Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-07

iE E3 citation of the power of print
III vi er's ink that has even been
szzsgz manifested by world power
in the form of systematic and
| for-reaehing efforts to mould public
opinion favorably to national enter
prises affecting international affairs.
Originally an epigram, "The pen is
mightier than the sword" it has long
been an axiom. Its acceptance as truth
is universal. It's application in the bus
ipess world is more widespread today
than ever before in history because
there exist at the present time greater
facilities for advertising than have ever
existed before. To this fact is due the
upgroWth of a new professionalism OF
writing and placing advertising.
To paraphrase julius Caesar, all adj
Yertising is divided into two parts.
There is the display ad," or reading
notice, candidly the exploitation of an
article or an enterprise in purchased
space. There is the publicity article,
which is the product of the pen of the
press agent, or which finds its way into
the columns of the press through an
other channel, but as a result of the
endeavors of the exponent of publicity.
1t is in the application of this sort of
advertising to the problem of building
an empire that Japan excels. Her ef-
| fort is to gain favor through the news
columns of the press of all countries tc
facilitate her industrial and political
progress. During the last FIVE years
she has met with success that does
credit to the capacity of her statesmen
and press agents.
The size and scope of the Japanese
publicity project, and its ramifications
through the various departments of
government, is but little understood
even by the average diplomat or lay
cfIIHapf Of n a tinna1 YAnIitinc q.
full fiedged and powerful resource it
may be said to date back to the begin
ming of the Russo-Japanese war, al
though the foundations were laid long
before the declaration of war was
made. Until recently the policy OF
China was to prevent the publication
of newspapers other than government
gazettes, containing no news and hav-
ing no opinions. Turkey under Abdul
Hamid discouraged the existence of real
| newspapers by forbidding them to
print the news or express themselves
editorially. When the king of Portu-
gal was assassinated the Levant Her
AIDS account Of the occurrence was
that King Carlos had a sudden attack
of acute indigestion while driving ir
| his carriage, and succumbed. Wher
| the king and queen of Servia were muir
dered, Turkish journals said that by q
peculiar coincidence a sudden illness
overlook their majesties simultaneous
| ly, with the melancholy result that
both of them died. In the light of late
developments in Turkey, the moral is
| obvious. Russia is recognizing by SLOW
degrees the futility of attempting tc
| suppress the press. Her censorship o1
correspondence and punishment of Rus
! sian editors has proved a dangerous
| boomerang. Japan, wiser than the les;
progressive powers, adopted some time
ago the policy of seeking favorable pub
/ licity rather than striving to censor
cablegrams or deport publishers. Hel
efforts in this direction compel admira.
tion by their magnitude.
When the Russian war was under
taken Japan, it is true, kept small
army Of foreign correspondents I'M
pounded in Toxic. But preventing
these gentlemen from reaching the
firing line was the smaller part of the
project in hand. The other part of II
was winning over the press to the
Japanese cause and producing, as
by-product of the war, all sorts o.
publicity for Japan. How successful
| this project was is realized only by
the few who know in a general way
how much literature" upon things
Japanese was published as a result o.
the delightful holiday enjoyed by the
| impounded correspondents. Was {
newspaper man fond of club life, ht
was put up at the best of clubs. il
another dearly loved a lord' he was
| taken in charge by the most affablt
| of Japanese noblemen and passed
from count to baron and from baror
to prince day after day. II journal
ist liked the cup that cheers there was
champagne enough to swim in. Die
another like dining with diplomats OF
statesmen he was invited to attend
| dinner parties that rivaled the Roman
symposiacs as the scenes Of feasts OF
reason and flow of soul, to say moth
] ing of their attractions from a gas
tronomic point Of view.
Cruder diplomatists than the Jap
anese publicity corps might have triet
| to corrupt the press and met will
| failure with insult, and with humiliat
| ing exposure in the capitals and ham
| let's of the world. The Japanese die
not attempt to buy or bully the for
| eign correspondents. They sough
only to persuade them. Each was al
ambassador from the land of newspa'
perdom whose report would not b'
made behind closed doors to a presi
| dent, a king or an emperor, the titulaI
ruler of a country, but to the actua
rulers - the people - through gian
web perfecting presses. Each of thes
| ambassadors was accordingly treated
with the consideration his position de
manded. The net result was that thu
press of the western hemisphere no
only became friendly to the japanese
| cause, but idealized the Japanese sol
dier, the japanese statesman and thu
Japanese gentleman. Books laudini
| Nippon and the Nipponese resulted By
| the hundred from the inspiration giVer