Evening star., 1909-05-11
.LUR|D POSTER BARRED
Vulgar Themes and Crime Pro-
hibited as Billboard Art.
SYLVESTER TO BE CENSOR
Regulation Now Being Drawn Up by
Corporation Counsel.
ON INITIATIVE OF MR.. WEST
Stephens Says Commissioners Have
Right to Dictate Glass Of
Advertisements.
On INITIATIVE OF MR.. WEST

The lurd poster is to be barred
Representations of crime and moral In.
decency. as he sees il featured on some
bill boards of the Capital city, have in
censed Commissioner West. who has
recommended TO his colleagues that a
regulation be promulgated prohibiting the
display of Objectionable posters, and pro
viding that all posters must be approved
by the chief of police before they can be
put up.
Several weeks ago the Commissioners
upon the recommendation of Commits
sioner West submitted to the corporation
counsel the question whether or not they
had authority to enact a regulation gov
erning the character of the advertise
ments placed upon billboards. This morn
ing Assistant Corporation Counsel +. III.
Stephens gave his opinion that the COM
missoners have the power to pass
regulation along the line of an ordinance
recently passed by the municipal author
tiles of New Haven, Conn.
Regulation to Be Drawn.
Commissioner West thereupon recon-
mended that the corporation counsel he
directed to prepare a regulation which
would be effective in preventing the dis
of "a Iewd indecent or vulgar nature or
which pictorially represented the COM
mission of or the attempt 10 commit any
crime The regulation will also provide
that each poster must be submitted 10
the chief of police and receive ms ap-
proval, and il shall be the duty OF thai
official to disapprove all placards ana
posters which violate the regulations.
The regulation of posters displayed ir
this city has been urged by Police Chief
Sylvester for several years. speaking OF
the matter, he said:
1.-The attractiveneSs of any city is in {
measure marred by the maintenance or
unsightly posters on billboards For
several years efforts have been made
to reduce the offenSiyeneSS or the as
plays, with some success. Where posters
are submitted TO the authorities for crlti-
cism it devolves upon one ofhclal 10 ne
the judge of such matters Tor the wnole
community, unless taken TO court, Nnen
1t becomes a question for the jury.
Objectionable Advertising.
aside from pictures which are alon:
the line of the nude, there is class or
posters made to depict crime, hold-ups
and blood and thunder shows which are
not specially instructive TO the growing
girl and boy who not infrequently study
them as they would dime novel. The
boy has been known to impersonate the
desperate which the poster represents
I'm fact. the business of placing OF
instructive attractive and inoffensive il
lustrations and high-class mechanical
work on the boards has been injured by
the cheap and decidedly yellow flaming
bills which too often find prominence in
public places. Neatness seems TO be at a
discount
..The Association of Billposters. be II
to their credit. are not in sympathy with
the efforts of advertisers 10 go beyond
the limits of decency. They have so de-
clared in their conventions.
THE law should regulate and prohibit
the sensa ttonal. misleading and exciting
object lessons that deface the billboards.
that add no substantial patronage 10 the
house that employs them"