Page:The Newspaper and the Historian.djvu/406

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aigns.

of certain states on a specified date, as apples, onions, oranges, raisins; or to use American products.19 It was in 1916 that a widespread appeal began to be made

through advertisements as a means of influencing public opinion, especially in regard to industrial conditions. Both sides of dis putes were presented through advertisements and occasionally

a third side was advertised. The conviction that reliance could be placed on the public to decide in favor of the right side, when once acquainted with the facts, had probably never before been so much in evidence as it was at that time. In the disagreements between the Cloak , Suit and Skirt

Manufacturers' Protective Association and their employees, the Citizens' Committee advertised the points at issue in the

controversy and their reasons for supporting the side of the workers. The manufacturers also advertised their side of the

question , and " an unbiased citizen " advertised a plan for the immediate settlement of the strike. The case of the railroads was set forth through advertisements at the time of an anti cipated railroad strike, and the Railway Investors' League con veyed through advertisements its desire " to protect the interests

of investors in the crisis which threatens railroad credit and national prosperity .” The New York Railways Company, the Third Avenue Railway Company , the Interborough Rapid Transit Company , and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company all stated their position through advertisement at the time of

the street car strike, and through the same means assured the public of their determination to run cars in spite of the strike.

After the strike at the Bayonne, New Jersey , refinery , the Standard Oil Company (New Jersey ) stated its position in the matter through a solid three column advertisement.

An impor

tant business house in New York City whose drivers had struck , not for higher wages but for a closed shop , announced through advertisements its determination not to accede to the demand and stated to the public its general business policy.

In the

19 The Silk Association of America discussed fully in an advertisement the question of the relative difference in the amount spent on clothes by

men and by women , and in the course of an elaborate argument urged that all tailored suits should be sewed with silk . – New York Times, Novem ber 13, 1916.