Page:The Newspaper and the Historian.djvu/416

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countries.

showing that the friendship between America and the countries of Northern and Central Europe has been fostered by themutual exchange of advertisements . Even the introduction of American methods of advertising into England, difficult as it was in the

beginning, has probably done much to cement the friendship between the two countries.39 The advertisement, rather than thenews columns or the edito

rial, is often themedium formaking announcements to the public, and in so doing it but reverts to its original character, as in

dicated by its first appellation , " advice .” 40 This use of the ad vertisement has also had an extraordinary development since

1914 . The Imperial Government of Germany conveyed infor mation through advertisements placed in the most prominent

newspapers of America warning all travelers that those sailing in the war zone on ships flying the flag of Great Britain , or any

of her allies, did so at their own risk ,41 and it thereby considered itself absolved from all further responsibility . Neutral ship owners and brokers advertised in 1916 their positive refusal to

act as intermediaries for the forwarding or re-despatch of letters from persons belonging to neutral or belligerent nations and intended for third persons.42 Announcement was made early in

the war in the advertising columns of the official English Gazette that the names of certain persons of Teutonic descent but who

were British subjects by birth or naturalization had been legally Anglicized . Announcement was made by advertisement that the

German socialists were planning to interpellate Chancellor von

Bethmann -Hollweg in regard to the allegation that 200 ,000,000 marks had been spent the first two years of the war for news paper propaganda.43 A caution against " fake stories ” concerning the ships of the

Norwegian American S . S . Line was conveyed through advertise 39 J. M . Richards, With John Bull and Jonathan , gives much important information on this point.

40 The word advertisement in the modern sense was not used until about

1660. – J. B . Williams, “ The Early History of London Advertising,"

Nineteenth Century and After, November, 1907,62: 793 -800. 41 Advertisements in the daily press, May 1, 1915. 42 Advertisement of Wm . H . Muller & Co. of Rotterdam , The Hague and Amsterdam . - New York Evening Post, August 26, 1916 .

43 New York Times, October 12, 1916 .