Newspaper Page Text
MW WATTODOAW t? \
ML. now to do
EDWARD B-CLAPK • • • Mo®
of the
a, mb^ w%WFO > ।
-%sSS ® m^M^H s^g?^.^
Tfo&JSZAv SGCRzTAI^ * ' ■%/&&■ JsHIOiiS ffiKsßWßiWi / A.G1UC77,772787 1
aw<ww^ . ■ ^^sP\ iww\wwUF wMSTwi i
a 1 -13®^ ^WrM&O^B-W ;
ASHINGTON.—For nearly two years
wEjJaBT^ I there has been an attempt on the
part of the agricultural department
ZASy Wy\ ,0 spread useful agricultural and
Aupw ’w i household information among the
Vfta ” I people through the medium of the
J press of the country. The at.tempt
X_ has been highly successful, as per-
4 haps the readers of newspapers do
not need to be told, for the interesting and and at
times compelling writings of the service men have
been before them from day to day.
In the department cf agriculture there is an of
fice of information which was created in June, 1913
Before its establishment there had been no active
effort to give directly to the people the results of
the department's work. Walter H. Page, at pres
ent the American ambassador to Great Britain, said
on this subject of getting agricultural information
to the people that the department “Had been reser
voicing an enormous mass of information collected
with the people's money and which the people were
entitled to get.”
In the past there were issued at frequent inter
vals publications largely in bulletin form, but with
the exception of more or less perfunctory notices of
their appearances comparatively little was done to
make the public aware that they were at its dis
posal. One of the first things that the office of in
formation did, therefore, was to develop a system
by which absolutely accurate newspaper stories
based on the material contained in these bulletins
could be sent out to such newspaper, which it
seemed reasonable to expect from the nature of the
various subjects, would be interested in publishing
them for the sake of their readers. This work still
forms a large part of the activities of the office.
Some time ago there was a criticism of what were
called the publicity efforts of the department of agri
culture. The critics did not understand at all the
nature of the work which was being done. They
seemed to think that a press agency had been es
tablished simply for the purpose of booming the
activities of the agricultural department with a view
perhaps, as some of the critics may have thought’
of saying something kindly occasionally about the
officials of government concerned in the work
Criticism passed quickly, for congress was told in
a letter to Speaker Champ Clark of the house of rep
resentatives of just what the information work of
the department consisted, and a sharp line was
drawn between the nature of the information which
was being sent out and the usual stuff which is
turned out by a publicity bureau which is not at
-all necessarily an information bureau.
In the letter to the speaker of the house the sec
retary of agriculture said this:
“The nation is spending through the depart
ment many millions of dollars in acquiring agri
, cultural information. It would be little short of
criminal to spend millions of dollars to acquire
information and not to use every possible effi
cient agency available for placing it at the dis
posal of the people as promptly as possible. It
is the purpose of the office [the office of informa
tion], with as little delay as possible, through
every proper medium, to give the knowledge
which, .the department possesses as the result of
investigations and field work to all the people
who desire it or should have it. The office un
dertakes to deal solely with facts, with sugges
tions of remedies, and of methods of applying
them in every field of agriculture.”
Prior to the time that the office of information
was created nearly all the printed matter con
veying information was in the form of bulletins
and circulars and the issues were not very vol
uminous. Frequently a great deal of time was
required finally to prepare the bulletin, to print,
it and to distribute it. It was inevitable for
many reasons that these bulletins could not
reach the great mass of the people who would
be interested in them. Many farmers did not
know that the service was at their disposal.
They knew nothing about the bulletins or which
ones of them would be helpful to them, nor did
they know how to secure them. Moreover, the
publications largely were technical, were dif
ficult to interpret, to understand and to apply.
One of the particular duties of the depart
ment's office of information is to put the matter
which comes from the different bureaus in tech
nical or scientific form into language which lay
readers can understand. It seemed easier and
better to the department officials that the office
of information should choose the matter of spe
cial value to particular districts or sections of
the Union and to have it distributed to such sec
tions quickly. It had been found that delay in
issuing the official printed bulletins and in mail
ing them often defeated the ends of real service.
In case of the appearance in some district of an
insect plague or of a disease that menaced the
stock, quick action, of course, it was realized,
was necessary to accomplish results.
The inauguration of the service of information
as it is at present carried out necessitated a most
efficient njailing system which wotild enable the
office to circulate its material ameng those
classes of publications and in those sections of
the country which could derive benefit from It.
and at the same time avoid. a distribution that
would' be expensive to the government and use
less to the newspapers and, if they should pub
lish it, to their readers.
Now there is a mailing system installed and
under operation by the division of publication
and by means of it the publications of the coun
try are classified geographically and by their
character. Now it is possible to transmit a
story to all the newspapers in the United States,
to all the newspapers in any city or group of
cities, to all the farm publications in the country
or in,any state, omitting the general newspapers,
to the trade papers of any one or all of the
trades, to daily newspapers in big cities alone,
or to those in small county seats alone—in short,
practically any desired combination of publica
tions Is possible.
/ • uJ Jk
7 ■ ’ jBSg& h
ll^ : £ .•. -•■■•*
Mi
r Imp /
\ • J9o\'
IH * v
n
11
^T^ZJ^TTc?
From this it will be seen that each story, with
its fund of human interest and useful information
combined, reaches a different circulation, “the
distribution being governed entirely by the range
ol applicability of the information it contains.”
It is the desire of the office of information to
prepare these stories so that they may be printed
without editing or revision. It is in this that lies
one of the strengths of the agricultural depart
ment information service, for it means that scien
tific terms and phraseology are eliminated wher
ever possible, that the significance to the people
of the bulletin on which the story is based is
emphasized, and that specific, but easy, instruc
tions are given to enable the people to do that
which the bulletin recommends. The stories,
therefore, can be called “constructive news.”
They tell the people what they can do and how to
do it.
The department of agriculture takes great care
to make its stories accurate. Everything that is
put out by the office of information is submitted
for approval, first, to the author; second, to the
chief of the office or bureau which has charge
of the subjects with which the story is con
cerned; third, to a second chief of bureau in
order that he may check up any undue em
phasis on one particular aspect of a given prob
lem, and, fourth, to the secretary or assistant
secretary of agriculture for final approval.
It would seem that with these safeguards noth
ing can be sent out which will be misleading to
the people. It can be said that since the office
of information was created it has been a rigid
rule to avoid any appearance of personal pub
licity. In the information stories which are sent
out neither the names of individuals nor even
the names of the different offices and bureaus
in the department are printed unless they are
absolutely essential to the story. Every state
ment that is made is given upon the authority of
the department, and not upon that of a part of it.
No stories are sent out from the office of infor
mation about what the department of agriculture
intends to do or hopes to do. Neither is anything
said in praise of the department’s work. Plain
statements are given of what has been done and
recommended. This is all. ■ It can be said that
seemingly this policy has brought about a very
appreciable, change in the way in which the
newspapers regard agricultural news. Once the
daily press was inclined to consider that the
only interesting stories were those which were
personal in character, were sensational or what
might be called freakish. Now it is believed that
the newspapers are much more disposed to meas
ure the value of a story as news by the value
of the Information it conveys.
The office of information does not measure the
worth of newspaper circulation by numerical
standards, but rather by the appropriateness of
each story that it sends out to the necessities
of the readers. So it can be said that the farm
papers are regarded as a much more valuable
medium than the daily press for purely agricul
tural stories, and the papers circulating in rural
districts as much more valuable for the same
kind of reading matter.
No absolutely accurate information can be had
as to the extent of the circulation given to infor
mation stories by the agricultural department
service. It is said that clippings are received
THE BULLETIN. IRWINTON. GEORGIA.
effect that the demand for Farmers’ Bulletins
was 44 per cent greater than during the previous
fiscal year. Os course a certain proportion of
this percentage must be laid to the increased ;
number of publications and to the increased
population, but making all allowances it seems to ;
be plain that the public was much better in
formed about the existence of the bulletins and ;
much more interested in them than 1 ever it had
been before.
While the department extends the usefulness
of the Farmers’ Bulletins among the people by
familiarizing them with the publications’ con
tents and value, it also sees to it that stories are
prepared for publication that are much more
strictly news from the point of view of the news
paper editors. These stories are usually warn
ings of frauds or of pestilence, or decisions and
announcements connected with the enforcement
of the meat inspection law and food and drugs
act and other statutes of regulation which are
administered by the department of agriculture.
In the days before the creation of the office of
information the only organized method of spread
ing news of this character, which is almost al
ways of considerable and even great commercial
importance, was to send it out through the mails
in the form of circulars. The delay frequently
was costly to the people and the interests con
cerned and it was necessarily unsatisfactory.
Under the present system information is sent
out at once from the department’s office by tele
phone or messenger to the press associations and
to representatives of newspapers which are like
ly to be interested in the matter and who are
within reach.
The usefulness of this work is shown in the
prompt publication of every quarantine order
affecting the foot-and-mouth disease. This sub
ject. however, had attained such proportions that
it is likely the newspapers themselves would
have secured the information through their own
representatives, but there are other cases and
many of them, where the stories could not be
covered because if the department did not give
out the information voluntarily nothing would be
known of it. A case in point which may be cited
was an elaborate attempt to palm off on the
farmers in the corn belt region a preparation
alleged to cure hog cholera. The sellers pre
tended that the preparation was recommended
by the department of agriculture. This fraud
w r as suppressed when through the office of in
formation the newspapers in the territory con
cerned received a full statement of the facts
in the case.
Many of the department’s activities, moreover,
have to do. not with the farmer, but with those
who manufacture farm products into food or
handle, store, or market them. The department's
specialists are constantly making discoveries for
preventing losses, devising methods for manu
facturing new products or improved methods for
handling or manufacturing old products. Here
tofore it frequently happened that one progres
sive manufacturer would learn of these things
and thus gain an advantage over others in the
same trade who had no knowledge that the i| 4
formation was available. Under the present
system the office of information quickly com
municates the details of these discoveries or im
provements to all trade papers in the class af
fected and to all important dailies in the ter
ritories where such manufacture is a prominent^
industry.
The office of information in addition to the
service of the character outlined prepares a
“Weekly .News Letter" to crop correspondents
which has taken the place of the “Crop Report
er." This “Weekly News Letter” is sent to all
the voluntary crop correspondents serving the
department, to inspectors, agricultural colleges,
correspondents, and to other persons in a posi
tion to make use of the material. It has a cir
culation approximately of 103,000 weekly.
In all the work of the office of information the
effort is simply to place at the disposal of the
people the information ..hich the department of
agriculture primarily .was organized to obtain for
their benefit. In none of the material is there any
attempt to gain prominence for any individual or
branch of government, or to praise or to criticize
anyone or in any way to influence lealalatioa,
from only one clipping bureau
and that these afford only a '
rough kind of indication of the ’
extent of the use of tbe materi- 1
al. Calculations, however, have ‘
been made and it is perhaps •
likely that they are under rath- <
er than over the mark. It is '
believed that just before the 1
outbreak of the European war 1
the material furnished by the I
information office appeared each I
month on approximately 300,- ■
000.000 printed pages At the 1
close of the last fiscal year, just
about twelve months, after the '
information service had been :
established, the division of pub
lications made a report to" the ।
TAX EOUALIZATION
LAW IS UPHELD
New Georgia Statute, Enacted In 1913,
Has Been Held To Be Con
stitutional
SUPREME COURT SAYS VAUD
Measure Was Brought Up As Test
Case In Fannin County
Superior Court
Atlanta. —-Constitutionality of the
Georgia tax equalization law, enacted
by the general assembly of 1913, and
which became operative last year, was
upheld in a decision by the state su- -
preme court. This was the first court '
attack made upon the law, which has
been the subject of much controversy
in Georgia, and which has been fol
lowed in statutes enacted by a num
ber of other states.
The beadnotes of the supreme
court’s decision are:
“An act of the legislature which has
for its object the equalization of tax
ation by means of a just and fair
assessment of property returned for
taxation, and which provides for no
tice to any taxpayer whose returns
have been increased, and that if he
is dissatisfied with action of the coun
ty board of tax assessors in assessing
the value of his property for taxation
he may demand an arbitration of the
question of the valuation of the prop
erty returned lor taxation: and which
provides that in case of disagreement
as to the selection of an umpire; the
ordinary or the county commission
ers, as the case may be, shall appoint
one, the arbitrators shall fender their
decision within ten days from the date
of the naming of the arbitrators by
the board, is not repugnant to the due
process clause of the constitution of
the United States as contained in the
fourteenth amendment.
"Nor is it obnoxious to the due pro
cess clause of the constitution of the
state, of Georgia.
“Nor does it deprive the taxpayer
of the equal protection of the laws.
“Under the allegations of the peti
tion. as to fraud and misconduct, the
the arbitrator appointed by the tax
assessors, who is a brother of one of
the assessors, was disqualified from
acting as such arbitrator, because of
his relationsship to the assessor and
such alleged misconduct.”
Injured In Auto Accident
Atlanta. —Bent on a pleasure trip
through the country in the tempting
sunshine an auto party composed of
Miss Sappho Thrash of Atlanta, Miss
Kate Badger of Lebanon, Teun.; L.
Ingram, Dr. Frank Lentz and Robert
Ingram sped in the latter’s machine
over Collier's road near the bridge.
Traveling at a speed estimated at
thirty miles an hour around a curve
in the roadway near the approach to
the bridge the front right tire blew
out with a loud report. Young In
gram, at the wheel, felt it wrenched
from his grip. Before he could regain
control of the steering apparatus, the
ear had plunged into the curbstone,
vaulted across and jammed into a tel
egraph pole.
Every occupant except the man at
the wheel was tossed from the car
and landed many feet from the road
way. The car was a total wreck.
Miss Badger was the most seriously
injured. Besides bruises about the
head and body the right leg was brok
en above the knee.
Bust Os Deceased Solicitor
Atlanta.—Eloquent and impressive
words of eulogy of the character, soul
and wonderful ability of the late
Charles D. Hill, son of the illustrious
Benjamin H. Hill and brother of
Judge Ben Hill, spoken by admiring
friends high in the Georgia judiciary
and bar, marked the unveiling of a
splendid memorial bronze bust of the
famous solicitor general, whose many
years of service in this office had won
for him the love and admiration of all
Georgia.
The ceremonies, which were attend
ed by a throng of prominent Geor
gians and lawyers and friends of the
late solicitor, took place in the crim
inal court room in the new court
house, which court is presided over by
his brother, Judge Benjamin H. Hill.
The imposing statute, reposing on a
tall pedestal, stands at a conspicuous
point in the court room, to the right
of the judge’s bench. ’
Atlanta Bride’s Husband Missing \
Atlanta. —A nation-wide search for
Andrew P. Benitz, a jewelry merchant
of Newark, N. J., who left his home
at South Belmont avenue, that city,
March 11, telling his wife, who was
formerly Miss Jean Vernoy, an Atlan
ta girl, that he would be home that
night, has been started. The Atlan
ta police received a description' and
information concerning the missing
man, who, his wife believes, is wan
dering around the country, his mind
a blank. \ :
Y. M. C. A. Secretary Dead
Atlanta. —Justus V. Read, 63, Geor
gia and Florida secretary of the
Young Men’s Christian Association,
for the last twelve years, is dead. The
body will be sent to Uis home at
Jacksonville, 111., for intermeqtin .the
family burial ground. Mr. R^,^>w^s
an active worker in the Atlanta' M.
C. A. campaign for a new home, which
subsequently was built on s Luckie
street, and he was active in all things
pertaining to the work. He started
as secretary of the Bloomington (Ill.)
association and later servqd in Ten-'
pessee.
/
(| DOINGS AROUND |
| STATE CAPITAL £
Machiney Men Optimistic
Atlanta.—The Southern Supply and
Machinery Dealers’ Association open
ed its fifteenth annual convention at
Atlanta, with J. G. Belding of Augus
ta, first vice president, presiding in,
the absence of President John A-
Harvin of Houston, Texas.
Mr. Belding declared that the result
of the present meeting .will be to per
meate the entire organization with a
spirit of optimism which will be pro
ductive of results when the delegates
return to their homes, which are in
fifteen states. -
The annual report of the organiza
tion, presented by Secretary Alyiii
Smith of Richmond, Va., urges the
association to call upon the interstate
commerce commission to remedy the
injustice done the South by railroadfl
in refusing to sell one form of mileage
through to points south. This refer
ence is said to be due to the Pennsyl- .
vania “split ticket rule,” final action
upon which has been postponed by the
commerce commission until October
14, 1915. '
The report also announces the in
tention of the association to continue
its fight for national one-cent letter
postage.
What Women Accomplishes
Atlanta. —The real inspiration qt
the success of the movement fcr Un
employed Women, which, in a brief
but brilliant career, placed' twothirds
of the women applicants for work in
positions, lay, not in the dollars which
were brought to establish the move
ment, not in the publicity given it. nor
in the actual sale of more than S4OO
.worth of woman’s home-made , ware,
but in the fact that the leisure Women
who established the •association went
to the women needing employement
and actually worked with them arid
saw what their needs were.
When the woman came to the work,
shop to earn her 15 cents an hour
she frequently could not do work
worth even that small amouflt, but
she was not reproved or reproached
for her inefficiency. She was; told
about it gently, and the hand of sym
pathy extended to her. By the leisure
women there, the women toilers were
taught to do the daintier work: a
mutual interest developed, and soon
the mother with the rings on her fin
gers plying the needle in tile saftia
shop with the fingers knotted with toil
found that many of their problems
were very much the same.
The woman workei - learned valuable
lessons in sewing. She can make bet
ter now her own children’s clothing,
and even earn money working for oth
ers. The leisure woman also learned
her lesson; that it was the hour of
time and the word of counsel that oft
times goes farther to help the. needy
than the dollar given in alms.
Electrical Men Elect Officers
Atlanta. —The Georgia Electrical,
Contractors, organized a year ago in.
Macon, convened for their first annual
meeting in Atlanta. R. M. Walker
of Atlanta, president, called the meet
ing to order. In his speech he brought
tip the question of a tri-state associa
tion, comprising, Florida, Alabama and
South Carolina.
Following Mr. Walker’s address of-,
fleers for the coming year were elect
ed as follows: H. E. Lowe of Macon,
president; J. M. Clayton of Atlanta,
vice president; J. A. Wier of Athens,
secretary; W. L. Bailey of Atlanta,
treasurer; T. H. McKinney of Atlanta,
national director.
State Sunday School Convention
Americus. —What promises’to be the
greatest Sunday school meeting ever '
held in Georgia will be the annual
convention of the Georgia Sunday
School Association, held here three
days’
Features of importance in "the con
vention were four in number, the Un
usual and elaborate preparations for
the event; the large number of emi
nent and skilled Sunday School
workers of Georgia and other states
who will participate in tlje program,
more than sixty; in the large number
of delegates who wil-lattend the con- ;
vention. some 1,200, and the extreme
ly hospitable reception accorded the '
visitors by the Americus people.
City Primary for Mayor
Hazlehurst.—The city primary for
mayor, aidermen and school board
was held here. J. J. Frazier was elect
ed mayor over Hon. Roger Bruns. The
following aidermen were elected for
the ensuing year: J. J. O’Quinn, H,
Cook, H. G. Moore, T. H. Weatherly,
Robert Harrison, J. A. Cromartie and
Otto Clark, the entire ticket of Fra
zier being elected except the school
board members, J. J. O'Quinn lead
ing the entire ticket.
To Observe Memorial Day
Thomson. —Arrangements for the
observance of memorial day have been
perfected. Rev. J. H. Mashburn will
be master Os, ceremonies and GoINJ...
G. Stovall will introduce the speaker,’
Louis p^ttpY^v^ The essay,
prizes’ will be-^e(i^ered by Dr: W. IJ-.
Voung. The music is in charge of tho
imusfc section of the Woman's Ch&f
’ Ex-Senator IFight
\ Macon. —The proceedings in record
er’S: court were marked by a fistic en
counter between Attorrfey* W. P. Mc-
Neill, former state senator, who’ was.
recently def'datfed in his race for tile
legislature, and Theodore- Ellis, ' a
well known Macon citizen, .tylr. Ellis,
was a witness against E.' Hr
charged with posting bills.’wjthauLa,
license, and during his examination by
Attorney McNeil? representing Flynn,
Mr. Ellis took exception to" fife attor
ney’s remarks and struck him'. Blows
were exchanged-before the two mea
were separated. • ' *