aside from this, adver-
tising was regarded as a business, not a profession, and the
majority looked upon the advertising agent with suspicion,
even when he was not viewed frankly as a plausible pirate
belonging to the same school of endeavor as the edition-
de-luxe book canvasser.
In any event, the advertising experts withdrew from
Washington, feeling somewhat as though casualties had
been sustained, but instead of sulking they proceeded to
prove themselves and their theories by actual demon-
stration. Among other things, Mr. Rankin evolved what
came to be known as the "Chicago Plan," being the pur-
chase of space in the press by individuals or groups, and
the donation of this space to the uses of government.
As general director of a Red Cross drive in Chicago, for
instance, he had induced a number of business men to
stand the cost of thirty-five full-page advertisements in
the daily papers, with the result that every dollar member-
ship was secured at an expense of two and a half cents
as opposed to an expense of twenty-three cents per member
in New York, where all effort was "voluntary."
The "Chicago Plan" was applied to the First Liberty
Loan by almost every advertising club and agent in the
country, and it is safe to say that fully one million dollars
were contributed to the campaign, the donated space
being filled with effective appeals prepared by selling
experts. In Muncie, Indiana, where full dependence was
placed upon the Rankin idea, not a single solicitor being
used to sell bonds, the city more than doubled its quota
in record time.
The Second Liberty Loan saw much the same achieve-
ments on the part of the advertising fraternity, and the
showing gave me opportunity, even as it afforded justi-
fication, for recognition of advertising as a real profession,
157
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
and to include it as an honorable and integral part of the
war-machinery of government. As a result of our recom-
mendation the following executive order was issued:
I hereby create, under the jurisdiction of the Committee
on Public Information, heretofore established by executive
order of April 14, 1917, a Division of Advertising for the pur-
pose of receiving through the proper channels the generous
offers of the advertising forces of the nation to support the
effort of the government to inform public opinion properly and
adequately.
[Signed] WOODROW WILSON.
This authority was instantly exercised by the appoint-
ment of a board of control composed of the following
presidents of the leading advertising organizations:
Mr. William H. Johns, chairman, president of the Ameri-
can Association of Advertising Agencies, representing 115
leading firms of this kind in the country; Mr. Thomas
Cusack, one of the acknowledged leaders of the poster
and painted bulletin industry; Mr. W. C. D'Arcy, presi-
dent of the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World,
representing 180 advertising clubs with a combined mem-
bership of 17,000; Mr. O. C. Harn, chairman of the
National Commission of the Associated Advertising Clubs
of the World; Mr. Herbert S. Houston, formerly presi-
dent of the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World;
Mr. Lewis B. Jones, president of the Association of National
Advertisers; and Mr. Jesse H. Neal, executive secretary
of the Associated Business Papers, consisting of 500 lead-
ing trade and technical publications.
By this one stroke of President Wilson's pen every
advertising man in the United States was enrolled in
America's second line, and from the very moment of their
enrolment we could feel the quickening of effort, the
intensification of endeavor. Offices were taken in the
158
THE ADVERTISING DIVISION
Metropolitan Tower in New York, a skilled force assembled,
and from these headquarters the generals directed the
energies of an army of experts.
A first effort, as a matter of course, was in connection
with the advertising space, and donations of space, made
by the publishers of national magazines, trade and agri-
cultural papers, and theater programs in all the principal
cities. Over 800 publishers of monthly and weekly periodi-
cals gave space worth $159,275 per month for the duration
of the war, and this was increasing monthly when the
armistice terminated the arrangement. In addition, ad-
vertisers themselves purchased $340,981 worth of space
in various nationally circulated periodicals and turned it
over to the Division of Advertising to use for government
purposes. These were definite purchases for 1918, but
indications had already been given that renewals would
follow in 1919. Figuring on a yearly basis, these donations
totaled approximately $2,250,000, but only about $1,594,-
000 was used, owing to the sudden cessation of activities.
The same plan was used in connection with the billboards
and painted signs, and while exact figures are not obtain-
able, a just estimate of these donations cannot be put
under $250,000.
Never was there a machinery that operated with such
automatic efficiency. Through its Washington repre-
sentative, Mr. Carl Wai berg, the division maintained
direct contact with every branch of the American war
effort, and whether it was the Treasury Department, the
War Department, or the navy, the Shipping Board or the
Food Administration, the Red Cross or the Fuel Adminis-
tration, all that was necessary was the plain statement of
the specific need. Mr. Johns and his associates did the
rest. They studied the problem, planned the campaign,
decided upon the agency best fitted to prepare the copy,
or, as was more often the case, three or four agencies were
159
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
instructed to turn in copy. When the selection had been
made, the copy was turned over to the Division of Pictorial
Publicity for illustration by some artist, then decision as
to the publications best suited to the particular message,
after which the plates went out.
Aside from newspaper and trade-press advertising, the
use of billboards and the painted sign, another element
of tremendous publicity value was contributed by the
International Association of Display Men. This organi-
zation appointed a National War Service Committee on
window displays, the chairman of which, Mr. C. J. Potter,
took a desk in the New York offices of the Division of Ad-
vertising and not only turned over to the division the entire
window-display resources of the association in six hundred
cities, but directed the entire work of creating patriotic
window displays throughout the country so that, timed to
the minute, they supplemented the division's campaigns
in the periodicals. The window-display committee was
instrumental in the building of sixty thousand reported
displays on various government subjects, and probably
hundreds more unreported.
Perhaps a detailed description of one particular job will
give a clearer conception of the energy, originality, and high
value of the Committee's advertising associates and their
organized method of work. For instance, it was the nation's
task to register thirteen million men on September 12th.
The enormous amount of detail compelled unavoidable
delay, and as a result about two weeks were allowed to
the office of the Provost-Marshal-General in which to reach
every American between eighteen and forty-five with
specific information and instructions.
Every resource of the Committee was put at the service
of General Crowder, but the great burden of effort fell
entirely upon the Division of Advertising. Through Mr.
W 7 alberg these men made a quick and authoritative study
160
THE ADVERTISING DIVISION
of the problem and outlined a nation-wide campaign that
was altered in no detail, and that carried through the regis-
tration without a single hitch.
Expert copy-writers, working night and day, put the
facts of registration in advertising form, the Division of
Pictorial Publicity furnished illustrations, display experts
put the product into type, and the whole was issued as
an Advertising Service Bulletin and sent to every adver-
tiser and advertising agent in the United States. Here,
then, in form ready to use, was advertising copy in any
space from one column to a page, suitable to any medium
from a metropolitan daily to a country weekly, and through
the generosity of local advertisers and the efforts of local
advertising clubs these direct appeals went into the press
of the United States. One full-page advertisement went
to every agricultural, trade, and technical journal, while
other class publications were dealt with in the same special-
ized manner.
The next publication was a Selective Service Register
a regular newspaper with one side of the sheet given over
entirely to questions and answers, specific instructions,
and general appeals; the other side a striking poster,
blazoning the fundamental facts of registration. News-
papers and individuals, after reading or copying the stories,
were then able to paste or hang up the sheet in such manner
as to let the poster carry its message to every passer-by.
The Division of Distribution, augmenting its force
and working day and night shifts, distributed some 20,-
000,000 copies of the two publications to the following
addresses: 18,000 newspapers, 11,000 national advertisers
and agencies, 10,000 chambers of commerce and their
members, 30,000 manufacturers' associations, 22,000 labor
unions, 10,000 public libraries, 32,000 banks, 58,000 gen-
eral stores, 3,500 Young Men's Christian Association
branches, 10,000 members of the Council of National
161
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Defense, 1,000 advertising clubs, 56,000 post-offices,
55,000 railroad station agents, 5,000 draft boards, 100,000
Red Cross organizations, 12,000 manufacturers' agents.
The foreign-language groups were reached by the estab-
lishment of direct contacts with 600 papers printed in
nineteen different languages. Every advertisement, every
instruction, and every appeal was translated into all of
these tongues and the papers turned over their news and
advertising columns with a generosity not surpassed by the
native press. Fully 5,000,000 citizens were instructed
in this direct fashion.
Another problem was the rural districts far from rail-
roads and not reached by the press. A special mailing-
card was devised and sent to 43,000 Rural Free Delivery
routes, 18,000 of which were out on railroads. Other
cards, brilliant and effective, were planned, printed, and
put in the street-cars of the country, while almost over-
night the poster and sign-board people swung into action
and plastered the dead walls and boards of the nation
with stirring appeals. Added to this, more than 37,000
registration posters were displayed in the store-windows
of some 600 cities.
The output of the Division of Advertising, with its
careful analysis of the details of registration, served also
as ammunition for the Four Minute Men, and fifty thou-
sand speakers backed up the printed word. Even the
Division of Films was brought into the team-play.
The following excerpt from a letter addressed to the
Division of Advertising may be accepted as the general
attitude of the entire War Department:
Over and above the fine organization of the Committee's
staff, as a whole, what has impressed me particularly in your
division is the thoroughness with which you have organized the
patriotic assistance of private citizens in contributing to the
public service rendered by the Committee. It is genuinely
162
THE ADVERTISING DIVISION
American in its method this voluntary union of individual
citizens to accomplish these results which in some continental
countries are left to the vast army of government officials.
[Signed] E. H. CHOWDER,
Provost-Marshal-General.
In similar fashion the division planned and prepared
the Shipping Board's campaign for 250,000 shipyard
volunteers, swung into line on the Third and Fourth Liberty
Loans, and handled special drives for the Department of
Agriculture, the Council of National Defense, the Fuel
and Food Commissions, the United War Work Drive,
and the Red Cross. It was the division, by the way, that
conceived the idea of that wonderful drawing " The Great-
est Mother in the World," since used as the official Red
Cross symbol, and appealing to the heart of humanity
from every dead wall in every country.
"Smileage" was another victory for the division. The
Commission on Training Camp Activities, it may be re-
membered, devised a system of camp theaters to which a
small admission fee was charged. Ticket-books, known
as "Smileage," were issued with the idea that the civilian
population should buy them and present them to the
soldiers so that the boys might not be put even to a mini-
mum of expense. The Division of Advertising, almost in
the very first week of its existence, took hold of this mori-
bund plan and breathed the breath of a new life into it.
The Smileage advertiser was prepared and printed an
eight-page publication containing every known kind and
size of "display ad." attractively illustrated and through
donations of space by both press and merchants in each
community these advertisements were reproduced until
they reached the eye of virtually every American. Inside
of three weeks the supply of printed books was sold out
entirely and "Smileage," instead of sinking deeper into
failure, rose to conspicuous success.
163
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
When the Department of Labor launched its plan of
government employment offices, Mr. Walberg carried the
idea to the Division of Advertising, and the result was
another demonstration of efficiency. The United States
Employment Service Bulletin was issued sixteen pages of
sample "ads." and 60,000 copies were circulated to the
press, manufacturers, and advertisers. More than 11,000
printed advertisements, ranging from one column to a
page, were received by the Labor Department, showing
the extent to which the contents of the bulletin had been
copied.
With equal intelligence and enthusiasm, the division
put itself back of the Committee in each and all of its
undertakings. By way of experiment, the Committee
sent some war trophies and war material to San Francisco,
calling it the Allied War Exposition. The Division of
Advertising saw its possibilities instantly, and it was due
to its insistence, and a promise of its aid, that we changed
the plan into the United States Government War Ex-
position, enlarging and broadening the exhibit, and sent
it across the country from coast to coast. In Chicago,
for instance, we took the entire Lake front, erected build-
ings and dug trenches, and in two weeks more than two
million people entered the gates, our books showing a
clean profit of $318,000 at the close.
As in every other activity of the Committee, there is
no exact method by which the value of the division's
services can be measured in terms of money. We have
record of advertising space in national mediums to the
amount of $1,594,000. We know that the contributions
of street-car advertising, billboards, and painted signs
totaled about $250,000. No approximation can be made,
however, of the thousands of columns used in the daily
press, scores of miscellaneous donations, and the almost
weekly window displays in 600 cities. Nor is it possible
164
THE ADVERTISING DIVISION
to figure the value of the volunteer aid rendered by agen-
cies and employees, for not only was every hour of time
an absolute gift, but not one cent of charge was ever made
for services, or even for materials. When all is said and
done, it may be stated in perfect safety that the contri-
butions of the Division of Advertising, had they been paid
for, would have cost the government $5,000,000.
Money, however, is a poor measure of value in connection
with the importances of life. Far above the donations
of ability and space were the generous enthusiasms that
every advertising man brought to bear upon the war effort
of America. Had the Committee done nothing else, its
existence would have been justified by the decision that
gave advertising the dignity of a profession and incor-
porated its dynamic abilities in American team-play.
12
XIV
THE "AMERICANIZERS"
THERE is a certain sect in America that, for lack of a
more forceful epithet, may be termed "American-
izers." It was particularly active in the months that
followed April, 1917. With the passion for minding other
people's business that is the distinguishing mark of the sect,
some of its disciples descended upon the humble tenement
home of a Bohemian family in Chicago during the first
summer of the war.
"We are here," the spokesman announced, impressively,
"in the interests of Americanization."
"I'm sorry," faltered the woman of the house, "but
you'll have to come back next week."
"What!" The cry was a choice compound of protest
and reproach. "You mean that you have no time for
our message! That you want to put off your entrance
into American life?"
"No, no!" The poor Bohemian woman fell straightway
into a panic, for not even a policeman has the austere
authoritativeness of those who elect themselves to be
light-bringers. "We're perfectly willing to be American-
ized. Why, we never turn any of them away. But
there's nobody home but me. All the boys volunteered,
my man's working on munitions, and all the rest are out
selling Liberty Bonds. I don't want you to get mad,
but can't you come back next week?"
This incident, true as gospel even if anecdotal, serves
166
THE "AMERICANIZERS"
the purpose of volumes in setting forth accurately the war
attitudes of both native-born and immigrant aliens. On
the part of the native American there was often a firm
conviction that our declaration of war carried an instant
knowledge of English with it, and that all who persisted
in speaking any other tongue after April 6, 1917, were
either actual or potential "disloyalists," objects of merited
suspicion and distrust; on the part of the overwhelming
majority of aliens there was an almost passionate desire
to serve America that was impeded at every turn by the
meannesses of chauvinism and the brutalities of prejudice,
as well as the short-sightedness of ignorance.
Yet as long as history is read it will stand as a monument
to the democratic experiment that in an hour of confusion
and hysteria the American theory of unity stood the iron
test of practice. For the most part, those of foreign birth
or descent kept the faith in spite of every bitterness
the great mass of the native population held to justice
in spite of every incitement to hatred and persecution.
And out of the test emerged an America triumphant,
strengthened, and unstained!
Speaking in terms of percentage, the amount of actual
disloyalty was not large enough even to speck the shining
patriotism of the millions of Americans that we refer to
as "adopted." Nothing in the world was ever so smashed
by developments as all those pre-war apprehensions that
filled us with gloom. Who does not remember the fears
of "wholesale disloyalty" that shook us daily? There
were to be "revolutions" in Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cin-
cinnati; armed uprisings here, there, and everywhere;
small armies herding thousands of rebellious enemy aliens
into huge internment camps; incendiarism, sabotage,
explosions, murder, domestic riot. No imagination was
too meager to paint a picture of America's adopted chil-
dren turning faces of hatred to the motherland.
167
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
The President went before Congress, a state of war
was accepted formally, and even as one army gathered
in the cantonments, another went out over the land to
watch, to search, to listen. The Department of Justice
had already in the field a large, intelligent, and well-trained
organization; there was also the Secret Service of the
Treasury Department, and into being swiftly sprang
Military Intelligence, Naval Intelligence, Shipping Board
Intelligence, etc.; and, by way of climax, the American
Protective League, an organization of two hundred and
fifty thousand "citizen volunteers" formed with the sanc-
tion of the Attorney-General and operated under the direc-
tion of the Bureau of Investigation.
Never was a country so thoroughly contra-espionaged !
Not a pin dropped in the home of any one with a foreign
name but that it rang like thunder on the inner ear of some
listening sleuth! And with what result?
A scientific system of registration, prescribed by law,
revealed that there were about five hundred thousand
German "enemy aliens" living in the United States, and
between three and four million "Austro-Hungarian enemy
aliens." These figures, as a matter of course, did not
include the millions of naturalized citizens, or the sons
and daughters of such millions. Out of this large number
just six thousand were adjudged sufficiently disaffected to
be detained under presidential warrants! Even a per-
centage of these, as a matter of common sense and justice,
were eventually released from the army internment camps
under a strict parole system.
As for criminal prosecutions, 1,532 persons were arrested
under the provisions of the Espionage Act prohibiting dis-
loyal utterance, propaganda, etc.; 65 persons for threats
against the President; 10 persons for sabotage; and under
the penal code, with relation to conspiracy, 908 indict-
ments were returned, the last group including the I. W
168
THE "AMERICANIZERS"
W. cases. Even this does not spell guilt in every instance,
for there have been acquittals as well as convictions, and
many trials are yet to be held.
With full allowance for flagrant cases of intrigue and
treachery, for the disloyalists that may have escaped the
meshes of even so fine a net, for the disloyalty that can-
not be measured in terms of jail and indictment taken
all in all, no belligerent country, not even those invaded,
made as good a record of unity and loyalty.
After all the hubbub about "rebellion," "armed up-
risings," "monster internment camps," etc., the showing
was, to put it plainly, rather disappointing. In all of us
there is a certain savage something that thrills ,to the
man-hunt. People generally, and the press particularly,
were keyed up to a high pitch, an excited distrust of our
foreign population, and a percentage of editors and poli-
ticians were eager for a campaign of "hate" at home.
There is a simplicity about hate that makes it peculiarly
attractive to a certain type of mind. It makes no demand
on the mental processes, it does not require reading or
thinking, estimate or analysis, and by reason of its instant
removal of every doubt it gives an effect of decision, a
sense of well-being. When the facts developed by the
investigatory branches of government failed to provide
sound foundation for a "hate campaign," these editors,
politicians, and what not, commenced to build a little foun-
dation of their own. Officials were arraigned for inefficiency
and spinelessness, "firing-squads" were demanded with
frequency and passion, and fake after fake was sprung,
many of them laughable but for their appeals to preju-
dice and hysteria.
Take just one typical instance out of many: A man
whose name need not be mentioned was arrested in De-
cember, 1917, and on the heels of his arrest these exagger-
ations were printed in rapid succession: that he was a
169
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
former German officer of high rank; that he was a master
spy known to have been in communication with Bernstorff,
Boy-Ed, and other high German officers prior to our decla-
ration of war; that he arrived in this country on the sub-
marine U-53; that after the commencement of the Euro-
pean War he went back to Germany and later returned
to the United States; that at times he disguised himself
in the uniform of an American army officer; that he was
arrested while in the act of lighting a fuse or match for an
American army magazine; that a number of men were
known to have been employed in his spy machinations;
that money was advanced to him by the German spy
system, etc. As a matter of fact, all the investigators
and investigations failed to prove anything more than
that he was a German reservist, in this country since 1910,
and a poor sort, unable to hold any job long.
Every fire, every explosion in a munition-plant, every
accident on land or sea, was straightway credited to the
"spy system"; if the cut in a child's hand didn't heal
quickly, then the "Germans" had put germs in all the
court-plaster; if any experiment in submarine or aircraft
factory failed, it was undoubtedly because the "spies"
had tampered with delicate mechanism or dropped acid
on the wires; if a woman's headache didn't yield to reme-
dies, then the "Germans" had "doped" the particular
pill or powder. I am not saying that none of these things
happened; but what happened was out of all proportion
to the dimensions of the mad rumors that swept the country ;
yet through it all the great, splendid majority of America's
"aliens" stood fast, discharging their full duty to the
United States in a manner that shamed the patriotism
of many an heir to the traditions of Plymouth Rock.
In the year and a half of my chairmanship of the Com-
mittee on Public Information, a stream of people poured
through the office daily, of all colors, creeds, and races;
170
THE "AMERICANIZERS"
and out of that nightmare of solicitation, selfish purposes,
and personal aggrandizements I can recall with gratitude
that never once did any foreign-born American come to
me for any other purpose than an offer of service to the
United States or some plan of sacrifice. When it comes
to motives, of course, I am unable to estimate the possible
weight of caution or fear; but the mere fact is too signifi-
cant to be negligible.
Among the six thousand people interned were many
Germans as full of disloyalty as an adder is full of venom.
There were Germans, Austrians, and Hungarians in the
United States not interned, who hid disloyalty in their
hearts; nor may it be denied that there is still a great
work to do among the German population to burn 'away
entirely the last trace of Deutschtum. But against this
minority must be balanced an overwhelming majority
of Germans who offered their lives to cleanse the honor
stained by the treachery and ingratitude of others.
It is estimated by military authorities that from 10
to 15 per cent, of the American Expeditionary Forces
were men of German birth or origin. How they conducted
themselves on the firing-line is a matter of history, for in
the imperishable records of the War Department Ameri-
cans of foreign birth and descent have written the story
of their valor on every page. In the list of those cited
for distinguished service by General Pershing, nothing
is more significant than the fact that name after name
betokens other than native origin. Here are a few illus-
trative samples:
Lieutenant Kuehlman, Field Engineers: "Sent on night
of August fifth-sixth to make a reconnaissance of all pos-
sible means of crossing the river Vesle, near Fismes,
France. It had been reported that the Germans had all
retreated from the south bank of the river, but he found
that such was not the case; they were there in force;
171
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
nevertheless, such was his bravery and determination that
he crossed into and through the German lines, made a
full reconnaissance, and returned with his report."
First Lieutenant Frank Baer, S. R. C. pilot, 103d Aero
Pursuit Squadron: "For the following repeated acts of
extraordinary heroism in action, April 5, 12, and 13, May
8 and 21, 1918, Lieutenant Baer is awarded a bronze oak
leaf to be worn on the Distinguished Service Cross awarded
him April 12, 1918. Lieutenant Baer brought down
enemy 'planes on April 5, April 12, and on April 21, 1918.
On May 4, 1918, he destroyed two German machines and
on May 21st he destroyed his eighth enemy 'plane."
Private Bernard Schuliheis: "When the infantry was
advancing in a position exposed to cross-fire, volunteered
and carried a message to advancing troops, informing them
that the machine-gun barrage laid down on the enemy
emplacements was friendly fire from a unit not in their
support and acting without orders to cover the advance.
He delivered the message, returned across an open field
swept by enemy machine-guns, and thereby made it pos-
sible for the infantry unit to advance four hundred meters
and gain its objective."
Sergeant John Blohm: "From a shell-hole in which he
had taken shelter while returning from a successful day-
light patrol across the Vesle River, Sergeant Blohm saw
a corporal of his patrol dragging himself through the grass
and bleeding profusely from a wound in his neck. He
unhesitatingly left his shelter, carried the corporal behind
a tree near the river-bank, dressed his wounds, and, using
boughs from a fallen tree as an improvised raft, towed
the injured man across the river and carried him two
hundred yards over an open field to the American outpost
line, all under continuous rifle and machine-gun fire."
The Distinguished Service Cross went posthumously
to the following: Sergeant L. W. Pilcher, Corporal R.
172
THE "AMERICANIZERS"
McC. Fischer, Corporal Charles Auer, Corporal V. M.
Schwab, Sergeant Bernard Werner.
As it was with our German-born, so it was in even
larger degree with all the other foreign elements in our
population.
Throughout its existence, the Committee on Public
Information maintained intimate contact with over twenty
foreign-language groups, and while this contact had its
tremendous depression, there were also splendid inspi-
rations. It was inspiring to see the passion of the immi-
grant peoples for freedom, their pathetic devotion to the
professed ideals of America, their determination to be
"real" Americans, and to watch their devotion persist
in spite of persecution, neglect, and misunderstanding;
it was depressing to discover how little America had done
for them, how small a part the alien played in America's
love and thought.
Nothing is more true than that people "do not live by
bread alone." The great majority live on catch phrases.
For years the United States had discharged its duty to
the immigrant by glib reference to the melting-pot, and yet
it has been years since the melting-pot has done any melt-
ing to speak of. These hopeful thousands, coming to the
land of promise with their hearts in their hands, have been
treated with every indifference, and only in the most
haphazard way have they been brought into touch with the
bright promise of American life.
Cheated by employers, lawyers, loan sharks, and em-
ployment agencies; excluded from American social and
religious life as "wops," "Dagoes," and "hunkies"; given
opportunity to learn English only at casual night-schools
after brain-deadening days of toil; herded in ghettoes and
foreign quarters by their poverties and ignorances ; and then,
after all this, when war brought these millions to our
attention, we actually wondered why they had not been
173
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
"Americanized," and cried out against foreign languages,
a "foreign press," and a "foreign pulpit" as evidences
of disloyalty.
In spite of the past, with all of its cruelties and despairs,
the foreign-born were loyal, and, what is even more in-
spiring, they grew in loyalty despite new persecutions
initiated by mistaken patriotism. For instance, the gov-
ernor of Iowa proclaimed the following rules:
"First English should and must be the only medium
of instruction in public, private, denominational, or other
similar schools.
"Second Conversation in public places, on trains, or
over the telephone should be in the English language.
" Third All public addresses should be in the English
language.
"Fourth Let those who cannot speak or understand
the English language conduct their religious worship in
their homes."
In other states, similar prohibitions were put into effect,
and sudden and fundamental changes were worked not
only in the schools, churches, and the press, but in the
whole social structure. No effort at distinction was made
the language of Allied and neutral countries being put
under the ban as well as enemy languages.
There can be no denial of the evil that was attempted
to be cured. In our schools, our churches, our press, and
in our social life, English should be the one accepted language,
and this must of necessity be our goal. But it was crimi-
nal to let the ideal of to-morrow alter the facts of to-day.
We faced the conditions that there were hundreds of
thousands of foreigners in the United States who could
not speak any language but their own and through no
fault of their own. The drive against the use of foreign
languages, either written or spoken, merely shut off these
thousands from contact with American life, with the
174
THE "AMERICANIZERS"
danger of pushing them farther into ignorance and aloof-
ness, and robbing us of the opportunity to win their under-
standing and co-operation.
The Czechoslovaks were the first to come to us with
reports of the cruelties and injustices worked by these
regulations in the various states. A great people indom-
itable, devoted! Over sixty thousand fought in the Amer-
ican army, thousands enlisting voluntarily at the outset
of war; there were about thirty thousand in the Czecho-
slovak army in Italy, and about ninety thousand fought
in Siberia. It will be news to many to learn that the first
real blow against German and American intrigue in the
United States was struck by the Bohemian National
Alliance. With the assistance of some Czechoslovak
officials at the Austrian consulates, and through a most
remarkable machinery of espionage, the Bohemians de-
feated plot after plot against America and brought out the
evidence that resulted in the recall of Dumba. The
Czechoslovak societies were the only ones that adopted
the rule that every member must own a Liberty bond.
Even these people, however, whose courage and loyalty
have become proverbs, were not spared persecution by
provincial ignorance. In one Texas town, virtually all
the young men of the Czechoslovak colony volunteered,
and their departure was made the occasion of a great demon-
stration. Many old people were there, and the speeches
were in the native tongue. Without any attempt to
inquire into the nature of the meeting, "native patriots"
threw rocks in the window, attacked the audience, and
drove them forth from the building as though they_had
been Huns caught in some atrocity.
In Iowa and Nebraska, meetings held to secure recruits
for the Czechoslovak army were broken up because English
was not used, and from scores of communities we received
pathetic letters telling how Bohemian parents, who had
175
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
given all their sons to the American army, were hounded
as traitors because they could not speak English.
The Council of Defense for Seward County, Nebraska,
requested all the churches in the district to conduct their
services in English, except one for old people who could
not understand English. The minister of the Danish
Lutheran church of Staplehurst, one Hansen, asked the
Council's permission to continue preaching in Danish
because he was not young when he came to America, also
because his bad ears had prevented him from learning
English sufficiently well to preach in it. The Council
denied his request and also refused him a year's grace
while he found other work to support himself and his
family.
The Danish Young People's Society of America changed
a "loyalty convention" from Iowa because forbidden
the use of Danish. Queerly enough, many of the members
of the society speak and understand Danish but poorly,
and, under ordinary circumstances, always use English
among themselves. But as 85 per cent, of the mem-
bers were serving in the United States army and navy,
the members deeply resented the charge that the use of
Danish in any way interfered with their patriotism.
Sheer stubbornness, of course, but exceedingly natural.
The Danes, Norse, and Swedes are proud people, and very
"set," and it stung them unbearably to be adjudged
unpatriotic in any degree and to have their native tongues
put under the ban along with German. But while they re-
sented and protested, even working hard to remember a
language half forgotten, they never failed to make them-
selves understood in every Liberty Loan drive, Red Cross
rally, or at every recruiting station.
All the while the foreign-born, patiently, indomitably,
were writing a record of devotion shot through with ser-
vice and sacrifice. In Milwaukee a group of Polish women
176
THE "AMERICANIZERS"
evolved an idea that spread all over the United States into
every racial group. In order that their husbands might
fight, these Polish women clubbed together by sixes and
eights, rented a house, selected from among themselves
a housekeeper who took care of the house and the children
while the other five or seven went to work. In this way,
their living expenses were cut down so that they could
not only support themselves and relieve their husbands
from any anxiety about them, but were even able to buy
Liberty bonds from their savings.
The Italians in the United States are about 4 per
cent, of the whole population, but the list of casualties
shows a full 10 per cent, of Italian names. More than
three hundred thousand Italians figured on the army list,
and in defense of the inner lines as well as on the firing-
lines they proved their devotion to their adopted country.
There was no shipyard, ammunition - factory, airplane-
factory, steel-mill, mine, lumber-camp, or docks in which
the Italians did not play a large part, and often the most
prominent part, in actual and efficient work. In some
places, such as mines and docks, the Italians reached
fully 30 per cent, of the total number of employees,
working at all times with full and affectionate loyalty
toward the government of the United States. For in-
stance, when a strike was threatened in one of the big
industrial centers, it was an Italian who jumped on a box
and cried, "If you leave work now, it will be as though
you were sneaking back out of a trench, abandoning your
comrades at the time of a fight when they need you most."
And the strike was averted.
The Lithuanians, of whom there are about one million
in the United States, gave thirty thousand soldiers to the
colors, 50 per cent, of them volunteers. At the close of
the Fourth Liberty Loan, the leaders assured us that there
was not a Lithuanian home in the United States in which
177
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
the family savings had not been invested in bonds or War
Savings Stamps.
There are about 15,000 Russians in the United States
army and the total contribution of Russians to the Fourth
Liberty Loan was $40,000,000.
The National Croatian Society, with a membership
of 42,000, did these three things: adopted one of the most
ringing declarations of loyalty ever penned; decreed ex-
pulsion for any member expressing a disloyal sentiment
or attempting to evade military service; bought $300,000
of Liberty bonds, and donated over $50,000 to Red Cross
work.
In the army were 60,000 men of Greek birth or descent,
and it is estimated that the Greek purchase of Liberty
bonds was well over $30,000,000 for the four drives, all
coming in small amounts that represented sacrifice.
It is a record that could be stretched out into pages,
for there is not a foreign-language group in the United
States that did not answer America's call with devotion
and understanding, pathetically proud of their Liberty
bonds and their service flags, and feeling every individual
instance of indifference or disloyalty as a stain and a shame.
But never at any time were we able to fix this record in
the consciousness of the American people or to induce
the press of the United States to give it prominence or even
recognition. It was infinite labor to get noted Americans
to address the foreign-language groups, and great loyalty
meetings of the foreign-born, where thousands pledged
lives and money and love, either went unnoticed by the
papers or were given an indifferent little note of two or
three lines.
As if prejudice, indifference, and misguided patriotism
were not handicaps enough in the fight for unity, politics
also played an ugly part in the drama of confusion.
Particularly was this true in the Northwest, where Scandi-
178
THE "AMERICANIZERS"
navians and Germans are in the majority among the
farmers. There is no doubt that many of these people
were pro-German at the outset, and, even after America's
entrance, pro-Germanism persisted by reason of well-
established lies and certain fundamental ignorances.
The Committee on Public Information, formed to fight
disaffection, attacked the Northwest at once. Our pam-
phlets and motion pictures, received somewhat coldly at
first, soon began to gain ground, and the next move was
to send speakers, for there is nothing like the give and take
of a public meeting to burn away misunderstanding.
The one organization that we wanted most particularly
to reach was the Nonpartisan League, for it had a mem-
bership that covered the Dakotas, Minnesota, Montana,
and Idaho, and, more than any other, was impregnated
with the lie about a "rich man's war."
The leaders of the Nonpartisan League came personally
to Washington to ask the government to commence a
campaign of patriotic education, and Minnesota was se-
lected for the initiation of the drive. Our speakers,
however, upon arrival in Minnesota, were informed by
the State Public Safety Commission that they would not
be allowed to address any meetings arranged by the
Nonpartisan League or under its auspices. There was
no quarrel with the men we sent, for the Commission
asked permission to use them in its own speaking campaign.
As we tried to explain to them, however, the main
purpose in sending speakers over the United States was not
to address those already enthusiastic in the national
service, but to reach and convert people out of touch and
sympathy with American thought and aims. Even if
the Nonpartisan League were disloyal, then the more
reason why our speakers should smash at its membership
with the truth. But the State Public Safety Commission
stood like iron, barred our speakers absolutely, and inaugu-
179
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
rated a campaign of terrorism that had its ugly reflex
among the farmers and labor unions in every state.
In summer the proscribed farmers were compelled to
hold Liberty Loan rallies or Red Cross meetings out in
the fields under the blazing sun, and in winter they huddled
in cowsheds and car-barns. Parades were stopped by
Home Guards or broken up by townsmen. Old men and
women were dragged from automobiles, and on one
wretched occasion a baby of six months was torn from its
mother's arms by the powerful stream from a fire-hose.
Tar-and-feather "parties" were common, and even de-
portations took place, men being driven from their homes
and from the very state because they had sons belonging
to the League.
There is no doubt as to the political nature of the per-
secution. The Nonpartisan League had carried the state
of North Dakota, and was showing such strength in
Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, and Idaho
as to arouse the alarm of Democratic and Republican
politicians. These leaders made no bones about confessing
that the disloyalty issue was the means by which they
hoped to crush and destroy the Nonpartisan League as
a political organization.
Such is the seeming invincibility of the democratic
ideal, however, that even campaigns of terrorism could
not drive its membership, largely German and Scandi-
navian, into disloyalty. North Dakota, where the League
elected every state officer, had a war record of which any
state might be proud.
The State Councils of Defense did splendid work, as
a rule, and the country owes much to them, but there were
exceptions that aroused far more anger than loyalty,
conducting themselves in a manner that would have been
lawless in any other than a "patriotic" body. During
Liberty Loan drives, for instance, it became a habit, in
180
THE "AMERICANIZERS"
certain sections, to compel a regular income return from
the foreign-born and the poorer classes. Men, claiming
authority, would visit these homes, insist upon a statement
of earnings, expenditures, savings, etc., and then calmly
announce the amount of the contribution that the dazed
victims were expected to make. Anything in the nature
of resistance was set down as "slacking" and "disloyalty,"
and some of the penalties visited were expulsion from the
community, personal ill treatment, or a pleasant little
attention like painting the house yellow. Of all the bit-
ternesses and disaffections reported to us, the majority
proceeded from this sort of terrorism, and it had results
that will be felt for years to come.
Another handicap in the fight for national unity soon
presented itself in the form of those volunteer patriotic
societies that sprang up over the land like mushrooms,
all sincere and loyal enough, but demoralizing often by
virtue of this very eagerness. These organizations col-
lected their funds by public appeal, and as the most obvious
justification of existence was furnished by publicity,
their activities inevitably took such form as would earn
the largest amount of newspaper space. As a consequence,
their patriotism was a thing of screams, violence, and
extremes; they outjingoed the worst of the jingoes, and
their constant practice of extreme statement left a trail
of anger, irritation, and resentment.
One instance may be cited as illustrative. Prof. Robert
McNutt McElroy of the National Security League, re-
turning from a three weeks' tour of the West, gave out
a statement in which he said that he had known what
it was "to face large bodies of young men clad in the
uniform of the American army beneath which were con-
cealed the souls of Prussians." Later, in The New York
Tribune, he gave the University of Wisconsin as the place
where he had encountered disloyalty. The basis of the
13 181
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
charge was the inattention of the audience throughout
his speech, shuffling feet, snapping of rifle triggers, etc.,
and he told how, finally, to test the audience, he leaned
forward and deliberately insulted them as "a bunch of
damned traitors"; how, to his amazement, there was no
resentment whatever of this or of his later reference to
"a Prussian audience." "I hesitate to accuse an entire
university of disloyalty," he said, "but to my mind that
episode stands out as one of the most disgraceful things
I have encountered."
Dr. Charles R. Van Hise, president of the university,
John Bradley Winslow, Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of Wisconsin, and E. A. Birge of the College of
Science and Letters were appointed as a committee of
protest, and their report asserted that the address had
been long; that the audience included the cadet regiment
students who had marched two and a half miles in
the rain and were wet and cold; that, being present under
orders and unable to withdraw, they merely indicated
their desire for an end to the long speech; that Professor
McElroy's reflections on their loyalty were made in a tone
so low that persons within twenty feet of him did not
hear the words at all.
Thus, then, by reason of a speaker who failed to hold
an audience of boys throughout an address of two hours,
the loyalty of a state was impugned, the patriotism of a
great university was besmirched, and a new element of
anger and justifiable resentment introduced into the
already delicate Wisconsin situation.
And so the story runs on drearily, vommes being neces-
sary for any complete and circumstantial account of the
obstacles thrown in the way of the millions of foreign birth
or descent as they marched forward from every state in
answer to the battle-call of their adopted country. The big
fact is that they continued to march and that they arrived.
182
THE "AMERICANIZERS"
We are even now so close to the trees that we cannot
see the forest. All that we have known is the underbrush
of irritation, the tearing vines of prejudice, and the poison-
ivy of politics. But when the day is come that we are on
a 'hill, blessed with vision and perspective, it will be seen
that the rallying of America was not sectional nor yet
racial, but that it was the tremendous response of a unified
whole, with men and women from other lands standing
shoulder to shoulder with the native-born, serving and
sacrificing with the same devotion, and in equal measure
pouring their blood on the altar of freedom.
XV
WORK AMONG THE FOREIGN-BORN
THE loyalty of "our aliens," however, splendid as it
was, had in it nothing of the spontaneous or the ac-
cidental. Results were obtained only by hard, driving
work. The bitterness bred by years of neglect and in-
justice were not to be dissipated by any mere war-call,
but had to be burned away by a continuous educational
campaign. The real America had to be revealed to these
foreign-language groups its drama of hope and struggle,
success and blunders and their minds had to be filled
with the tremendous truth that the fight against Germany
was a fight for all that life has taught decent human
beings to hold dear.
This campaign succeeded because the Committee avoided
the professional "Americanizers," and steered clear of
the accepted forms of "Americanization." We worked
from the inside, not from the outside, aiding each group to
develop its own loyalty league, and utilizing the natural
and existing leaders, institutions, and machinery. We
offered co-operation and supervision, and we gave counsel,
not commands. As a consequence, each group had its
own task, its own responsibility, and as soon as these
facts were clearly understood the response was immediate.
Mr. Edwin Bjorkman, the auther and publicist, was
selected to go to the Scandinavian group with the plan,
and in a short while the Americans of Swedish birth and
184
ALEXANDER KONTA vM JOSEPHINE ROCHE (J^ JULIUS KOETTGEN
Bfl.../iafc__ M
ROBERT E. LEE DR. ANTONIO STELLA
EDWIN BJORKMAN
WORK AMONG THE FOREIGN-BORN
descent organized the John Ericsson League of Patriotic
Service with the following Executive Committee: Harry
Olsen, president, Chicago, 111.; Harry A. Lund, vice-
president, Minneapolis, Minn.; Edwin Bjorkman, secre-
tary, New York; Henry S. Henschen, treasurer, Chicago;
Chas. S. Peterson, chairman Finance Committee, Chicago;
Gustaf Andreen, Rock Island, 111.; J. C. Bergquist, New
York; J. E. Chilberg, Seattle, Wash.; Andrew Langquist,
Chicago; Othelia Myhrman, Chicago; Eric Norton, St.
Paul, Minn.; and Victor Olander, Chicago.
Then came the Jacob A. Riis League of Patriotic Ser-
vice, formed by the Danes, with this Executive Board:
Max Henius, president, Chicago; Sophus F. Neble, first
vice-president, Omaha, Neb.; John C. Christensen, sec-
ond vice-president, Chicago; Carl Antonsen, secretary,
Chicago; Jens C. Hanse, treasurer and chairman Fi-
nance Committee, Chicago; Axel Hellrung, New York;
Henry L. Hertz, Chicago ; William Hovgaard, Washington,
D. C.; Halvor Jacobsen, New York; and Truels P. Niel-
sen, Seattle, Wash.
Because of the large number of Norwegian-American
clubs, societies, and fraternal organizations throughout
the country, all busy with patriotic work and war activi-
ties, no separate Norwegian organization for this purpose
was deemed advisable or necessary. Moreover, every
prominent Norwegian-American stood ready at all times
to assist with his counsel and influence, and among those
of great service to the Committee may be mentioned
Magnus Swensen, Madison, Wis., federal food administra-
tor of Wisconsin, and Mr. Herbert Hoover's chief assistant
in Northern Europe; Mr. Lauritz S. Swensen, Minneapolis,
former United States Minister to Norway; Mr. John P.
Howland, Chicago ; Attorney Andrew Hummelarid, Chicago ;
Birger Osland, Chicago, major in the United States army,
attached to the American Legation, Christiania, Norway;
185
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Joachim G. Giaver, president of the Chicago Norwegian
Club, Chicago; Mr. Hauman G. Haugan, director of the
State Bank of Chicago; Oscar M. Torrisen, Chicago; Louis
M. Anderson, publisher of Skandinaven, Chicago; Mr. A. N.
Rygg, vice-president of the Norwegian News Co., Brooklyn,
N. Y.; the Rev. J. A. O. Stub, Minneapolis; and many
others.
The Finns formed the Lincoln Loyalty League, with
O. J. Larson as president and J. H. Jasberg as secretary.
The Roman Legion, under the brilliant leadership of
Dr. Antonio Stella and Dr. Albert Bonaschi, proved a
power among the Americans of Italian birth and descent,
and I have always felt that it was this body, as much as
any one other source of strength, that enabled Italy to
make such an amazing recovery from the Caporetto
disaster. In that hour of despair, cablegrams and letters
were poured into Italy from the United States by the
thousands, going from individuals, pastors, societies, and
associations, calling upon the soldiers of Savoy to stand
fast, that the Americans were coming and every dollar
and every life in America was pledged to victory.
Charles Pergler, now representing the Republic of
Czechoslovakia in Japan, was our reliance always in dealing
with the peoples from Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia,
and when Dr. Thomas Garrigues Masaryk came to the
United States he put himself wholly and generously at
our disposal.
For work among the Poles we had Paderewski, as a
matter of course, wonderful in his devotions, enthusiasm,
and genius for leadership, and there was also Sigismund
Ivanowski, that great painter and even greater man.
John Wedda, John Smulski, and many others, actuated
by the same pure passions, were also sources of strength.
Then there were our close contacts with the Serbian
Legation and the Japanese Embassy; with Captain Stoica,
186
WORK AMONG THE FOREIGN-BORN
representing the Rumanians; with Doctor Hinkovic,
representing the Jugoslavs, and with Doctor Szlupas of
the Lithuanian National Council.
Work among the Hungarian population was intrusted
to Mr. Alexander Konta of New York, who gave time,
money, and finest faith to a difficult and thankless task.
It was not only that certain vicious factional elements
threw every possible obstacle in his path, but he was
equally attacked by The New York Tribune and similar
papers that made a business of chauvinism. Undismayed
and undiscouraged, Mr. Konta continued the work, and
the American-Hungarian Loyalty League played no small
part in our national unity, for men of Magyaj stock
figured importantly in the coal and steel industries.
The American Friends of German Democracy was
another organization that had to run the gantlet of secret
disloyalty and a stupid chauvinism. The pro-Kaiser
brand of German-America fought it as a matter of course,
and murder threats were common. The word "democ-
cracy" was an offense to the majority of the "better class,"
who derided the idea of a German republic as "imbecile"
and "impudent." The chief enemies, however, were
pseudo-patriots and hue-and-cry newspapers, none of them
losing a chance to harass. Also, at regular intervals,
some broken-arched representative of the Department of
Justice would stalk into the office, convinced that he had
unearthed a "nest of German spies."
I did not put the full force of the Committee behind the
American Friends of German Democracy until its person-
nel and purposes had been subjected to every investigation,
but only the intimacies of contact gave me full apprecia-
tion of the courage and patriotism of the men in charge
of the movement. For instance, the president was Franz
Sigel of New York, the son of that general of the same
name who, after having fought for liberty in Germany,
187
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
came to the United States and offered an exile's sword
to Lincoln. Its honorary president was the late Dr.
Abraham Jacobi, the famous physician who, after having
been imprisoned for his liberal opinions by the Prussian
government, fled to this country to become a beloved
citizen and an honor to the medical profession. The most
powerful spokesman of the movement was Rudolph
Blankenburg, the former Mayor of Philadelphia, whose
death in the spring of 1918 deprived America of one of
its ablest and most honored public servants. J. Koettgen,
the secretary, and the heart and soul of the movement,
was another of those free minds who had long been fight-
ing the Prussian system. He was of German birth and
blood, but no heir to the traditions of Plymouth Rock
had a finer, more virile conception of what it meant to be
an American.
Among the men who helped most at all times were
Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman, celebrated as a statistician;
Dr. S. Adolphus Knopf, chosen by the War Department
to instruct the American soldiers in France how to keep
free from tuberculosis. In Chicago it was Mr. Otto C.
Butz, who gathered round him all the actively patriotic
Americans of German descent. In Wisconsin Mr. Karl
Mathie did yeoman work for the cause of America and de-
mocracy. Some of the strongest supporters of the move-
ment were business men like the late William Sleicher of
Troy, N. Y., and Charles J. Schlegel of New York. From
Cleveland, Ohio, a steady stream of personal letters,
appeals, and pamphlets went out from Dr. Christian
Sihler, the son of the German officer and clergyman who
many decades ago came to Fort Wayne, Ind., to establish
one of the most flourishing Lutheran communities. Miss
K. Elizabeth Sihler seconded her brother's efforts in
Fort Wayne. Dr. William Bohn addressed hundreds of
meetings attended by people of German origin, and under-
188
WORK AMONG THE FOREIGN-BORN
stood, as did few others, liow to arouse the feeling of Amer-
ican loyalty. Mr. William Forster of New York and
Mr. Richard Lieber of Indianapolis proved most convin-
cing and effective speakers. Prof. Otta Manthey-Zorn,
the son of a German missionary, who would not bow his
knee to Bismarck and brought his band of missionaries
into the free atmosphere of the United States, stirred the
interest of the German-born in the New England States.
Mr. Henry Riesenberg, a business man, formerly of Indian-
apolis, now of New York, employed all of his spare time
in addressing public meetings.
The most effective work, however, was probably done
by the host of plain men and women whose names are
not widely known. There was, for instance, Mr. George
Schauer of Indianapolis, who acted as organizer for Indiana.
A Bavarian peasant who settled in the United States
after having been ill-treated in the German army, Mr.
Schauer attacked his task with rare enthusiasm and de-
votion, and soon became indispensable to all patriotic
organizations in Indiana. Then there was Mr. William
R. Bricker, the organizer for Pennsylvania, to whom the
war provided the opportunity to prove his great organizing
abilities.
The work of the organization was carried on through
many activities. During the war, hundreds of meetings
were held throughout the country. Among the bodies
that gave the most powerful support must be mentioned
the Turners, whose democratic origin and tendencies lined
them up quite naturally on the side of the United States
and its cobelligerents.
About a million pamphlets were distributed, chiefly
to members of the thousands of clubs and benefit societies
formed by the people of German blood. One of the most
notable publications was the edition of Lichnowsky's fa-
mous memorandum, with an introduction by Mr. Koett-
189
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
gen. The pamphlet was republished in full by many
German-language newspapers in this country, and proved
itself an effective answer to the lies spread by German
propaganda.
Throughout the war the German Bureau kept in closest
touch with the German-language press of the United
States. A weekly bulletin was published both in German
and English. The German edition was sent to two hun-
dred German-language newspapers and reached about
two million readers. The English edition went to four
hundred American newspapers published mainly in those
parts of the country where the German population is nu-
merous. The American newspapers expressed themselves
in the most laudatory terms about this press service.
Some of the most interesting work was done abroad.
Nearly every member of the American Friends of German
Democracy was eager to send some word of good counsel to
his blood-relations in Germany. The justice of America's
cause was always emphasized, but the chief point would
be that it was high time for the Germans to get rid of the
Hohenzollerns and militarism. These documents were
smuggled into Germany by the foreign representatives
of the Committee on Public Information, a number of
methods being used. Rather amusingly a splendid appeal
written by Capt. A. L. Helwig, an American soldier
born in Hamburg, Germany, and a member of the Exec-
utive Committee of the American Friends of German
Democracy, was carried across the line quite openly.
One day, in a certain Scandinavian country, the courier
of the German Legation, just about to leave for Germany,
was stopped by a very military-looking stranger who
performed the Prussian kotow in the most approved
fashion. This stranger, handing the courier a great bundle
of pamphlets, stated that they were to be delivered to
the newspapers and Socialist groups in Hamburg by order
190
WORK AMONG THE FOREIGN-BORN
of the German Minister. The courier carried out the com-
mission and Helwig's appeal created no little furor in
Hamburg.
The most effective contact, however, was with the
German refugees in Switzerland, a brilliant, fearless group
of radical democrats headed by such men as Doctor
Greeling, author of J y accuse, Doctor Muehlon, and Doctor
Rosenmeyer. These publicists, exiled from Germany by
reason of their fight against Prussianism, published the
Freie Zeitung, a biweekly paper that managed to slip
across the line in considerable numbers. Dr. Frank Bohn,
proceeding to Switzerland as the representative of the
American Friends of German Democracy, established
co-operation arrangements that continued until the armis-
tice. A steady stream of articles went to the Freie
Zeitung from the United States, and each week several
thousand copies of the paper came to the United States
for distribution among the German-language press, clubs,
and societies.
At first the Germans pretended not to notice the Amer-
ican organization, but finally they could not contain their
wrath. Some of the most prominent German newspapers
published violent articles against the American Friends,
and "dirty pigs" came to be a favorite epithet.
All these bodies worked well and successfully, but as time
went on it was seen that more direct methods were neces-
sary, and in May, 1918, the Division of Work Among the
Foreign-born was formed. Miss Josephine Roche, in virtual
charge of all these various activities from the first, was made
director of the new division, and it is to her faith, vision,
and rare devotions that the amazing results were due.
Under Miss Roche, the government frankly established
direct and continuous contact with fourteen racial groups
through the following bureaus: the Italian, Hungarian,
Lithuanian, Russian, Jugoslav, Czechoslovak, Polish,
191
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
German (American Friends of German Democracy),
Ukrainian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch,
and the Foreign Information Service Bureau.
While the bureaus all had the same aim for their work,
and all employed similar methods, each group presented
problems entirely its own and demanded specialized
attention. The press and the organizations, national
and local, were the nucleus of the work, and in the cases
of the Italian, the Czechoslovak, and the Scandinavian
groups these activities met every need.
For other foreign-language groups, such as the Russian,
Polish, Jugoslav, and Ukrainian, the press alone was not
a sufficient means of contact: either it was not as widely
distributed and influential among them or the consider-
able degree of illiteracy among the people made results
from the written communication incomplete. The pub-
lication of pamphlets and considerable work through trips
was therefore undertaken by these bureau managers.
The Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, and Ukrainian bu-
reaus did about an equal amount of their work through
press and organization contacts and through field-work.
For the fourteen foreign-language groups there are
approximately 865 foreign-language newspapers. About
745 of this number were issued regularly, and it was to
these that the division sent its press services. Only 32
papers did not use the material, all but three of these being
small papers of a highly specialized character; 96 per cent,
of the papers availed themselves extensively of the ma-
terial. Very many papers used all but a few releases, and
it was a frequent occurrence to have foreign-language
papers come in carrying on their front page two or three
columns of the bureaus' material.
National and local organizations, fraternal, educational,
religious, beneficial, and social in type, are a powerful
factor among the foreign-speaking groups. Their con-
192
WORK AMONG THE FOREIGN-BORN
ventions bring together hundreds of delegates from all
the various centers of the foreign-language groups,
and their activities are far-reaching. The information
on government activities, prepared in the form of bulle-
tins or circular letters by the bureaus, and sent to these
organizations, was invariably given the most effective
distribution to members. Draft and registration circu-
lars, regulations issued by the Passport Control Division
of the Department of Stale, income-tax provisions, were
carefully and thoroughly distributed by them. They also
gave most valuable and suggestive advice as to the needs
and desires of their groups for instruction and under-
standing.
While there was no need to issue literature in any large
quantity because of the facilities offered us for reaching
foreign-language groups by their press organizations, the
following pamphlets (in addition to the German) were
printed as a result of a desire and need found to exist for
them and had a distribution of about one hundred and
twenty thousand: "America in War and Peace," in
Ukrainian; "A Message to American-Hungarians," in
Hungarian; "Abraham Lincoln," in Russian; "League
of Nations," in Russian.
All bureau managers, either when initiating the work
or at frequent intervals during its continuance, learned
through personal conference the situation among their
groups and gained complete confidence from their people
in their work. Lectures were very popular, and the
following letter received by a representative of the Russian
bureau will give an idea of how eager these people were
for the truth:
You have done very much for the Russian colony of the city
of - . You even made our Bolsheviki think and speak about
education. I often think now that if we had in several
people like you, many of the Russian workmen would have been
193
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
saved from the Utopian Bolshevism, would not believe its idle
promises, and would learn to govern themselves independently.
Several of our members were present at the lecture and all were
very much pleased and grateful to you. Our group has authorized
me to ask you to come to live in . You are a man of science,
and we have no educated people among us. You know that the
mind of the Russian workmen has been moved from its former
standpoint; it wants to go somewhere, but it does not know the
way. If you, the intelligent people, will not help it to find the
way, other unscrupulous people will take advantage of the
occasion.
The Foreign Information Service, first directed by Mr.
Donald Breed and after that by Mr. Barrett Clark, was
designed to encourage the foreign-language groups of
America by releasing stories telling of their co-operation
with the government in such matters as the Liberty Loan,
the Red Cross, etc., and to assist the foreign-language
press not only in securing prompt and efficient co-operation
with the government departments, but by informing the
American people through the native-language press of
the work that had been done and was now being done by
the foreign-language press in helping the foreigner to
become a better American. Over fifty such stories were
released to thirty-three hundred American papers, these
titles conveying the general idea: "The Jugoslav Club,"
" Greek- American Boys Are Genuine Patriots," "Lithua-
nians Support Fourth Liberty Loan," "The Czechoslovaks
in America," "Ukrainians in America Eager for Education,"
and "Russian-Americans Aid America in Bond Sales."
Fourteen "News Bulletins," giving a number of very
brief accounts on the activities of the foreign-born, were
also sent out. In addition to information service through
press organizations, all bureaus did considerable trans-
lating of letters and articles for government departments
and furnished them numerous reports concerning their
group.
194
WORK AMONG THE FOREIGN-BORN
Highly intensive, as well as extensive, work was done
in co-operation with the office of the Provost-Marshal-
General. All the bureaus released for days before regis-
tration the fullest and clearest instructions which received
columns of space daily in the press. Provost-Marshal-
General Crowder wrote us the following letter in regard
to the bureau's achievements:
I have already expressed to Mr. Creel my appreciation of the
invaluable work done by all members of his staff in contributing
to publicity on Registration Day. But I have an especial senti-
ment of gratitude to yourself, because the task of reaching the
foreign-born, who are unfamiliar with our language, seemed to
me to be one of the most difficult, and perhaps beyond power of
achievement.
But as I read your report of the methods employed, I am con-
vinced that the task was fully accomplished. The daily arrivals
of newspapers in foreign languages show how wide-spread are
the ramifications of influence of your office, and have revealed
to me what a powerful and effective agency the government
possesses. Your tact, energy, and ingenuity in utilizing this agency
to its fullest command my admiration, and I offer my personal
thanks.
Far more exhaustive was the work done in co-operation
with the Internal Revenue Department in explaining and
helping work out the provisions of the revenue bill affect-
ing aliens. A most critical situation was created among
the foreign-speaking people by the law's failure sufficiently
to define the terms "resident" and "non-resident" aliens,
and by its provision that employers should withhold 8 per
cent, from the wages of then* non-resident employees,
their total tax being 12 per cent, as against the 6 per cent,
paid by citizens and resident aliens. The matter came to
the attention of our bureau managers through letters and
personal appeals from their people all over the country.
Altogether nearly 3,000 of these appeals came in, showing
a state of complete bewilderment and wretchedness, and
195
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
the two following, from different language groups, will
give some idea of the situation:
RUSSIAN BUREAU: I, - , beg the Russian Bureau to help
me. The Russian immigrants are not able to pay the war [prob-
ably income] taxes. Some time ago I read in the papers that
only those who earned more than $1,000 a year have to pay the
tax and only on what they earned over $1,000; and I have paid
$12.07. But now in the factory they withhold more, and tell
that I myself must pay $145 for last year, and if I have to pay
for this year also, I will have to pay more than $300. And so I
have to work, but do not get money to live on. And I beg the
Russian Bureau to answer my prayer, and to tell me what is
going to become of the Russian immigrants.
GENTLEMEN: I wish to send my complaint against the -
in St. Joseph, Mo. I am a poor man, and working very hard for
my living. I do not know who is wronging me, either United
States government or the company. In the office they asked
me whether I will go back to Europe; I answered yes. Then
they told me that I have to pay the tax. I asked them what
kind of a tax? For the year 1918. I said, all right, how much
I have to pay? $25, they told me. I said, never mind! Then
they withhold my one week and half wages. I thought that I
would get the third week pay, so I could pay to the grocer and
the storekeeper. But nevertheless they withheld the third pay.
I was supposed to get $19.58, and they gave me only $3.80. What
will I do; poor unfortunate man? I went to the superintendent
and asked him for receipt. He refused. Now, whom shall I
ask for it? I asked him whether I will get full pay for the fourth
week? He said, no! To tell you the truth, I cried after I left the
office. I really do not know how I can make a living.
Please accept my request, and help me in my grievance. Is
it the same proceeding for everybody, or only for me? Does
America allow the companies to exploit the poor people in such
way?
Instead of withholding the tax on each pay-day, many
employers took it in a lump sum, frequently amounting
to an entire week's wages, or more. Many aliens in the
resident class were considered non-residents because of
196
WORK AMONG THE FOREIGN-BORN
their refusal to sign a "blue slip" stating intention of resi-
dence which they believed meant they could never go back
to Europe for a visit, and was some sort of an enforced
citizenship paper. An additional grievance was that re-
ceipts for wages thus withheld were rarely given.
In attempting to alleviate the various grave injustices,
the Internal Revenue Department in Washington showed
most unusual sympathy and breadth of vision. Treasury
decisions were extensively revised and any number of
regulations drawn up with the intent of bettering matters.
Our bureaus released from ten to twenty explanatory
articles and gave their attention and answers to all the
individual inquiries.
Of equal importance with this work of reaching the
foreign-speaking groups with information, as described,
was what this work had revealed about these groups.
The war gave a chance for a dramatic and striking mani-
festation of their services and loyalty to the country.
After the armistice their interest and devotion was just as
great in helping in the difficult transition and reconstruction
problems. The same unreserved spirit with which they
had enlisted in the army, and in the Liberty Loan and War
Savings Stamp campaigns, marked their efforts in peace,
in encouraging all their people to become citizens, to learn
English, to carry out any suggestions coming from govern-
ment sources. Numerous printing concerns offered to
print and distribute among their people books on American
history, civics, and the Constitution. Editors of several
groups ran serials on citizenship and wished to carry
translations of the best American stories in their papers.
They asked us to suggest these and to get translation
rights for them.
For years national unity and progress have demanded
the release of the neglected potentialities of our millions
of new Americans into a fuller participation in our country's
14 19?
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
life. For this there is necessary a mutual process of edu-
cation of native and foreign born. Full information on
American life, opportunities, customs, and laws must
reach the men and women coming here from foreign lands
immediately upon their arrival. Necessarily it must be
in their own language. The more they learn in this way
of our fundamental democracy and the possibilities for
them and their children in this country, the keener be-
come their desire and efforts to learn "America's lan-
guage." To withhold this information or delay it until,
according to theoretic calculation, these immigrants have
had time to acquire English, is deliberately to create a
period of cruel bewilderment and false impressions for them
which dampens whatever enthusiasm they had originally
to study English. The numerous un-American conditions
and injustices to which so many immigrants have fallen
victims must be wiped out. Explanations and instruction
about America given to the fullest extent carry little weight
when individuals have been unjustly wronged.
The ignorance of many native-born Americans about
European peoples and their contemptuous attitude toward
persons with different customs from their own are just
as serious obstacles to assimilation and unity as the ten-
dency of some immigrants to cling to Old World ways;
understanding must come, on our part, of the heritages
of these new-comers, their suffering and struggles in Europe,
and the contributions they bring us if we will only receive
them.
The devotion of the men and women associated with
Miss Roche was such that each deserves detailed mention,
but space permits only this grateful record of their names:
Swedish Service First directed by Mr. Olaf P. Ze-
thelius, and after his death in
charge of Mr. H. Gude Grinndal
Norwegian Service Mr. Sundby-Hansen
198
WORK AMONG THE FOREIGN-BORN
Danish Service Mr. Viggo C. Eberlin
Finnish Service Mr. Charles H. Hirsimaki
Dutch Service Mr. James J. Van Pernis
Polish Bureau Miss Wanda Wojcieszak
Ukrainian Bureau Mr. Nicholas Ceglinsky
Lithuanian Bureau Mr. Julius Kaupas
Czechoslovak Bureau Mrs. Anna Tvrzicka
German Bureau Mr. Julius Koettgen
Hungarian Bureau Mr. Alfred Markus
Italian Bureau Dr. Albert C. Bonaschi
Russian Bureau Mr. Joseph Polonsky
Jugoslav Bureau Mr. Peter Mladineo
XVI
A WONDERFUL FOURTH OF JULY
TT TILL IRWIN had one of the great ideas of the war
V V when he suggested that the Fourth of July, 1918,
should be "turned over" to Americans of foreign birth
and descent for such celebrations as might most fittingly
manifest their loyalty to the United States and their
devotion to free institutions. It was not only the case
that the celebration of the day in this manner, if carried
to success, meant a new unity and a larger enthusiasm,
but there was also the influence that it would exert upon
the public opinion of other countries. When the Central
Powers heard that Germans, Austrians, and Turks were
marching in public demonstration of their repudiation of
the autocratic governments from which they came, and
when the neutral nations saw men and women of their
blood declaring a great faith in the ideals of America, our
cause was bound to know a great strengthening. Through
our various contacts we put the idea up to the thirty-three
foreign-language groups, and on May 21st this petition
went to the President of the United States:
To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
On the Fourth of July, 1776, the founders of this Republic
began the movement for human liberty and the rights of nations
to govern themselves. One hundred and forty-two years later
we find the world democracy, of which this nation was a pioneer,
formidably assailed by the powers of reaction and autocracy.
200
A WONDERFUL FOURTH OF JULY
We represent these peoples whose sons and daughters came
to this land later than the founders of the Republic, but drawn
by the same ideals. The nations and races and peoples which
we represent are taking their part, in one way or another, in
the struggle. Some, happily, enjoying a political entity, are
fighting openly and with arms against the enemies of progress.
Others, unhappily, submerged, can give but a passive opposition.
Others have been forced against their will into the armies of
the common enemy. Finally, a few still remain outside, hard
pressed, threatened by the mailed fist, dreading alike to be drawn
in and to be found apart from the rest when the hour of settle-
ment comes. But all, through infinite suffering, struggle, either
blindly or open-eyed, toward the same end, the right of peoples
to govern themselves as they themselves see fit, and a just and
lasting peace.
The higher interests of the races which we left behind have
become identical, in this significant year, with the higher in-
terests of the United States. We regard ourselves not only as
members of an American commonwealth, one and indivisible,
but of the world commonwealth, equally indivisible. United for
the principles of that democratic world-state which is fighting
now for its being on the battle-fields of Europe, we intend, on
July 4, 1918, to manifest, by special celebrations, our loyalty
to this country and to the cause for which we fight; and we
respectfully request that you call the attention of your fellow-
citizens to this fact, in order that they may join with us in com-
memorating this, the anniversary not only of national freedom,
but of universal freedom.
From President Wilson came the sympathetic and favor-
able reply:
To OUR CITIZENS OF FOREIGN EXTRACTION:
I have read with great sympathy the petition addressed to
me by your representative bodies regarding your proposed cele-
bration of Independence Day; and I wish to convey to you, in
reply, my heartfelt appreciation for its expression of loyalty
and good will. Nothing in this war has been more gratifying
than the manner in which our foreign-born fellow-citizens, and
the sons and daughters of the foreign-born, have risen to this
greatest of all national emergencies. You have shown where
201
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
you stand not only by your frequent professions of loyalty to
the cause for which we fight, but by your eager response to calls
to patriotic service, including the supreme sacrifice of offering
life itself in battle for justice, freedom, and democracy. Before
such devotion as you have shown all distinctions of race vanish;
and we feel ourselves citizens in a Republic of free spirits.
I, therefore, take pleasure in calling your petition, with my
hearty commendation, to the attention of all my fellow-country-
men, and I ask that they unite with you in making the Inde-
pendence Day of this, the year when all the principles to which
we stand pledged are on trial, the most significant in our national
history.
As July 4, 1776, was the dawn of democracy for this nation,
let us on July 4, 1918, celebrate the birth of a new and greater
spirit of democracy by whose influence we hope and believe,
what the signers of the Declaration of Independence dreamed
of for themselves and their fellow-countrymen, shall be fulfilled
for all mankind.
I have asked the Committee on Public Information to co-
operate with you in any arrangements you may wish to make
for this celebration.
WOODROW WILSON.
Mr. Irwin and Miss Josephine Roche threw themselves
into the arrangements with enthusiasm, and under their
stimulation governors and mayors issued proclamations
similar to that of the President, and exactly thirty-three
nationalities in the United States commenced to make
plans that would insure their people's complete partici-
pation. No pains were spared to make the day all they
longed to have it. Probably never were there such gi-
gantic preparations throughout the entire country for
Independence Day, and certainly never was there such
an outpouring of the nation's millions of new citizens and
citizens-to-be as on July 4, 1918.
Demonstrations of the thirty-three nationalities took
place not only in all the cities and towns, but in practically
every community where any of these people dwelt. Re-
A WONDERFUL FOURTH OF JULY
ports of parades, pageants, and mass-meetings, resolutions,
declarations, and inscriptions on banners, could be enumer-
ated for every foreign-born group and for each separate
community, but it would be only a repetition of the story
of their devotion.
The pilgrimage to Mount Vernon, so beautiful a feature
of that inspiring Fourth of July, was my idea. I claim
the credit and cling to it with fondness because .the occasion
stands out in the life of the Committee as one of the few
events that swept from start to finish without attack,
obstruction, or untoward happening. Everything in con-
nection with the pilgrimage was dear and delightful, and
lingers in memory as an inspiration. My first thought
was merely to have the thirty-three foreign groups select
representatives and send them to Washington, where the
Committee would convey them to Mount Vernon by
automobile to lay wreaths on the tomb of Washington and
to make such speeches as befitted the occasion. And then
it came to me that it was a time and place for the President
himself not only to receive and greet the representatives
of the foreign-born in the name of the country to which
they were pledging their devotion, but also to make a
new and explicit statement of America's ideals to the world.
At first the President refused flatly, for he felt that a
speech at the tomb of Washington on the Fourth of July
savored of presumption. When my own arguments
proved unavailing I brought the foreign-born into play,
and the message that he received made continued refusal
an impossibility. When he consented finally it was with
the completeness and generosity that never failed to
mark his surrenders. For instance, he telephoned me a
few days later, I remember, and remarked that if I had
"no objections" to urge, he and Mrs. Wilson would be
very glad to take the thirty- three representatives down
to Mount Vernon as then* guests on the Mayflower. I had
203
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
no objections to urge. Albanians, Armenians, Assyrians,
Belgians, Bulgarians, Chinese, Czechoslovaks, Costa-Ricans,
Danes, Dutch, Ecuadorians, Finns, French, French-Cana-
dians, Germans, Greeks, Hungarians, Italians, Japanese,
Lithuanians, Mexicans, Norwegians, Poles, Filipinos, Rus-
sians, Venezuelans, Rumanians, Spaniards, Jugoslavs,
Swedes, Swiss, Syrians, and Ukrainians were in the throng
that flocked aboard the Mayflower.
With their Old World conceptions, built around kings
and queens and courts, the majority of them wore silk
hats, frock-coats, and expressions of the utmost solemnity.
Within an hour the whole funereal aspect of the occasion
changed to an unaffected joyousness. I have never known
a man who had the gift of simplicity in greater degree
than Woodrow Wilson or one with such a human note in
the personal relation. He has dignity without effort,
graciousness without condescension, interest without
affectation, all expressions of a democracy that came from
the heart, not merely from the lips. With Mrs. Wilson
and Miss Margaret Wilson he moved from group to group,
laughingly suggesting that they put then* high silk hats to
one side, as interested in them as they were in him, and giv-
ing every man and woman the feeling of being a sovereign
citizen in a free country.
The scene at Mount Vernon was one that etched itself
in memory. The shining stretches of the river, the walk
up the winding path through the summer woods, the hill-
sides packed with people, the beat of their hands like the
soft roar of a forest wind, the simple brick tomb of the
Father of Our Country overhung with wistaria in all the
glory of its purple bloom. A piano was tucked away
behind a clump of cedars, and when John McCormack
had somewhat recovered from his climb up the hill he
sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," while each of
the thirty-three representatives walked into the tomb,
04
A WONDERFUL FOURTH OF JULY
one by one, laid a wreath upon the grave, and offered a
prayer to the "august shade of the departed." Easily,
naturally, the group formed about the President, who
stood on a grassy mound to the right of the vault, and Felix
J. Stryckmans, Belgian-born, delivered the message bear-
ing the signature of all the thirty-three representatives
and expressing the feelings of the great masses of new
Americans:
One hundred and forty-two years ago to-day a group of men
animated with the same spirit as that of a man who lives here,
founded the United States of America on the theory of free
government with the consent of the governed. That was the
beginning of America. As the years went on, and one century
blended with another, men and women came from even the utter-
most ends of the earth to join them. We have called them alien;
but they were never alien. Though they spoke not a word of
the language of this country, though they groped only dimly
toward its institutions, they were already Americans in soul or
they would never have come. We are the latest manifestation
of that American soul.
We, who make this pilgrimage, are the offspring of thirty-
three different nations and Americans all. We come not
alone. Behind us are millions of our people united to-day in
pledging themselves to the cause of this country and of the
free nations with which she is joined. From coast to coast, in
city, town, and hamlet our citizens will be demonstrating that
the oath they took upon their naturalization was not an empty
form of words. Yes, more than that. When, to-morrow, the
casualty list brings heaviness to some homes and a firm sense
of resolution to all, we shall read upon the roll of honor Slavifc
names, Teutonic names, Latin names, Oriental names, to show
that we have sealed our faith with the blood of our best youth.
To this beloved shade we come to-day with the hopes of our
races garnered in our hands.
The President, in answer, delivered the address that
stands in my mind as one of the greatest that ever came
from his lips. With the home of Washington on the hill
205
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
above him, with the tomb of the warrior-statesman at
his back, and with the purpose of America expressed by
the thirty-three nationalities before him made one by
democracy he challenged the world with these imperish-
able sentences:
There can be but one issue. The settlement must be final.
There can be no compromise. No half-way decision would be
tolerable. No half-way decision is conceivable. These are the
ends for which the associated peoples of the world are fighting
and which must be conceded them before there can be peace:
1. The destruction of every arbitrary power anywhere that
can separately, secretly, and of its single choice disturb the peace
of the world; or, if it cannot be presently destroyed, at the least
its reduction to virtual impotence.
2. The settlement of every question, whether of territory,
of sovereignty, of economic arrangements, or of political relation-
ship, upon the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement
by the people immediately concerned, and not upon the basis
of the material interest or advantage of any other nation 01
people which may desire a different settlement for the sake oi
its own exterior influence or mastery.
3. The consent of all nations to be governed in their conduct
toward each other by the same principles of honor and of respect
for the common law of civilized society that govern the individual
citizens of all modern states in their relations with one another;
to the end that all promises and covenants may be sacredly
observed, no private plots or conspiracies hatched, no selfish
injuries wrought with impunity, and a mutual trust established
upon the handsome foundation of a mutual respect for right.
4. The establishment of an organization of peace which shall
make it certain that the combined power of free nations will
check every invasion of right and serve to make peace and jus-
tice the more secure by affording a definite tribunal of opinion
to which all must submit and by which every international
readjustment that cannot be amicably agreed upon by the
peoples directly concerned shall be sanctioned.
These great objects can be put into a single sentence. What
we seek is the reign of law, based upon the consent of the governed
and sustained by the organized opinion of mankind.
206
A WONDERFUL FOURTH OF JULY
John McCormack then sang "The Star-spangled Banner"
as it was never sung before, and down we went to the
river again, onto the Mayflower and back to Washington.
Great as were the meanings and hopes which the spirit
of 1918's Fourth of July brought the foreign-born, of equal
importance were the foundations it laid for an understand-
ing by our "Americans for generations back" that these
"Americans by choice" came here with the same hopes
as did our Pilgrim ancestors, and willing, as they were, to
make the supreme sacrifice for their nation's safe continu-
ance, and knowing, as they did, the cost of freedom. From
that day a new unity was manifest in the United States.
XVII
THE "OFFICIAL BULLETIN"
AX credit for the Official Bulletin is due to the Presi-
dent. It was his conviction that the government
should issue a daily gazette for the purpose of assuring full
and authoritative publication of all official acts and pro-
ceedings, as well as serving as a chain of intelligence to
link together the various branches of the war-making
machinery of America. It was not an idea that appealed
to me and as strongly as might be I dissented from it. The
necessity of such a publication could not be denied, but
I knew in my heart that it would be misrepresented, pos-
sibly to a degree that would destroy its usefulness. When
the President insisted, however, I secured the services of
Mr. E. S. Rochester, formerly managing editor of The
Washington Post, and the Official Bulletin was launched
in May, 1917, as economically as possible. It is a
pleasure to be able to record that the President was
absolutely right and that I was entirely wrong.
From its very first day, the Official Bulletin met a great
need and discharged an important service, growing in
popularity to a point that it became one of the great
divisions of the Committee. As expected, the press
attacked it viciously on the ground that it was a "govern-
ment organ" designed to compete with private enterprise.
The accusation was utterly without foundation in fact,
for not one single item or article of any kind was ever
208
THE "OFFICIAL BULLETIN"
printed in the Official Bulletin in advance of publication
in the daily press. Nor did its columns ever contain an
opinion or a conclusion, the contents being confined ex-
clusively to official documents, statements, and orders.
When this attack fell to the ground of its own weight,
the correspondents blithely changed from abuse to ridi-
cule. Because the Official Bulletin did not express opinions
it was branded as "dull," and because it did not print
"exclusive stuff" it was derided as "useless." Yet neither
slander nor jeers had power to stop a growth that proved
almost resistless. In order to keep the circulation within
official bounds, we fixed a subscription price of $5 a
year, supposing that to be prohibitive, yet in November,
1918, we took in more than $10,000 in subscriptions,
and on the day of suspension the books showed receipts
of more than $80,000. Starting with a daily average
circulation of 60,000 in May, 1917, a high-water mark
of 118,000 was reached in August, 1918. If we had
chosen to depart from our policy of repression at any time,
the paid circulation could have been doubled and trebled.
What stood proved by the experiment was this: that
there was an imperative demand from a large number of
people for a publication that printed news without cutting
or coloring. The newspaper practice is to cut down the
story until it can be screamed in the head, and even these
bald presentations of naked conclusions are changed ac-
cording to the policies and politics of the paper. From
every corner of the country the Official Bulletin was hailed
with joy as the one publication that gave official informa-
tion in full and without change.
There is humor in the fact that when we took the press
at its word and cut newspapers from the free list, virtually
every Washington correspondent sent in his five dollars
to become a paid subscriber. Also, in the first months
of attacks and ridicule, the metropolitan editors had a
209
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
way of throwing the Official Bulletin into the waste-basket.
As time went on, however, there dawned the realization
that the Official Bulletin constituted the one full and ac-
curate record of America's war progress, and we were
deluged by letters begging us for complete sets or for back
numbers to fill the gaps in files.
In the pages of the Official Bulletin, day after day, was
printed every state paper, proclamation, executive order,
and all statements, pronouncements, and addresses
by the President since the entry of this government into
the war; every order, pronouncement, and regulation
issued by the heads of the great permanent government
departments, the Food, Fuel, and Railroad Administra-
tions, the War Industries Board, War Trade Board, Alien
Property Custodian, War Labor Board, the Postmaster-
General as Director-General of the Telephone, Telegraph,
and Cable Systems, and all other independent agencies
of the government. Important contracts awarded, texts
of important laws, proceedings of the United States Su-
preme Court, a daily resume of important actions of Con-
gress, Treasury statements, etc., were also printed regularly.
The Bulletin printed all issued records to date of every
casualty among our army and navy forces abroad and in
the camps and cantonments in the United States; the name
of every man taken prisoner, cited for bravery, or wounded
on the field of battle, and every communique issued by
General Pershing.
It was an immediate means of government communi-
cation with the business interests with which the govern-
ment has been in contractual relations; with the offices
of foreign governments here and abroad, with the consular
service, and with the public desirous of information of a
specific character. Its monetary value to the government
in the clerical labor and supplies it conserved by antici-
pating nation-wide inquiries in its daily record of the facts
210
THE "OFFICIAL BULLETIN"
represented an amount in excess of the cost of issuing
the Bulletin.
It went to 56,000 post-offices throughout the country, to
be posted, and was the voice of the Postmaster-General in
communicating directly with 446,000 post-offices of the
fourth class, to which the regular postal bulletin did not go.
It carried the official messages of government to every
military post and station, to every ship and shore station
of the navy, to every camp library at home and abroad,
and Admiral Sims and General Pershing alike relied upon
it for their own use and the use of their staffs.
No official organs were maintained by either the Food
Administration or the Fuel Administration, by the War
Trade Board, the War Industries Board, or the Council
of National Defense, and these bodies reached their thou-
sands of administrators and co-operative absentees through
the instrumentality of the Official Bulletin.
When the government assumed control of the railroads
of the country, the Director-General of Railroads had no
other official medium than the Official Bulletin through
which to reach the 2,000,000 employees of the great
railroad systems. Copies of all orders, of course, were
sent to the central railroad offices, but, as in the case of
the Food and Fuel Administrations, there was no perma-
nent printed record of such orders, except as they appeared
in the Official Bulletin', and in all railroad offices of the
country this publication was preserved religiously so that
it might be referred to whenever matters of importance
developed.
Even while Congress was attacking the Official Bulletin
as useless expense, Senators and Representatives were
hounding the Committee to have constituents placed on
the free list, and when publication was suspended on April
1, 1919, there was not a voice raised except to beseech
its continuance.
211
XVIII
DIVISION OF WOMEN'S WAR-WORK
EVEN had I not been an ardent suffragist, we could
not have ignored the importance of women in con-
nection with the war or failed to see the necessity of reach-
ing them with our activities. There was a Woman's
Committee of the Council of National Defense, however,
headed by such brilliant personalities as Dr. Anna Howard
Shaw, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, and Miss Ida Tarbell,
and it seemed a certainty that it would meet every need.
What soon developed, unfortunately, was that the Woman's
Committee had no money and was also expected to confine
itself to "advising," the business of initiation having been
placed in other hands.
By way of assistance, and at the request of Miss Tarbell,
I attached Mrs. Clara Sears Taylor to the News Division
and assigned her to the Woman's Committee as its general
reporter. Lack of money and lack of authority joined
to slacken effort very materially, and because an important
work that had to be done was not being done I fell in with
Mrs. Taylor's suggestion to form a Division of Women's
War-work in the Committee on Public Information.
Not only was Mrs. Taylor a person of tremendous energy
and rare ability, but she had the gift of attracting women
of similar type, and it was not long until a staff of twenty-
two, many of them volunteers, were in full and effective
swing.
212
DIVISION OF WOMEN'S WAR-WORK
What women were doing to help win the war was the
one theme, and not only did they fill the women's pages
in the daily press, as well as earning large space in maga-
zine sections, but they fought their way to a place in the
sun in the news columns. They went into the colleges
where girls studied, into clubs of every kind, into ghettoes
and foreign colonies, among the colored women of the coun-
try, giving information and arousing enthusiasm. Added
to this, the division was a "question and answer" bureau
that handled thousands of letters daily from women in
every corner of the United States.
During the nine months of its existence, 2,305 stories
were sent to 19,471 newspapers and women's publications.
These releases included a wire and mail service, and were
made up of news stories and feature articles. They were
sent daily to 2,861 papers in seven columns a week,
containing from twelve to twenty stories each. More
than 10,000 cards were indexed on women's work, includ-
ing the personnel of both organizations and individuals,
and a collation of material of immense value to magazine
and newspaper writers. Two hundred and ninety-two
pictures were furnished newspapers, showing women
actively engaged in war-work.
Weekly columns sent to newspapers and magazines
included, first, war-work being done in national organiza-
tions; second, in governmental departments; third, in
decentralized organizations throughout the United States;
fourth, in schools and colleges; fifth, in churches; sixth,
foreign co-operation; seventh, work being done by organi-
zations of colored women.
Close co-operation was formed with the colleges, through
representatives sent out by the collegiate alumni, and with
fraternal organizations through representatives co-operat-
ing with the governmental departments through their
international associations. The news for the foreign col-
15 213
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
umn was received by means of co-operation with the
foreign embassies, legations, high commissions, and com-
mittees, and committees in foreign countries at war
with Germany.
Mrs. Mary Holland Kinkaid, well-known magazine and
newspaper editor and writer of New York, edited the col-
umns of news which created an interchange in thought
between the women war- workers of the world, culling from
letters and other forms of communication the facts, figures,
hopes, and ambitions that were woven into "stories."
She handled also the copy brought in by trained reporters
who had the governmental departments and national
organizations in Washington for their "beats."
These reporters included women from many states and
representing as many points of view. The War Depart-
ment, with its thousands of women war-workers, was
"covered" by Mrs. William A. Mundell (pen name
Caroline Singer), a newspaper writer of San Francisco.
News of the Woman's Committee of the Council of National
Defense, which operated under the War Department, was
collected by means of their own machinery, and prepared
by them, and then distributed by the Committee on Public
Information.
The State and Navy Departments' picturesque tales
of the yeomanettes, women finger-print experts, etc., were
gathered and written into magazine and newspaper
stories by Miss Margaret Moses, who came to the division
with recommendations from The New York Times, Colum-
bia University, and Barnard College.
Miss Mildred Morris, of Denver and Chicago newspaper
experience, invaded the Department of Labor, and from
its statistical shelves and important war investigations
and reports made available for the press much extremely
valuable information. The labor-supply, depleted by the
cutting off of immigration and by the military draft,
214
DIVISION OF WOMEN'S WAR-WORK
necessitated calling into industrial services many women
who had never before been wage-earners. The distribu-
tion of this information was extremely helpful in aiding
to solve the problems which automatically arose from the
advent of these women into industrial life. A clever
feature- writer of Washington, Miss Helen Randall, assisted
in this labor field, writing stories from the Agricultural
Department.
Miss Dorothy Lewis Kitchen of Kansas City, Mo., a
young woman who had been active in settlement and civic
work and in the Consumers' League, had charge of the
Interior Department, writing articles about teachers,
librarians, and the many phases of work done in the Depart-
ment of the Interior. Miss Kitchen compiled two bro-
chures on "War-work of Women in Colleges." The issu-
ance of these brochures was commenced in February,
1917, when the smaller colleges were more or less at sea
as to the nature of the war-work best suited for them, and
when the larger colleges were just establishing definite
programs for more intensive work. The brochures were
sent to colleges, schools, newspapers, magazines, women's
organizations, and government officials. The effect was
amazing. Every college in the country took advantage
of the suggestive reports of every other college, and a
vast amount of patriotic energy was utilized in a most
effective manner. The news of this activity was immensely
stimulating to other war-workers. An edition of twenty-
five thousand copies was exhausted in a very short time,
and thousands more were sent in response to requests
from libraries, college officials, and individuals.
There was an appendix to this pamphlet called "Oppor-
tunities in War- work for Women," which was used so
widely that it was later revised, and was just ready for
the printer when the work of the division ceased. It
contained a list of the chairmen of the Woman's Committee
215
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
in each state, a list of civil service commissions, of farm-
help specialists under the Department of Agriculture, and
of the fourteen Red Cross divisions, besides definite
ideas for war-work for trained and untrained college girls,
for educated and uneducated in fact, for every class of
woman.
The Department of Agriculture, with all the war bodies
associated with it, and with the women's organizations
which functioned through it, was combed each day for
news of women's war-work by Miss Constance Marguerite
McGowan, now Mrs. C. B. Savage of New York. Mrs.
Savage came from the Lindenwood College, where she
was dean of journalism.
The Treasury, with its great Liberty-loan work by
women, the Post Office, and the Department of Justice
were reported by Mrs. Susan Hunter Walker, an able
writer of wide experience.
Mrs. Florence Normile of the New York Public Library
was given the Department of Commerce, the Fosdick
Commission, and the Young Women's Christian Associ-
ation.
This information, having been collected and written,
was mimeographed, and "placed on the table" for distri-
bution among the nine hundred and odd correspondents
then in Washington. This number, of course, included
the correspondents of the big press associations, so that
every paper in the United States was reached. When
the matter was not "spot" news that is, when it was not
of sufficient news importance to be carried by telegraph
the material was worked up into feature and special
stories for news syndicates, or else was sent out in clip
sheets. Many of the papers carried these columns in
full, showing the interest felt all over the country in what
was being done by women.
With respect to church news, Miss Elizabeth Gorton,
216
DIVISION OF WOMEN'S WAR-WORK
now Mrs. H. A. Adams, Jr., assembled this material into
columns that gave information about organizations of
every creed.
The highly dramatic story of the colored women's work
was sent in from the four corners of the United States by
their organizations, committees, and branches of national
clubs. The Federation of Colored Women's Clubs found
this information useful and effective, and the press of both
races used the articles.
As the work expanded, inquiries poured in from public
officials, special writers, speakers, magazine editors, school-
teachers, college professors, grange officials, trade-unionists,
and every class of woman from the most influential execu-
tive of an international activity to the humblest farm-
worker.
The various departments in Washington and many
Senators and Congressmen also got in the habit of sending
women's letters to the Division of Women's War-work
for answer. Thus the division, besides being a centralized
medium of communication between writers, publicity bu-
reaus, organization heads, and the government, soon be-
came an important factor in the strengthening of the
morale of women in America.
Miss Ellen Harvey, and later Mrs. Laura Miller of St.
Louis, handled the bulk of this work, although Mrs.
Taylor considered it of such great importance in sustain-
ing the high morale of the work of the home that she gave
it her personal attention, and insisted on the warm co-
operation of every member of the staff in finding definite,
accurate answers to the many questions asked.
These letters were the expressions of the very heart
of American womanhood. The wording of an answer
had power to determine whether or not a discontented
and unhappy writer should form a center of agitation
against the war. Some of these letters were addressed
217
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
to the President, and many to the Secretary of War.
The method employed was to answer the queries, and then
to get the writer in touch with the group of women doing
war-work in the vicinity of her home. In case of want,
home-service workers were interested in the case. Often
glowing expressions of patriotism followed a fiery protest
against "sending my husband to war," or letters showing
a new interest in life followed a suicide threat "because
you took my only son." Always, the idea was to interest
these unhappy women in something real and vital.
Miss Helen M. Hogue of California, who was one of
the assistants in this work, wrote from France, where she
was doing war- work after leaving the committee: "The
Division of Women's War-work has aroused patriotism,
inspired courage, fostered self-sacrifice, and directed the
surplus energies of women into sane channels. With a
background of news releases, the correspondence was of
inestimable importance. I sincerely believe that every
letter, whether it goes to the dean of the college, who
wants an outline for a thesis, or to the little war widow
in Texas, struggling with her big plow and refractory
mule, is a distinctly constructive factor in keeping up the
morale of women, and through them of the men of
America."
A report shows that over fifty thousand of these letters
were answered. They went to wealthy women, who wanted
to know how they or their organizations could be of ser-
vice in spreading the truth about the war, to young women
who wanted to offer their lives for their country as their
brothers had, to mothers of soldiers on New England
farms, or in mountain valleys cut off from all other govern-
ment contact, and from wives or sweethearts of soldiers
bewildered by the new conditions thrust upon them by
the war.
To answer the queries successfully necessitated a careful
218
DIVISION OF WOMEN'S WAR-WORK
filing and cross-indexing of the material. "Make the
files live and breathe" was the slogan of the librarian,
Miss Helen Forbes, who left the New York Public Library
to take charge of this work. So well did she carry out
her program that she could give the names and addresses
in Washington of every new-comer in national war-work
of any prominence. She had at the ends of her capable
fingers the cards that gave the history of virtually every
woman war-worker of importance in America, every
organization and its war plans, every new campaign among
the women. A granddaughter of Abraham Lincoln, by
the way, sent news of women's work in Cuba to these files.
Pictures were catalogued also, and the files C9ntained
a wonderful historical collection of actual scenes among
the war-workers the flying squadron pitching hay, the
motor-drivers in action, Chinese women of San Francisco
and Indian women of Oklahoma working around their
tables, heaped up with Red Cross bandages and baby
clothes women working at strange trades and in strange
occupations logging-camps, machine-shops, etc. These
pictures were accessible at all times to the magazine
writers and to other seekers of information.
Miss Forbes also classified and made digests with in-
dices of government documents pertaining to the war- work
of women, reports of organizations, which were coming
in from every part of the United States, circulars and other
important mail matter, and newspaper clippings, making
it possible to gather together everything in the files on
a given subject. Miss Sue Schoolfield; Miss Eleanor
Clark, who had been affiliated with the Public Education
and Child Labor Association of Pittsburgh; Miss Antonio
Thornton Jenkins Converse, daughter of Admiral Alex-
ander Jenkins of the United States navy, and a writer
of ability; Miss Catherine Connell; Miss Marguerite
Jenison; Miss Cathrene H. Peebles, and Miss Gertrude R.
219
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Wheeler assisted Miss Forbes in the heavy task of collat-
ing the mass of material and making it available for instant
use.
No small part of the work of the division was the mail-
ing and management of supplies. Miss Loretta Dowling
took charge before the dissolution of the division, when the
work became so strenuous that Miss Anna Maria Perrott
Rose, a graduate of Vassar, joined the staff. Miss Rose,
a student of printing and publishing, had taught typog-
raphy in the night-school of the Pulitzer School of Journal-
ism, had been head of the proof department in a large
New York printing and publishing company, had done
writing and dummying, and had worked in all of the
mechanical departments of the plant to learn the machinery.
Miss Rose was planning a series of brochures to follow the
successful college booklet when the machinery stopped.
The work of the last month was concentrated largely
upon the writing of the history of women in war- work.
Mrs. Helen S. Wright of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, daugh-
ter of Rear-Admiral David Smith, of the United States
navy, trained for twenty years in the science of compiling
and assembling literary material, placed herself at the dis-
posal of the woman's division. This author of The Great
White North, The Valley of Lebanon, and The Seventh Con-
tinent worked early and late in the assembling of the events
that told the vivid and dramatic history of American
women in the war.
All this ended suddenly and even tragically. In June,
1918, 1 went before Congress for my appropriation. When
it came to the Division of Women's War- work, Congress
refused funds on the ground that we were trespassing upon
a field "already occupied by the Woman's Committee of
the Council of National Defense." Plain proof that this
was not the case failed to secure a reversal of the decision,
and Mrs. Taylor and her heartbroken associates were
220
DIVISION OF WOMEN'S WAR-WORK
compelled to quit a great work that was just coming to
the peak of its importance.
Strangely enough, the very dailies that were most
derisive of the Committee printed columns and even
pages in denunciation of the "arbitrary action" that ended
an "invaluable agency," all taking care, however, to
make it stand out as my personal fault.
XIX
OTHER DIVISIONS
THE Service Bureau was another of the many activi-
ties that were forced upon the Committee by proved
necessities and a general demand. During the first six
months of war the one great cry that rang through Wash-
ington was, "For Heaven's sake, don't send me to some-
body else." It came from civilians eager to offer their
services, business men with propositions to make, and even
from officials themselves, all worn out with tramping
from place to place, in every office receiving the answer,
"I'm not the man. You'd better see-
It is to be remembered that America's war machine
came into being almost overnight, and not only was there
a tremendous expansion in every department, but new
boards and commissions were created daily. Housing
was a bitter problem, and lack of quarters compelled a
scattering that made it difficult for even executive heads
to keep track of their bureaus. As a matter of course,
there were delay and confusion in the transaction of the
public business as a result of this lack of knowledge of the
organization of the executive departments, of the distri-
bution of the duties of each among its bureaus and divisions,
of the personnel in charge, of the location of the many
offices in which they were established, and of ready means
of intercommunication.
To meet the situation, information bureaus were in-
222
OTHER DIVISIONS
stalled by the permanent departments like War and Navy,
and elaborate organizations were also being planned by
Food, Fuel, War Industry, War Trade, and other similar
bodies. This was not a solution, however, and at a joint
meeting it was decided that the Committee should estab-
lish one central service bureau to act for the entire war-
machine. As a result of the decision the President issued
the following executive order under date of March 19,1918:
I hereby create under the direction of the Committee on
Public Information, created by Executive order of April 14, 1917,
a Service Bureau, for the purpose of establishing a central office
in the city of Washington, where complete information records
may be available as to the function, location, and personnel
of all government agencies.
I hereby ask the several departments of government, when
so requested by the chairman of the Committee on Public Infor-
mation, to detail such person or persons as may be necessary in
gathering the information needed and carrying on the work
of the bureau so far as it relates to such departments; to give
opportunity to the director of the bureau, or such person as he
may designate, to secure information from time to time for the
purpose of keeping the records up to date; to supply the director
of the bureau, on form cards furnished by him, with information
as to personnel, function, and location.
WOODROW WILSON.
Prof. Frederick W. McReynolds was borrowed from
Dartmouth College and quarters were taken in the very
heart of Washington's business district. Every fact
relating to the business of government in each of its several
departments was gathered and indexed so that the Ser-
vice Bureau stood ready to give instant and accurate
information as to officials, councils, commissions, functions.
Every detail of the war-machinery was at hand for inquiry
and answer. When it is borne in mind that each day
saw new bodies brought into being, and that the daily
changes of personnel in established departments sometimes
223
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
ran as high as five hundred, the magnitude of the task
can be appreciated.
During the six months of its existence the Service
Bureau answered over eighty-six thousand inquiries, made
in person, by telephone, and by letter, and from the day
of its creation there was a lessening of irritation and con-
fusion. Hundreds of people took the trouble to return
to compliment the bureau upon its efficiency, and even
members of Congress were compelled to admit the value of
the bureau. No one will ever be able to estimate the money
saved by lifting the Bureau of Inquiries and Answers
from the hard-driven departments of the government.
Professor McReynolds, after carrying the work to success,
resigned to become a special agent of the Bureau of Internal
Revenue, and Martin A. Morrison, who succeeded him,
was subsequently appointed a Civil Service Commissioner
by the President. Miss Marie Shick, office manager
from the beginning, was then promoted to be director and
at the time of the work's discontinuance was receiving
offers from various other departments of government,
which, while constituting an interference with the work,
nevertheless stood as proof of the competent manner in
which the bureau was administered.
A special word of commendation is due to Mr. F. E.
Hackett and Mr. Arthur Klein, who made the initial sur-
vey of all the departments, and to Miss Emily A. Spilman,
assistant librarian of the Department of Justice, who
supervised the compiling of the directory.
Through the Division of Syndicate Features we enlisted
the services of the leading novelists, essayists, and short-
story writers of the United States, a picked group of men
and women constituting a virtual staff that worked faith-
fully week after week in the preparation of brilliant articles
that were sent by mail to the press of the country for
release on given dates. Among those who gave so freely
224
OTHER DIVISIONS
of their time and abilities were Samuel Hopkins Adams,
Ellis Parker Butler, Booth Tarkington, Meredith Nichol-
son, Harvey O'Higgins, Herbert Quick, John Spargo,
William English Walling, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Wallace
Irwin, Richard Washburn Child, Samuel Merwin, Roland
G. Usher, Ralph D. Paine, Martha Bensey Bruere, Edward
Mott Wooley, John Reed Scott, Prof. John Erskine, Prof.
Eugene Davenport, Crittenden Marriott, James H. Collins,
Rex Beach, Virginia Frazer Boyle, and many others.
At first a good many personal pronouncements were
used to make clear why we were at war, to explain the ideals
for which we were fighting. Opinions of prominent people
were in demand, though stories of our war activities were
also used. But the character of the matter sent out
changed as the war progressed. Our object was, in the
newspaper phrase, to "sell the war," and we tried to
furnish, dressed in acceptable newspaper style, the story
of the war-machine in its thousands of phases, the story
of our boys over there and over here, and the spirit that
was back of the whole great adventure.
Mary Roberts Rinehart contributed timely articles
based upon her own observations while visiting the vari-
ous battle-fronts, and her story of an interview with the
King of Belgium was a free feature that the papers adver-
tised for days in advance. Samuel Hopkins Adams came
to Washington at his own expense, and as a result of his
skilful analysis of the papers taken from Von Igel by the
Department of Justice, a page story went out that showed
German intrigue down to the last sordid detail. James
H. Collins wrote a wonderful series that made clear the
work of new and little-understood departments; Herbert
Quick fought regularly for the conquest of the agricultural
mind; Ellis Parker Butler gave us a brilliant series which
we syndicated in one hundred papers, and Harvey J.
O'Higgins was such a success in answering the "German
225
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
whisper" that we drafted him outright, and brought him to
Washington to serve as associate chairman. The division did
not confine itself wholly to fact stories and human interest
stuff about army and navy workers. It dealt also with the
larger aspects that were behind the immediate facts. It
covered the racial, the social, the moral, and the financial
aspects of the war written by specialists in these lines.
L. Ames Brown, transferred from the News Division for
the purpose of inaugurating the plan of syndicate feat-
ures, handled it brilliantly and well until he entered the
army, and then, under the direction of William MacLeod
Raine and Arthur MacFarlane, the stories were used from
Florida to Alaska, from New York to California, reaching
a circulation of about twelve million a month.
Then there was the Bureau of Cartoons to mobilize and
direct the scattered cartoon power of the country for con-
structive war-work. I was never very enthusiastic over
the idea and gave it a very grudging assent as well as a
meager appropriation. But under Mr. George J. Hecht,
capably assisted by Mr. Alfred M. Saperston and Miss
Gretchen Leicht, a remarkable success was won. The
principal activity of the bureau was the weekly publica-
tion of the Bulletin for Cartoonists. Every week the
bureau obtained from all the chief departments of the
government the announcements which they particularly
wanted to transmit to the public, wrote them up in the
bulletin, and sent them out to over seven hundred and fifty
cartoonists. As general suggestions and advance-news
"tips" were published rather than specific subjects for
cartoons, there was no danger of cartoonists losing their
individuality or originality. Cartoonists all over the nation
followed out these suggestions. This made for timeliness
and unity of cartoon power which developed into a stimu-
lating and actively constructive force for shaping public
opinion and winning the war.
226
XX
SHOWING AMERICA TO THE FOREIGN PRESS
IN many respects, one of the most effective ideas of the
Committee on Public Information was the bringing
to the United States, from time to time, of delegations
of foreign newspaper men in order that they might "see
with their own eyes, hear with their own ears," and upon
their return be able to report fully on America's morale
and effort. These trips were of incalculable value in our
foreign educational work, for not only did the visitors
send home daily reports by cable and by mail, but upon
their return wrote series of articles and even went upon
the lecture platform. Most important, everything was
written on the basis of what had been seen by the eyes of
the foreigners, with the individual correspondent's own
interpretation of the facts in the manner that would most
appeal to his own reading public.
Mexico was selected for the initial experiment in national
entertaining, and Mr. Robert H. Murray, our resident
commissioner, assembled the following representative
group of Mexican editors:
From the City of Mexico, Senor Felix Palavacini of El
Universal, Senor Manuel Carpio of La Voz, Senor Zamora
Plowes of A. B. C., Senor Manero of El Economista, and
Senor Alducin of El Excelsior, and from other principal
cities the correspondents of these papers: El Dictdmen,
Vera Cruz; La Prensa, Pueblo; El Informador, Saltillo; El
227
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Liberal, Saltillo; ElProgreso, El Liberal, and Nueva Patria,
all of Monterey, La Prensa, and Tampico.
Lieut. P. S. O'Reilly, borrowed from the Cable Censor-
ship by reason of a long association with Spanish-speaking
peoples, took the party in charge for the Committee, and
a tour was arranged that covered the United States.
Their itinerary included the following cities and points of
interest: New Orleans, Louisiana; Atlanta, Georgia; Wash-
ington, D. C., where the delegation w r as received and ad-
dressed by President Wilson and where the Pan-American
Bureau entertained it and the Mexicans were afforded an op-
portunity of seeing many governmental works; Annapolis,
for inspection of the United States Naval Academy; Camp
Meade, for inspection of a typical United States canton-
ment; Philadelphia, for a view of the Hog Island Ship-
building Yard; South Bethlehem, for inspection of the
Bethlehem Steel Works; New York City, for inspection
of the United States Military Academy at West Point
and numerous war factories in and around New York;
Boston, for inspection of shipbuilding plants; Schenectady,
for inspection of the plant of the General Electric Co.;
Buffalo, for inspection of the Curtiss Aviation Co. ; Detroit,
for view of various plants making Liberty motors and
'planes; Chicago, for view of various steel-plants, packing-
houses, etc.; St. Paul and Minneapolis, for study of the
milling centers; Yakima, Washington, for a view of a United
States reclamation project; Seattle, for study of west-
coast shipbuilding; Portland, for study of west-coast ship-
building, and San Francisco for the same purpose; Los
Angeles, and back to Mexico via San Antonio and Laredo.
The Mexicans came in distrust and suspicion, also in
a vast and amazing ignorance of the extent and might of
the United States. While Mr. Murray was working very
effectively with the Committee's daily cable and mail
service, literature, etc., it was still the case that the pro-
228
SHOWING AMERICA TO THE FOREIGN PRESS
German press of Mexico had Republican attacks in the
Senate to serve as a sort of answer, and the visiting editors
were in doubt as to the exact facts. It was amusing to
witness their surprise when they saw our cantonments,
our ships, our aviation-fields, and great munition-plants.
"Why," exclaimed one of them, "we had been led to
believe by your Senators that you did not have a ship or
an airplane."
At every point we treated them with absolute frankness,
showing everything, concealing nothing, and in the end
they were enthusiastic believers not only in our power,
but in our idealism.
Chambers of commerce, boards of trade, various other
civic and business organizations and business firms and
individuals throughout the country aided splendidly in
making the Mexicans feel at home and im impressing them
with the good will and friendship which the people of the
United States felt for the people south of the Rio Grande.
Many business firms and individuals entertained them
and contributed not a little to making them, on their return
to their native country, enthusiastic "boosters" for the
United States. What won them absolutely, however, was
the speech of the President, made to them simply and
straightforwardly as they grouped about him in the White
House, clear and ringing in its exposition of our ideals,
aims, and purposes. This speech, more than any other
one thing, killed the German lie in Latin America, for we
gave it complete circulation in South and Central America
as well as in Mexico.
The Swiss came next, and getting them to come was
remarkable proof of the strength that Mrs. Whitehouse
had acquired in Switzerland. The government itself had
to approve the visit, also the personnel, and there were
delicate questions of neutrality involved, as well as personal
prejudices on the part of pro-German editors. The six
16 **9
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
men in the party were statesmen as well as journalists,
and I have never seen a group that had fairer or more open
minds. They saw and listened calmly and critically, and
because of this judicial silence there were times when we
felt that the trip was not a success. Mr. Norman de R.
Whitehouse, however, who was conducting the party,
having deserted his own affairs to render the service,
assured us that all was going well, and his word came true.
A night or two before they sailed the Swiss colony of New
York gave a dinner in honor of the distinguished visitors,
and not one of the six but made a speech that was ungrudg-
ing in its praise of America and its belief in our ideals.
The Italian journalist came next and Captain Merriman,
in Rome, selected the following representative members
of the Italian press: Aldo Cassuto of Secolo, Antonio
Agresti of Tribuna, Paolo Cappa of Awenire d'ltalia,
Orazio Pedrazzi of Nuovo Giornale, Franco Rainieri of
Giornale d'ltalia, Pietro Solari of Tempo, Leonardo Bitetti
of Idea Nazionale.
The fourth group to arrive came from the Scandinavian
countries and included representatives of the principal
papers in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. Not only did
we show them America at war, but we made it a point to
see that they came into contact with all those communities
in which there were large Scandinavian populations. Mr.
Bjorkman handled the tour with rare judgment and carried
it through to complete success. The armistice termi-
nated our plans in this direction, and necessitated the can-
celation of the invitations that had already been extended
to the newspaper men of Holland and Spain. The itiner-
aries arranged by the Italians, the Swiss, and the Scandi-
navians followed the same general plan as the one pre-
pared for the Mexican editors.
There can be no question as to the signal success of
these visits, for the effect of them was signal and lasting.
230
SHOWING AMERICA TO THE FOREIGN PRESS
The very fact that we were willing to let our war progress
be seen and judged was impressive at the outset, and the
magnitude of "America's Answer" did the rest. Count-
less columns in foreign newspapers were earned for us
that could have been gained in no other way, and every
column carried weight because it came from the pen of a
writer in whom the readers had confidence.
Equally good results were obtained from similar visits
to the American firing-line in France. The newspaper
men of Spain, of Holland, of England, and of the Scandi-
navian countries were selected by the resident commission-
ers and on arrival in France were received by the Paris
office and shown every detail of the American effort from
landing-port to front-line trench. Every man of them
carried back to his country the message, "America cannot
lose/'
The tours of the foreign editors having proved so won-
derfully successful, it was decided that a like plan should
be pursued with reference to the foreign correspondents
on duty in the United States. Mr. Walter S. Rogers of
the Foreign Cable Service took the matter up with them,
and an association was formed that included these members :
R. Bonnifield, Central News, London; P. P. Brown and E.
W. Kelly, Paris Herald; W. F. Bullock, Henry N. Hall,
and J. Andrew White, London Times; P. S. Bullen and
S. J. Clarke, London Daily Telegraph; H. Delmas and
Henri Collin Delavaud, Agence Havas, France; W. W.
Davies, La Nacion of Buenos Aires; Frank Dilnot and J.
W. Harding, London Daily Chronicle; Dr. F. Ferrera,
Corner e della Sera, Rome; Sir John Foster Fraser, Scotch
newspapers; Andrea Ferretti, L'Idea Nazionale, Rome;
Leopold Grahame, El Heraldo, Cuba; Y. Hatada, Asahi,
Japan; Frank Hillier, London Daily Mail; E. W. M. Hall,
Daily Sketch, London; W. J. Herman, Westminster Gazette,
London; Marcel Knecht, Maison de la Presse, Paris;
231
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
S. Lauzanne, A. Plottier, and Leon Levy, Le Matin, Paris;
S. Levy Lawson and Wilmer Stuart, Reuters, Ltd., London;
Capt. S. Loewy, L 9 Information, Paris; A. Maurice Low,
Morning Post, London; Warren Mason, London Daily Ex-
press; Norman MacCallum, Canadian Press Association;
Ernest Montenegro, El Mercurio, Chile; E. Rascovar,
Central News, London; Romeo Ronconi, La Prensa,
Buenos Aires; A. Rothman, Australian Press Association;
Severo Salcedo, La Nacion, Santiago, Chile; Van Buren
Thome, Mainichi, Osaka, Japan; T. Walter Williams,
Daily Mirror, London; P. W. Wilson, London Daily News.
Our first effort was to answer the German lie that
America's shipbuilding was a "bluff." Permission for
the unprecedented step of showing the secret processes
of certain American shipbuilding yards was finally obtained
from the government departments concerned, and the
correspondents were taken on a tour which embraced the
yards of the New York Shipbuilding Co., at Camden, N. J.;
the American International plant at Hog Island, Pa.;
the Squantum and Quincy plants of the Fore River Ship-
building Co., outside of Boston, Mass.; the Brooklyn
Navy Yard; and the Newark plant of the Submarine Boat
Corporation. Each correspondent who made the trip
was under no coercion as to the character of the matter
he was to write, and the only pledges asked were with
respect to certain secrets of construction.
Judging from the publicity to the American shipbuilding
program which resulted, the trip was an immense success.
All of the foreign correspondents were more than anxious to
present America's viewpoint and more than enthusiastic
over America's accomplishments. Matter written by these
correspondents was published all over England, France,
Italy, and South America, and reproduced in countries
still more distant.
Necessary permission having been secured, the foreign
232
SHOWING AMERICA TO THE FOREIGN PRESS
correspondents were next sent on a tour of the Middle West
to study aviation progress. At Detroit the plant of the
Packard Motor Co. engaged in making Liberty motors
was thoroughly inspected, the first time that such a
permission had been granted. The army authorities,
thoroughly awake to the propaganda value of the plan,
relaxed their stern rule against civilians and granted the
correspondents fullest freedom at the special testing-field
outside of Detroit. The plant of Henry Ford, making
cylinders for the Liberty motors, was inspected.
The correspondents then traveled to Chicago. They
were greatly interested in the Great Lakes Naval Training
Station, were made to realize something of the gigantic
responsibilities which the United States had shouldered
in its self-assumed task of feeding the world by a detailed
view of the Union Stock Yards and the great packing-plants
of Chicago. One day was also spent in investigating the
making of munitions at the plant of the International
Harvester Co. Another day was spent visiting the great
war plant of the Rock Island Arsenal.
The third trip undertaken was in response to earnest
pleas from the correspondents that they be permitted to
visit briefly with President Wilson himself. The President
consented to receive the correspondents at the White
House, and in a remarkable interview laid bare his own
thought as well as his conception of the ideals of America.
The correspondents were then taken to Old Point Comfort,
where they saw the plant of the Newport News Shipbuild-
ing Co., inspected the heavy-artillery school at Fortress
Monroe, saw the training of naval aviators at Langley
Field, Hampton Roads, and the vast embarkation works
in and around that harbor.
The fourth trip was a corollary to the Detroit-Chicago-
Rock Island inspection. It was designed to show the corre-
spondents certain American aviation-plants in operation.
233
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
The correspondents were taken to Dayton, where they went
over the plant of the Dayton-Wright Co., and as many as
desired were afforded the opportunity of going aloft in
a Liberty 'plane. The same inspection and the same
opportunity were afforded them at Buffalo, where they
went through the great plant of the Curtiss Co.
It was not only the case that each trip resulted in long
cable stories and special articles sent by mail. From the
very first tour a new note was apparent in the despatches
a note of enthusiasm, of courage, of victory. From what
they had seen themselves they were able to discount the
attacks of partizans, and "calamity howls" ceased to go
out on the cables to alarm the Allies and frighten the
neutrals.
It should be added that Mr. Perry Arnold, who conducted
the correspondents on each trip, also prepared numerous
articles covering what had been seen, which were exten-
sively circulated in Europe and South America.
Part II
THE FOREIGN SECTION
THE FIGHT IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
THE domestic task was simple compared with the under-
taking that faced the Committee on Public Informa-
tion when it turned from the United States to make the
fight for world opinion. It was not only that the people
of the Allied Powers had to be strengthened with a mes-
sage of encouragement, but there was the moral verdict
of the neutral nations to be won and the stubborn prob-
lem of reaching the deluded soldiers and civilians of the
Central Powers with the truths of the war. A prime
importance was to preach the determination and military
might of America and the certainty of victory, but it was
equally necessary to teach the motives, purposes, and ideals
of America so that friend, foe, and neutral alike might
come to see us as a people without selfishness and in love
with justice.
It was a task that looked almost hopeless. The United
States, alone of the great nations of the world, had never
conducted a propaganda movement. For years preceding
the war Germany had been secretly building a vast pub-
licity machine in every corner of the earth, designed to
overwhelm all foreign peoples with pictures of Germany's
vast power, her overwhelming pre-eminence in industry,
commerce, and the arts. German agents, carefully selected
from among her journalists and authors, neglected no
opportunities for presenting Germany's case to readers
237
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
of every language, and her commercial firms linked a
propaganda of liberal credits with this newspaper campaign
throughout the world.
Great Britain, through Reuters, likewise conducted a
governmental propaganda. France had official connection
with the Havas Agency. Both England and France,
through ownership or liberal subsidy of certain great
cable arteries, had long been able to direct currents of
public opinion in channels favorable to themselves. Other
nations had publicity machines of varying types.
America controlled no cables, manipulated no press
associations, operated no propaganda machinery of any
kind. We were, and always had been, dependent upon
foreign press agencies for intercourse with the world.
The volume of information that went from our shores was
comparatively small, and after it had been filtered in
London, or Paris, it grew smaller and smaller until it
amounted to mere "flashes" when it reached a far country.
Strangely enough, we were at once the best-known and the
least-known people in the world. There was no corner
of the globe in which America was not a familiar word,
but as to our aims, our ideals, our social and industrial
progress, our struggles and our achievements, there were
the most absolute and disheartening misunderstandings
and misconceptions. For instance, when the "gun-men"
were executed in New York, papers in South America
actually printed accounts that told of an admission fee
being charged, with Governor Whitman taking tickets
at the door. Into this situation the Germans projected
themselves with vigor and decision. From the first,
Berlin had an exact appreciation of the military value of
public opinion, and it spent millions in its endeavor to
win it or else to corrupt it. Just as the German propagand-
ists worked in the United States during our period of neu-
trality, using every effort to prejudice Americans against
238
THE FIGHT IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
the Allies, so did they now attempt to poison the Allied
and the neutral nations of the world against America.
It is impossible even to estimate the amount of money
spent on propaganda by the Germans. Russians compe-
tent to judge assured us that the agents of Berlin spent
$500,000,000 in that country alone in their work of cor-
ruption and destruction, and their expenditures in Spain
were estimated at $60,000,000. Close to $5,000,000 went
to Bolo Pasha for the corruption of the Paris press, and the
sums spent in Mexico ran high into the millions. I know
that they owned or subsidized dailies in most of the im-
portant cities of Spain, South America, the Orient, Scandi-
navia, Switzerland, and Holland; that their publications,
issued in every language, ran from costly brochures to the
most expensive books and albums; that they thought
nothing of paying $25,000 for a hole-in-the-wall picture-
house, and that in every large city in every country their
blackmailers and bribe-givers swarmed like carrion crows.
Their propaganda, while playing upon different points
of prejudice in various countries, was much the same in
all countries. As an initial proposition America's military
strength was derided. By no possibility could the United
States raise or train an army, and if, by some miracle,
this did happen, the army could not be transported.
America was a fat, loblolly nation, lacking courage, equip-
ment, and ships, etc., etc. Working away from this pleas-
ing premise, Americans were described as a nation of
dollar-grabbers, devoid of ideals, and inordinate in their
ambitions. Our war with Mexico was played up as a
cold-blooded, evil conquest and our struggle with Spain
painted as an effort of our financial masters to enter upon
dreams of world imperialism; Cuba, the Philippines, and
Porto Rico were pitied as "America's slave nations";
Pershing's expedition to Mexico was declared to be the
start of a war of conquest that we were later forced to
239
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
relinquish because our "cowardice" shrank before the
"dauntless" courage of Carranza; the Colorado coal
strike, the Lawrence strike, and the Paterson strikes were
all treated in the utmost detail to prove America's "system
of wage-slavery"; pictures were drawn of tremendous
wealth on the one hand and peonage on the other; lynch-
ings were exaggerated until it was made to appear that
almost every tree in America was used for purposes of ex-
ecution, and we were charged in every conceivable form
and fashion with being the secret partner of one or the
other of the Allies in commercial plans to control the trade
of the world.
Where there was French sentiment, America was set
down as the secret partner of England. Where English
sentiment prevailed, we were the secret partner of France;
and where Italian sentiment obtained, America, England,
and France were assumed to be in a plot to destroy Italy.
In Spain every effort was made to revive the prejudices
and passions of 1898, and the pro-German press ran daily
lies in proof of "Yankee Contempt for the Spaniard."
One falsehood was that a favorite American recruiting
slogan was: "Enlist for the War! Remember the Maine
and Spain."
In Switzerland we were accused of withholding grain
shipments in order to starve the Swiss into alliance with
us, and in South and Central America the Germans put
full emphasis on the "Panama Canal rape" and the "con-
quest and annexation" of Haiti and Santo Domingo.
The German drive against us was particularly strong
in Italy and France among the peasants, and weekly papers,
printed in close imitation of French and Italian publica-
tions, were circulated by the thousands. The French
were asked to believe that the high prices were entirely
due to the selfishness and extravagance of the Americans
in France, also that the docks and railroads and warehouses
240
THE FIGHT IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
built by the Expeditionary Forces would be permanent
American properties with a view to the commercial enslave-
ment of France and the French.
Playing upon the fact that only a small number of
American troops were in Italy, the German "fakes" kept
up the continual cry : "Why is Italy deserted? A new and
more terrific drive is on the way, but Foch keeps help
from us. Pershing and the Americans are the dupes of
the selfish French."
In France the Gazette des Ardennes, published in French
printing-offices in the occupied district, deceived thousands,
and Italian newspapers were also printed and distributed
from captured cities. In both cases, the names of well-
known French and Italian writers and artists were forged
to articles and cartoons. A principal propaganda weapon,
however, was The Continental Times, published in Berlin,
with branch office^ in Holland and Switzerland. Printed
in English, edited by American and British renegades, and
called "an independent cosmopolitan newspaper published
in the interests of truth," the wretched sheet gave itself
wholly to the dissemination of falsehood. It was pecul-
iarly the medium used in attacking America, and in each
issue there were columns devoted to the "failure" of our
Liberty Loans, "armed resistance to the draft," the "utter
breakdown" of our war preparations, and other like lies.
In Russia particularly, but also among the labor and So-
cialist grorps of all the neutral and Allied countries, exag-
gerated attention was paid to the Mooney trial, the im-
prisonment of Emma Goldman, the deportations in
Arizona, and other matters intended to give the lying
impression that there was an industrial autocracy in the
United States more to be feared than the military autoc-
racy of Germany.
The great wireless plant at Nauen was used almost
exclusively for propaganda, from two to three thousand
241
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
words being "broadcasted" each day as a lure to neutrals.
The navy picked it up regularly for studying by various
divisions of the government, in order that we might know
what lies to fight.
Strangely enough, the Germans gathered much of their
most effective material from our own press. From first
to last American newspapers went to neutral countries
without hindrance, and everything that they contained
about "inefficiency," "graft," "delay," or "Wilson Bit-
terly Arraigned as Dictator" was seized upon by the
German propagandists and played across the board. Mr.
Roosevelt's articles, however conscientiously intended as
constructive criticism, were among the chief weapons used
by the Germans in their propaganda attack in every
country. Senator La Follette's speeches were printed
between red covers and broadcasted. No wonder that
the thing that fairly stunned the visiting Mexican editors
was their first sight of an aviation-field! They honestly
believed, as a result of reports of Congressional debates,
that there was not one airplane in America that could fly.
We were called upon to combat the prejudices of years,
to buck a vast propaganda machinery with millions behind
it, yet not only were we without equipment or agencies,
but there was also the daily harassment of a press that
refused to understand and the ignorances and partizan-
ships of a Congress that counted the day lost that did
not see some new obstacle thrown in the way of the Com-
mittee on Public Information.
Our one asset was the justice of our cause, our one hope
the carrying power of truth, and not the least factor of
our success in every neutral country was the honesty of
our initial approach. We did not send agents secretly to
carry on their work by stealth, but to each government
we addressed an honest statement of purpose somewhat
after this fashion:
242
THE FIGHT IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
It is desired to establish in your country offices for the dis-
tribution of a wireless cable, and mail news service to the press;
for the exhibition of motion pictures expressive of America's
purpose and energies, for the assignment of speakers, for pam-
phlet distribution, and for other similar open activities. There
will be no item nor pamphlet that we will not be willing to sub-
mit to the inspection of qualified officials, for our purpose is not
the coercion of public opinion, but the information of public
opinion to the end that there may be a better understanding
between our two countries.
We desire to do these things openly, not only because it is
the national policy to avoid secrecy, but because it is our desire
to do nothing contrary to the wishes of your government or viola-
tive of the neutrality that we respect. It is not the idea of the
United States to conduct propaganda in neutral countries in
the sense of attacking the motives and methods of the 'enemy,
or in the nature of argument designed to compel or to persuade
certain courses of conduct. Our activities in every neutral
country are open and aboveboard, confined always to a very
frank exposition of America's war aims, the nation's ideals, and
future hopes.
A news service was soon carrying several thousand
words a day to the press of the world, a clarion as to
America's war preparation and progress, America's pur-
pose, thought, and aims. It was through this machinery
that we were able to give universal circulation to the
addresses of the President, putting them in every language
within forty-eight hours of their delivery.
Under the direction of Ernest Poole, the author, a
Foreign Mail Press Bureau was also formed that soon
enlisted the services of many well-known writers and
publicists in the United States. Week by week, a package
went out to every one of our foreign representatives,
carrying material designed to clear away all points of
misunderstanding and misconception that prevailed, or
might prevail, in foreign countries in regard to America,
its life, work, ideals, and opinions; material in the shape
243
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
of editorial comment from newspapers, and original
special articles prepared by accepted authorities, covering
every phase of our national activity education, agri-
culture, invention, co-operative ventures, modern ma-
chinery, rural free delivery, social legislation, etc., etc.
Charles Dana Gibson, at the head of the mobilized
artists of the United States, and Charles S. Hart, director
of the Film Division, worked closely with Mr. Poole, and
through the Foreign Press Bureau went out posters,
captioned in every language, millions of picture postals,
and "still" photographs for purposes of display. In
every country the show-windows of American business
houses were commandeered and used for the display of
posters, bulletins, and photographs, all changed at short
intervals just as a theatrical offering is changed.
The problem of the spoken word was an awkward one
to solve. At first we tried the experiment of selecting
Americans of foreign birth, men of achievement in their
particular trades and professions, and sending them back
to their native lands for speaking tours. Certain patriotic
Socialists, despatched to France and Italy, did splendid
work along this line, and various other groups functioned
very well. Speakers were not sent anywhere, however,
unless they could be kept under careful observation, so
that the use of oratory was therefore limited.
Capt. Charles E. Merriam finally evolved the idea
of finding native Italians who knew America, filling them
up with our latest facts and figures, and sending them out
to talk to their own people. The scheme worked so well
that we adopted it in some other countries, drawing im-
partially from the universities, shops, and farms. It was
Captain Merriam, too, who thought of suggesting to
General Pershing that wounded Americans of Italian
birth or descent be invalided to Italy for convalescence.
These men turned out to be our best propagandists, preach-
244
THE FIGHT IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
ing the gospel of democracy with a fervor and under-
standing that would have shamed many an heir of Plym-
outh Rock.
James F. Kerney, in charge in France until the late
summer of 1918, added to our working capital of experience
by virtually mobilizing the French universities in the in-
terests of America. French professors of standing who
* knew the United States were "educated" up to date, and
these volunteers, proceeding from university to university,
"educated" the various faculties, who in turn spread
out over the communities with the truth about the United
States and L* effort americain.
Reading-rooms were also established, with all the pam-
phlets, posters, and picture postals of the Committee for
distribution, and with a full equipment of American books,
newspapers, and magazines. Mr. Robert H. Murray,
head of the work in Mexico, introduced a rather novel ex-
periment in the shape of classes in English, American
residents giving their time as teachers free of charge.
These classes, ten a week, drew an average attendance of
about eight hundred young men, and the instruction gave
splendid opportunity to preach the history, aims, and ideals
of America, with the result that every one of the eight
hundred became an understanding champion of the United
States.
The foreign-born, and those of foreign descent, played
no small part in our educational effort. As I have related
in previous chapters, the twenty-three principal foreign-
language groups in the United States formed themselves
into loyalty leagues and aided in the organization of great
meetings from coast to coast that not only pledged the de-
votion of America's adopted sons to the President and the
war, but also sent resolutions across the seas to strengthen
the hearts of the firing-line and sustain the determination
of the civilian population.
17 *6
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
After the Caporetto disaster, when it seemed that Italy
might have to be dismissed as a factor in the war, the
Italians in America rallied as one man, and for weeks the
cables were loaded down with messages, and the mails
were filled with letters, all telling the preparations of
America, pledging the aid of America, calling for courage
and redoubled effort. The results were almost instantly
apparent, and the Italian government has stated repeat-
edly that it was this cry of faith and command from the
United States that stiffened the Italian defensive into a
resistless offensive.
A feature of this phase of the work that had the most
far-reaching effect probably was the great Fourth-of-July
celebration, organized and handled by those of foreign
birth or foreign descent. Each race in each city had its
own story to send back to its country, its own set of
motion pictures for distribution in its native land, and there
was the great climax in the pilgrimage to Mount Vernon
by representatives of the thirty-three foreign-language
groups as the guests of the President. To this very day,
in almost every country of the world, the stories of the
Fourth of July are being printed, the pictures are being
shown, and the speech of President Wilson has been trans-
lated into every language and has achieved wide use in the
public schools.
So the work went on, each day forcing enlargements,
each week witnessing progress, until at last there came
the time when it was possible to say, "We have won."
The things that we set out to do were done. The morale
of the Allied fighting fronts had been galvanized, and faith
and friendship had been substituted for dislike and dis-
trust in the hearts of the civilian populations; the neutral
nations had been brought to a conviction of American
victory and a belief in American idealism, and the German
censorship, breaking under our attack, let through the
246
THE FIGHT IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
truth to soldiers and civilians a flood that crumbled the
rotten structures of lies. Whatever may be the con-
dition to-day after months of a Congress that brought to
the surface all that was mean and despicable in American
life, the fact remains that on the day of the armistice there
was not a corner of earth that did not know us as we were
a people with failures behind us, but struggling indomi-
tably to the heights ; a people materialistic in achievement,
but idealistic in every aspiration and, knowing us, they
liked and trusted us.
As chairman of the Committee on Public Information,
keenly aware of the importancies and intricacies of
these foreign activities, I exercised personal direction of
all the work until the various trails were well blazed and
when the need of undivided executive attention became
imperative. Mr. Arthur Woods, former police commis-
sioner of New York City, was decided upon as director
of the Foreign Section, but within a week the aviation
division of the army begged his services, and, knowing the
bitter need for his type of genius, I released him. In
January, 1918, at the height of our new search for the right
man, Will Irwin dropped from heaven, via Europe, and vol-
unteered for six months of service. He knew Western
Europe intimately, was thoroughly familiar with German
propaganda in all of its forms, and in addition to this
knowledge he brought vision to the work, originality, and
an enthusiasm that had the carry of a bullet.
He stayed his promised six months, carrying through the
great Fourth-of-July celebration that was his idea, and after
his return to his European work the post of director of
the Foreign Section fell to Edgar G. Sisson, just back from
Russia. At his right hand Mr. Sisson placed Carl Byoir
as associate and business director, and Harry N. Rickey
as assistant general director, and these three swept the pro-
gram through to the end. Mr. Rickey, formerly executive
247
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
head of the Newspaper Enterprise Association, had served
as the Committee's representative in London, and brought
experience to the aid of his rare ability. As for Mr. Byoir,
he had, like Mr. Sisson, "grown up" with the Committee.
Sacrificing his own business interests to serve, he soon
came to be known among us as the "multiple director,"
for I used his organizing ability in division after division,
moving him from one to the other, and, whether the activity
was domestic or foreign, he showed equal skill in giving
it efficiency, force, and direction.
The record would not be complete without recognition
of the devoted and effective services of those who served
the Foreign Section in the capitals of the world. In Russia
Arthur Bullard, author and publicist, fought the fight from
Petrograd to Vladivostok; Charles E. Merriam, of the
University of Chicago, spread the gospel over Italy;
James F. Kerney, editor of The Trenton Times, handled the
difficult .^clearing-house job in France; Charles Edward
Russell, Harry Rickey, and Paul Perry wrestled in turn
with the English problem; George Edward Riis, son of
Jacob Riis, went to Denmark, the home of his fathers; Eric
Palmer, a first-class newspaper man of Swedish descent,
and Guy Croswell Smith, in charge of films, were our
representatives in Sweden; Mrs. Norman de R. White-
house carried the cause to victory in Switzerland; Henry
Suydam, European correspondent of The Brooklyn Eagle,
gave up his position to serve his country in Holland;
Frank J. Marion, president of the Kalem Company,
looked after Spain and Portugal; Robert H. Murray,
for years the correspondent of The New York World, was
our representative in Mexico; to Buenos Aires we sent
Henry B. Sevier; to Chile, A. A. Preciado; in Peru we found
C. V. Griffis, an American editing a powerful newspaper;
in Brazil Ambassador Edwin V. Morgan was the real head
of the work; S. P. Verner handled Central America, from
248
THE FIGHT IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Panama; and in the Orient, Carl Crow, the American
correspondent, achieved brilliantly, aided at all times by
Paul Reinsch, our Minister to China, and Roland Morris,
our Ambassador to Japan.
Each man went to his post with few assistants, usually
a good news editor, a motion-picture expert, and perhaps
a stenographer. Translators were expected to be engaged
on the ground and from the American colony. Every-
where the consular corps gave intelligent, earnest aid.
Too great credit cannot be given to the devoted drudgery
of these small forces.
II
AMERICA'S WORLD NEWS SERVICE
WHEN we first set about the creation of a news ma-
chinery to carry American facts to the world a natural
reliance was placed upon cables, the one established medium
for international communication. The cables, however,
were virtually all foreign owned, the rates were prohibitive,
and, what was even more conclusive, all were so overbur-
dened as to endanger vital war business by their delays.
Forced to look in some other direction, our eyes fell upon
the wireless, taken over by the navy some time before
and lying idle for a good part of the time. Without more
ado, we placed our problem before Secretary Daniels,
who, understanding and co-operative as always, put the
wireless stations of the United States at our disposal, and
likewise the expert navy personnel.
The next step was an organization, and in the very mo-
ment of need a gangling, youngish, Lincolnesque type
walked into my office with a burst of conversation about
"world communication." Others may collect stamps or
coins, play golf or polo, but Walter S. Rogers of Chicago,
as far as I know, is the only living man whose hobby is
"news transmission," and it took a world war to get him
his chance to ride it. It was his belief, and a sane one, that
peoples best understand each other through the exchange
of news, and he had just returned from a world tour
devoted to a study of cable rates, press agencies, distribu-
ting machinery, etc.
250
AMERICA'S WORLD NEWS SERVICE
Mr. Rogers was made director of the newly established
Division of Wireless and Cable Service, and as his associate
we were fortunate in the securement of Perry Arnold,
cable editor of the United Press, and one of the ablest and
most experienced men in the newspaper profession. An-
other piece of good luck was Capt. David W. Todd,
Chief of Naval Communications, for aside from his brill-
iant specialized ability he gave a co-operation that was
as helpful as it was enthusiastic.
Offices were taken in New York, a news force gathered,
and in September, 1917, "Compub," as its code address
soon advertised it to the world, commenced business.
The first service was from Tuckerton to the wireless station
at Lyons. From Lyons by arrangement with the French
government it went to our office in Paris, and after trans-
lation and distribution to the press of France, Mr. Kerney
relayed it to our offices in Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and
Portugal.
The next step in the world dissemination of news came
through arrangements heartily entered into by the British
government. The same wireless report sent to Lyons
was intercepted by navy operators at the American naval
base, and relayed to London, where the representatives
of the Committee received it, and distributed it to the
English press.
The London office, in turn, relayed the service to the
Committee's representative in The Hague for the Dutch
press, a highly important operation in the machinery, as
many Dutch papers managed to get past the German
censorship. A further relay was to our offices in Copen-
hagen and Stockholm for translation and distribution to
the newspapers of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, and
here again, particularly in the case of Copenhagen, we had
a chance to beat the German censors. In Switzerland, too,
we scored heavily against the Germans in the same fashion.
251
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
The service also went from London to Saloniki and other
Greek points, for not only was Greece to be considered,
but it was good ground from which to shoot into the
Balkans.
Our first effort to serve Russia was by wireless, and after
much experimentation under the direction of Captain
Todd we were actually able to reach the Russian station
at Moscow. When the Bolsheviki overthrew Kerensky,
however, one of their first actions was to grab the wireless
stations. The one at Moscow, either intentionally or
through ignorance, they put out of operation. Cut off in
this quarter, the Committee's representatives managed
to obtain permission for a cable service, and this went from
New York direct from three to five hundred words a day.
When the President spoke or when some major action was
taken, we shot it through as a "special."
With Europe accounted for, attention was next given
to South and Central America. At first glance it seemed
a simple enough proposition, for virtually every South
and Central American country had a wireless station and
each government agreed instantly to take our news ser-
vice out of the air. Our representatives would then
attend to the business of translation and distribution.
It was not even the case that dependence had to be placed
on the one wireless leap from Tuckerton, for there was our
own high-power station on the Isthmus of Panama to act
as a relay. What seemed easy in theory, however, proved
impossible in practice. Only Brazil " made good," the other
South American stations falling down completely. As a
consequence Compub had to inaugurate a cable service
from New York to the Argentine, but, fortunately enough,
we were able to arrange a "drop copy" plan that gave
the matter to Lima, Santiago, Valparaiso, and all other
cities touched by the cable. Buenos Aires distributed
to Uruguay and Paraguay, the Brazilian wireless took care
252
AMERICA'S WORLD NEWS SERVICE
of the north, and so in a few months South America was
thoroughly covered.
Mr. John Collins, "borrowed" from the Panama Canal
Board, handled Central America from Darien, broad-
casting it for interception by the wireless stations of the
United Fruit Company. There was also a special cable
service circulated gratis through co-operation of the
Haiti Cable Company. It consisted of a summary of the
day's news, approximating four hundred words daily,
which was prepared by this office and sent over cables
of the Haitian Company to all their offices. By these
offices it was posted in various Central American and Carib-
bean cities or sold by the cable company's agents to various
newspapers, etc. In this way many cities and xjommu-
nities otherwise totally cut off from news of the world
received adequate news summaries of the day's happen-
ings and true news of America.
On studying Mexico, a distinct problem, we discovered
that while the Associated Press served the Mexican morn-
ing newspapers, the afternoon press was not reached by
any American agency. Compub, therefore, undertook
a special service of its own, sending three hundred words
daily to the City of Mexico for national distribution by
Mr. Murray's office. A duplicate was generally sent to
the American consular services along the Texas border,
and very effective use was made of it.
The next link in the world chain was the Orient. Com-
pub opened a branch office in San Francisco, and Mr. W.
B. Clausen, "loaned" to us by the Associated Press,
commenced the preparation of a daily service of particu-
lar interest to China, Japan, the Philippines, and Hawaii.
The navy wireless station at San Diego flashed this to
Pearl Harbor for distribution to the Hawaiian press, and
from Pearl Harbor it went to the Philippines. Our origi-
nal theory was that the Chinese and Japanese stations
253
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
would receive from Manila, but owing to many mechanical
difficulties it became necessary for our own station at
Guam to take the service out of the air and put it on the
cables to Tokio and to Shanghai. In China Mr. Crow,
the Compub representative, distributed the service
through a specially organized chain of newspapers,
and in Japan we worked through the Kokusai and
Nippon Dempo, the two principal news associations.
Mr. Crow, in Shanghai, also relayed the service to
Vladivostok, where our office gave it Siberian circu-
lation. Distant Australia picked the service out of
the air and used it. As the importance of the work became
apparent, and as results were proved, the service increased
its output. The regular wireless "report" was doubled
and trebled in size, the navy's splendid efficiency in radio
transmission permitting this expansion, and utilization
was also made of the cables. Where some important
official statement was released and publication desired
abroad, Compub, with the co-operation of the foreign
press associations and correspondents, sent such state-
ments for simultaneous delivery and release.
This, then, was the ground-plan of America's world
news service. When its strength and efficiency had been
tested thoroughly, the machinery was augmented and im-
proved at every possible point. Mr. Rogers and Mr.
Arnold, selecting slowly and carefully, had gathered about
them such newspaper men as Herman Suter, R. R. Reilly,
Frank S. Gardner, Theodore Wallen, R. J. Rochon, E. F.
Wilson, and Lieut. F. E. Ackerman and Lieut. P. S.
O'Reilly (borrowed from the navy), constituting a force
ready for any expansion.
Continued pressure upon the Italian government finally
resulted in wireless improvements to such a degree that
the station in Rome was able to receive directly from
Tuckerton. This did away with the necessity of relay
254
AMERICA'S WORLD NEWS SERVICE
from Paris and enabled the New York office to pour a
daily stream of news straight into Italy, an immediate
contact to which the Italian press responded enthusiasti-
cally.
As Spain became more and more of a battle-ground,
the relay service from Paris became insufficient, so a special
cable service was sent to New York direct to Mr. Marion
in Madrid, who worked out a splendid co-operative arrange-
ment with Fabra, the official Spanish news agency, as well
as serving Madrid papers directly, and issuing a news
bulletin of his own.
The installation of Compub at Vladivostok, Harbin,
Irkutsk, and Omsk in Siberia enabled us to send a direct
Russian service from the wireless station at San Francisco.
The naval vessel Brooklyn relayed the service at Vladi-
vostok until a land wireless station was erected there.
From London, in time, also went out several hundred
words a day by cable to the American consul at Archangel,
which were distributed to the American soldiers in that
region as well as to the press.
London's importance as a clearing-house was recog-
nized by the addition of a "localized" service of some six
hundred words to the regular daily wireless. This included
specialized news for England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland,
Holland, Scandinavia, Greece, and other nations. The
Field, a British periodical of large circulation, was induced
through representatives of the Committee on duty in Lon-
don to arrange for an "American Department." In this
department the division furnished a great deal of American
publicity matter, including, generally, a special cabled
article weekly. Aside from the publicity obtained in this
magazine, the editor, Sir Theodore Cook, a great admirer
of America and of Americans, took a keen interest in cir-
culation of American news, and through wide personal
acquaintance with British editors and journalists got them
255
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
frequently to reprint the American articles appearing in
his periodical.
The National News organization was a British propaganda
agency operating throughout the British Isles and particu-
larly in Ireland. Many special news articles were prepared
for this agency by Compub, and it proved a very effective
medium of distribution. The Y. M. C. A. also gave a daily
bulletin circulation among rest houses, camps, and clubs.
As the maintenance of Allied morale was one of Compub *s
fundamental purposes, naturally enough Compub was
called upon to assist in the work of keeping up the morale
of American soldiers in France. What the doughboys
missed most, and wanted most, was news of home and
home folks. What news was printed was mostly of national
affairs or of the war. There was no newspaper in Europe
which could afford the expense of cabling items of purely
local interest to the boys from Helena, Mont., or of Mil-
waukee, or San Francisco, or Cincinnati, or scores of other
American cities. What was wanted was tiny bits of "home
news" for the soldier little items which would keep him
in touch with conditions in his home town, just as a letter
from his chum, or his mother, brother, sister, or sweet-
heart, or wife would do.
To meet this need, Compub inaugurated a "home news"
service, sending it by wireless to France in addition to the
regular daily service.
The American press was combed by readers in the New
York offices for "homey news," every effort being made
to cover the whole of the United States, and a report of
nearly fifteen hundred words daily was prepared from these
small items of news, none of which in themselves averaged
more than fifty words each. The wireless carried this,
and, incidentally, the Paris edition of The London Daily
Mail, and of The New York Herald, used this service
daily.
256
AMERICA'S WORLD NEWS SERVICE
In the distribution of this matter to the soldier overseas
the Foreign Press Cable Service had the co-operation of
all American welfare services the Young Men's Christian
Association, Red Cross, Knights of Columbus, Young
Men's Hebrew Association, Salvation Army, and others
as well as the army authorities. The latter granted
permission for transmission of these home-news items
over army wires from Paris to the front. The welfare
organizations received copies in the huts close to the front
and posted them for the benefit of the soldiers. Several
welfare organizations in London and Paris printed a daily
"newspaper" composed of these items, and despatched
copies by mail to all recreation centers, hospitals, canteens,
huts, etc., within reach. American sailors received them,
navy wireless operators copying them throughout the
reach of the American wireless sending station.
Early in the summer of 1918, when American troops
entered in the "great push," Compub was called upon
to extend its services of information still farther. Perry
Arnold was sent abroad to study methods of news dis-
tribution and to organize a "news from the American
front" service. He inspected the Committee's offices in
London, Paris, and Madrid, and employed Maximilian
Foster, the well-known novelist and writer, as the Com-
mittee's representative at the front with the American
army, after himself having started such a service.
This service from the front was cabled and wirelessed
throughout the world, giving a daily analysis of what
American troops were doing in the Great War. General
Pershing's staff at American headquarters was at all times
in full sympathy with a plan of telling the world exactly
what American soldiers were doing, and Compub 's repre-
sentative was accorded the fullest facility in visiting the
front and in transmitting his despatches via army wires.
The formation in New York of the local foreign corre-
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HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
spondents in an association, one of Mr. Rogers's ideas,
resulted in the doubling and trebling of the descriptive
and interpretative matter that went out from the United
States to the other countries of the world. As a result,
a new and keener interest in America was aroused, and many
of the European papers established "American depart-
ments." To meet this demand, Compub commenced a
biweekly wireless service that carried feature matter
and specialized material susceptible to illustration and edi-
torial treatment.
Another duty of Compub was to keep in the closest
possible touch with the trend of enemy propaganda. Its
agents abroad reported on conditions frequently, and in
the New York office certain employees were detailed
regularly to read and analyze all German propaganda
material received here a great part of it being wireless
matter sent by the great German wireless station at Nauen
and intercepted by the United States Navy Communi-
cation station. By a co-operative arrangement with the
publicity offices in America of the Allies, Compub likewise
distributed to the American press all of the official British
propaganda wireless material (intercepted by the American
wireless stations) and on occasion special announcements
"broadcasted" by the stations of the French and Italian
governments.
In this manner, and scores of other ways, Compub
expanded and improved, swift to take advantage of oppor-
tunity, keen to see new needs, and growing in strength,
certainty, and importance. At its peak no news organi-
zation in the world, or in history, equaled Compub in the
sweep of its operations, for there was not a corner of the
earth into which it did not flash America's message. What
is more, it was a message that carried conviction, for at no
time did Compub depart from its original purpose the
presentation of facts. It was not our idea to argue, but to
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AMERICA'S WORLD NEWS SERVICE
inform, for such was the justice of America's case, the
wonder of America's achievement, that we felt that in-
formation was in itself the most conclusive argument.
The most important of all Compub activities and the
most dramatic was the universal circulation of the Presi-
dent's official addresses. From the day that he went
before the Senate, asking it to recognize the existence of a
state of war, the President was accepted by the Allies as the
official spokesman, for his imperishable words cut through
every confusion of controversy down to the very heart
of truth and justice in human aspiration. Nevertheless,
owing to the congestion of the cables and the enormous
expense of cable tolls, the President's addresses were not
printed in full in Europe, and in other countries of the
world only trifling excerpts were given to the people.
This opened the door to a double danger, for not only
were the Allied Powers being deprived of an effective
weapon, but the German propaganda machine took ad-
vantage of the situation to suppress, to distort, and even
to circulate text, not alone in Germany, but in the neutral
nations.
One of our first decisions was to give textual distribu-
tion of the President's speeches, not only to Europe but
to every quarter of the civilized globe. This vast project
could not have been carried through to success without
the generous co-operation of the great world press agencies.
Compub paid the cable and telegraph tolls on the speeches
and messages plus a small overhead charge, but this only
partially covered the immense expenditure of time and
energy in the distribution.
Immediately upon the signing of the armistice, orders
were given to close every division of the Committee on
Public Information with the exception of the wireless and
cable service and their necessary distributing offices. It
was not only the case that there still remained the neces-
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HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
sity of putting true reports of the Peace Conference before
the people of the world, but the press of America itself
demanded aid in telling the story of Paris to the people
of the United States. The cables, already overburdened,
became hopelessly jammed when an army of American
newspaper men commenced to file daily despatches in
Paris for quick transmission.
Mr. Rogers proceeded to France at once, and after
conference with the Associated Press, the United Press,
the International News Service, and the correspondents of
metropolitan dailies, a plan was worked out that put Corn-
pub at the disposal of the newspapers of the United States.
Ill
THE FOEEIGN MAIL SERVICE
A 1 the outset it was seen that the wireless and the cables,
even used to the utmost, could not meet our foreign
needs. It was not enough to give the world the daily
news of America's war effort, our military progress, and the
official declarations and expositions with respect to our war
aims and determinations. There were lies of long stand-
ing that had to be met and defeated lies that attacked
America as "dollar-mad," that maligned our free insti-
tutions, that denied our liberty and our justice. What
was needed were short descriptives of our development
as a nation and a people; our social and industrial progress;
our schools; our laws; our treatment of workers, women
and children; a mail service, in fact, that could be taken
by our foreign representatives, translated, rewritten if
necessary, and pushed into the foreign press to the greatest
possible extent.
Mr. Ernest Poole was given charge of this new under-
talcing, and, with the assistance of Mr. Paul Kennaday,
he gathered about him a volunteer staff of brilliant men
and women writers.
One feature that would have justified the work, had it
stood alone, was a series of weekly or monthly letters by
such well-known authors as Owen Wister, Booth Tarking-
ton, Gertrude Atherton, William Shepard, Ellis Parker
Butler, Henry Kitchell Webster, Robert Herrick, Arthur
18 261
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
Gleason, Will Payne, Mary Shipman Andrews, Anne
O'Hagan Shinn, and Walter Prichard Eaton. Other dis-
tinguished contributors were William Dean Howells, Ida
Tarbell, Wallace Irwin, Meredith Nicholson, Fannie Hurst,
Edna Ferber, Samuel Merwin, and William Allen White,
also scores of government experts, university and college
professors, and men and women of specialized abilities.
The Foreign Press Bureau was, in effect, a "feature ser-
vice" operating on demand. Our foreign representatives
would cable, "Can use to good advantage one thousand
words on American lumber industry," or on equal suffrage,
or on university extension, or on unions, or on free-milk
depots, or on the use of the schoolhouse as a community
center, or the co-operative marketing of dairy products
in Wisconsin, or the "honor and trust" system of Colorado
prisons, or the jury system of the United States, or mu-
nicipal bath-houses, or free legal-aid bureaus, or a short
history of the United States for children, etc. And
straightway the home office would get in touch with "the"
authorities on the various subjects, and have them turn
out the signed articles. For instance, we made Booth
Tarkington drop everything to write "American Facts and
German Propaganda," an article so virile and attractive
that after millions had read it in the English papers the
British government made arrangements with our London
representative to reprint, and at its own expense distributed
eight hundred and fifty thousand pamphlets in England.
It was also widely used in other countries.
In describing war aims and national activities the Foreign
Press Bureau took the statements of the President, of the
Secretary of State, and of other government officials,
material from several hundred newspapers, weekly and
monthly magazines, also the pronouncements of promi-
nent citizens and organizations throughout the country,
giving every shade of opinion.
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THE FOREIGN MAIL SERVICE
About one-half of the service consisted of news and feat-
ure articles, government bulletins, etc., describing the
activities of the army and navy war preparations of all
kinds, the recruiting of volunteers, the method and opera-
tion of the selective draft, the work in the cantonments,
the going of our troops to France, and the many increasing
activities there. Also the making of munitions, the build-
ing of ships, the vast work of the United States navy, and
the rapidly deepening spirit all over the United States
of unity and determination in the prosecution of the war.
In addition we dealt with various fields of activities,
such as agriculture and food conservation, industry and
finance, labor, education, religion, and medicine, in relation
to the work of the war and the growth of our democracy.
These articles were a means of reaching a wider public
abroad for owing to the lack of paper the foreign news-
papers were greatly diminished in size, and although a
large amount of our material did succeed in gaining a place
in their columns, we felt it urgent to go farther, and by
sending many special articles and getting them published
in the trade and other special journals and magazines of
each country, we gradually widened our circle of readers.
On the staff, or working as volunteer helpers from out-
side, were men and women with a special knowledge of
England, France, Italy, Russia, Holland, Sweden, Norway,
Denmark, Germany, Austria, Serbia, Spain, and Latin-
American countries. With Hamilton Owens as editor-in-
chief, it was their work to write or edit supplementary
material of particular interest to each country. Prof.
Arthur Livingston, the editor for Italy, could write col-
loquial Italian and had a good working knowledge of the
principal newspapers in Italy. He wrote for such papers
special news letters, which were sent by mail or cable,
describing activities of Italians in this country, their
support of the war, etc.; also editorial opinion here as
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HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
it concerned our relations with Italy and the part that
country played in the war; messages from administration
officials here on Italian operations and comment from United
States public men on Italian problems and events; also
statements by various well-known Italians who visited
this country during the war. The various official missions
from Italy were in constant touch with this office; we
supplemented the official programs arranged by other
organizations, bringing the visitors into touch with people
they desired to meet, getting publicity for them in various
ways, and furnishing them with special material for use
after their return to Europe. In this connection we insti-
tuted the plan for having a ship christened the Piave and
for making the event an occasion for the exchange of
official and popular expressions of esteem between the
governments of Italy and of the United States.
More or less along these lines special articles were also
sent to England, France, and Spain in large numbers,
being written or edited either by staff editors or by volun-
teer helpers from outside. At first by Mr. Elias Tobenkin,
and later by Dr. Francis Snow, similar work was done
for Russia whenever that was possible, meeting Bolshevist
and German statements against us by articles describing
true conditions in this country, our democracy at home,
and our purpose in the war, as well as the wide-spread
friendliness here at first toward the Russian revolution
and the willingness to support any effort which gave, in
our opinion, hope of a real and lasting practical democracy
there.
For Austria and Germany articles were obtained by
Doctor Groszmann, of our staff, from prominent German-
Americans here loyal to this country and making an appeal
to the people of Germany and Austria to throw off their
old rulers and begin to re-establish themselves in the good
opinion of the world. Such articles made it plain that the
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THE FOREIGN MAIL SERVICE
warfare conducted by the German and Austrian govern-
ments had made these countries hated, not only by native
Americans, but by those of German birth. In this con-
nection we also ran various articles exposing German
methods of propaganda.
For the Scandinavian countries and Holland, a bureau
under Mr. Edwin Bjorkman did such good work that it
soon became impossible to pick up a Scandinavian publica-
tion of any kind without finding references to America,
indicating an eager desire to understand what this country
stood for and what it intended to do in the future. It
was through Sweden, among others, that some of our
material directed to the Germans was sent after the sign-
ing of the armistice.
A pictorial service grew up in response to increased
demands from our agents in foreign countries. Under
the direction of Mr. W. H. Whitton and Mr. Frank Tuttle,
it provided each week photographs, cuts, and mats to
illustrate our articles, photographs to the number of
fifteen hundred per week for display upon easels in shop-
windows, and some sixty thousand large news pictorials
to be placed in the many thousands of shop-windows in
foreign countries which were available for our use. Seven
hundred and fifty wooden easels were made, each carrying
twelve pictures, and the resident commissioners distributed
them and provided for the weekly change of photographs
that gave each easel the attraction of a "show." The
pictorial service also distributed widely the war posters
of this country and millions of picture post-cards showing
forth our war activities. The window hangers were sent
out in sets of six each week with captions in various lan-
guages, such as English, French, Italian, Swedish, Portu-
guese, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, and Dutch. Unim-
printed display sheets were sent to Russia, China, Japan,
Korea, some parts of India, etc. For the Oriental coun-
265
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
tries a special version was printed, with a wide margin on
the right-hand side, thus allowing the space necessary for
imprinting the language of the country receiving them.
With all unimprinted material either English printed
samples or English captions were inclosed.
Through various organizations of United States exporters
to foreign countries an Export Service was established
under Mr. Edward Bernays, beginning with Latin America
and finally taking in a large part of Europe. Our articles
and photographs were printed regularly in the several
large export journals, and from our articles we made, in
various languages, brief inserts telling of war aims and
activities to be inclosed with business catalogues and also
to be sent in tens of thousands of letters mailed weekly
from the United States. In obtaining means of distri-
bution, the confidential lists of many great commercial
interests were used. The exporters put themselves solidly
behind every resident commissioner, and the success of
the pictorial service was entirely due to the fact that
six hundred and fifty branches of American business houses
scattered over the world put all their window space at
the Committee's disposal.
The distribution of pamphlets was made by mail or
direct delivery. Important utterances of the President
and documents prepared in each country with a view to
answering local questions were printed locally in numbers
running from five to thirty thousand and distributed
through co-operation with American, British, French, and
Italian commercial and government organizations in each
country.
The American reading-rooms opened by resident com-
missioners received their supplies from the Foreign Press
Bureau, and lectures delivered in different countries by
nationals were also based on material furnished by the
home office. Data regarding the United States, including
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THE FOREIGN MAIL SERVICE
standard magazines, books, and periodicals, were furnished
to public and private bodies and schools, and public libra-
ries were supplied with American newspapers and peri-
odicals, and in some cases particularly desirable books
relating to public questions.
The Foreign Press Bureau, in conjunction with the
Export Division, also devoted itself to the preparation
of particular pamphlet and news material for South
America, under the direction of Lieutenant Ackerman,
U. S. N., attached to the staff. It furnished the head-
quarters in the different countries with posters from all
the branches of the government devoted to war-work and
aided the bureaus in forwarding campaigns for War, Savings
Stamps, Liberty Loan, and Red Cross, and other activities
in each of their territories. It arranged for the publication
in all magazines in the United States having foreign cir-
culation for such articles and editorials indicating our
attitude toward world questions. In addition to serving the
accredited commissioners of the Committee on Public
Information, a Bureau of Latin-American Affairs sent
pamphlet and news material, pictures, cuts, mats, and the
pictorial news service to a large number of volunteer
distributors throughout Mexico and Central and South
America.
The Foreign Press Bureau, while setting forth in detail
the aims and ideals of America, the determinations and
war efforts of a free people, also put great emphasis upon
acquainting the rest of the world with the facts of American
life. We wanted other nations to know us, to understand
us, and in consequence the work concentrated in certain
great fields. For instance, with respect to education, we
endeavored to reach the hundreds of thousands of teachers
in foreign countries through the press and to bind them
together more closely in friendship and good will. They
represented a great international force hitherto unmobil-
267
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
ized, but united by multiple bonds of similar aims and ac-
tivities. Throughout the neutral and Allied world enemy
propagandists had circulated among them every conceivable
distortion of our education and ideals. These needed to
be counteracted by truthful interpretations, which, how-
ever, sought to avoid tendencies toward superlatives, and
to allow accurate statements of fact to carry their own story.
Each week we sent out articles on education, edited by
Dr. William H. Hirt, which were forwarded to some
thirty-five foreign countries, where our representatives
received, translated, and passed them on to the press of
the country in question. There, as a rule, they appeared
either in the public, the literary, or the technical educational
press. Many of these articles were especially written for
us on request by leading educators all over the United
States.
Further, the educational press of the United States
generously gave permission to use their current articles,
and also signified a readiness to accept our proposed ex-
change service. This exchange program was based on
the idea that only as people have things in common can
they co-operate. Basic among these things is knowledge
about one another. Unfortunately, the teachers of the
world know little about one another. The great mass of
the graded school-teachers have had little chance for travel
or study of other peoples. So while we asked our educators
to interpret our educational system and ideals and progress
to others, we also asked foreign nations to interpret their
systems to us, feeling that we had much to learn from
these older cultures. In England, in Spain, and elsewhere
the government authorized a native educator to mobilize
such writings of his people for us.
For the purpose of translating such articles over here a
large staff of volunteer translators offered their services
without compensation. Special requests cabled from cer-
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THE FOREIGN MAIL SERVICE
tain countries were met, and the articles, often illustrated
with pictures of American school equipment and life, went
by the next mail.
With respect to food, fuel, and textiles, our aim was to
emphasize the position of the United States as the greatest
source of the world's reserve supplies of food, fuels, and
textiles, and to show this country's determination to keep
the Allied fighting forces and civilian populations provided
with the necessities of life. We emphasized throughout
the patriotism, self-sacrifice, and good will toward Allied
nations among the people of the United States as expressed
in food and fuel production and conservation,
Also, at all times it was endeavored to reflect the spirit,
progress, and development of the rural United States, espe-
cially in the direction of greater democracy, increased in-
terest in co-operation, organization, and farmer representa-
tion in national affairs, and the application of principles of
the larger internationalism to the life and interests of the
farmers of America. Principles and measures whereby the
government is co-operating with and assisting the farmer
were also discussed, explained, and their significance
pointed out.
The editor of this division, Mr. E. L. D. Seymour, sent
out regular weekly letters on farm and crop conditions,
Food Administration activities and achievements, and the
fuel situation. Posters, administration bulletins, Depart-
ment of Agriculture reports, and other illuminating pub-
lications were sent in considerable quantity.
With the generous co-operation of many trade and in-
dustrial journals and organizations, we set forth the mani-
fold activities of the various trades and industries in support
of the war. The editors of many of the leading trade
journals in the country became regular volunteer contribu-
tors, giving us weekly or monthly reviews of the progress
of war- work in their particular fields. These special news
HOW WE ADVERTISED AMERICA
letters were sent to the foreign agents, together with a list
of trade journals in each foreign country, asking our agents
to try to place such special articles in special journals
abroad.
In the field of finance, we described the financial strength
of this country, the good will of the people, and the evi-
dence of democracy in the various financial measures
carried out by the government. We used reports from the
Treasury Department, and also statements issued by that
department from time to time; fully described the various
Liberty Loan drives in popular news articles, and we ob-
tained from the editor of The American Bankers' Magazine,
Mr. Elmer Youngman, weekly financial articles, which
in many foreign countries our agents readily placed in the
financial columns of the foreign press. We also obtained
from time to time statements especially written for us by
well-known bankers and economists in this country.
From many angles the bureau established the warm
support of the war by the labor elements in this country.
Our editor, Mr. Norman Matson, used largely the reports
and statements of government bodies dealing with labor,
as well as those of the American Federation of Labor and
various state and municipal bodies belonging to the feder-
ation. We ran statements of prominent labor leaders,
and published articles describing labor activities in ship-
yards and other centers where war- wor
