different lines were forbidden to claim superior service , or to
publish extraneous matter of any sort, — " folders must be purely informative.”
But later the department of labor carried an
advertisement urging all to advertise who had anything to
sell.
The government itself acted on this advice and sold alien
property , surplus army supplies , and complete industrial communities , - and the love of a bargain became the general
appeal. The great force wielded by advertising in the hands of a national government is best summed up in a statement of the indispensable aid it rendered the British government during the June; war. InIn June, war. 1917, it had already been dithe means through
- had enlisted , had scovere
which the ministry had enlisted 3,000 ,000 volunteers, had
secured “ countless billions in loans," had discovered more than a million men who were transformed into skilled munition workers, had persuaded more than a million women to take up work that thus released men for the army and that had taught the people to work harder and to produce more.17 States and cities have widely explained their advantages and
sought settlers through advertisements,18 and they have carried on business propaganda in urging that every one eat the products 17 J. M . Allison, New York Tribune, June 6 , 1917. 18 Arkansas, Georgia , and other states have arranged railway trains, organized land exhibits, and in other ways sought to influence immigration
to these states. The newspaper advertising of these efforts has been indirect but not the less important. The Southern Commercial Congress in 1917 urged a wide publicity cam paign through the press in the interests of the South .
The Chamber of Commerce of Kansas City in the summer of 1919 advertised extensively in Eastern papers the advantages of Kansas City
from
the standpoint of business , transportation facilities , climate , and
health .
This too is not a new device. The New York Tribune for November 6 , 1872, called attention on its editorial page to a compilation published on
another page of letters from various states inviting immigration . “ Florida ,
Texas, California , and Oregon each have special advantages to advertise ; and the adventurous pilgrim who seeks a new home and wider field of indus try is sure to meet welcome and good words from these and many other bidders for more population .”
In 1922, the governor of Nebraska stated that publicity through advertising had made the State prosper. - New
York Times, May 2 ,
1922.
Tourists have been sought in every quarter of the globe through extensive advertising camp
