The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-01
PUBLICITY
 IS WILSON'S HOBBY National Press Club Members
 Talk Hobbies CONCEALMENT IS EVIL Popular New Jersey Governor Says Pulp licity Will Not Damage Legitimate
 Politics-Dr. Welch Defends
 YiyisectiOn Theotries
CONCEALMENTs IS EVIL

Washington. January 31.-Fnblicity in the administration of the public business, party management, the pro- cesses of choosing candidates for pub | lie office. the committee rooms of Con- gress-in fact, publicity in all branches of politics, was the "hobby" which Gov. Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey tonight I told members of the National Press club of Washington he most cherished It was hobby night" at the club | and Dr. William Howard Welch of Johns Hopkins university, Ambassa- dor Bryce, Major General Wood, Gov ernor Wilson and Secretary MacVeagh were allowed to run '1O minute heats" in exploiting the subjects which have occupied their daily thoughts. Thomas Nelson Page, master of ceremonies was introduced by Frederick J, flask in, vice president of the club, as "the starter" In introducing Governor Wilson, MT. Page said he well knew the governors hobby was constitutional government, but at present a most important hobby of the people was "conservation and ex. ploitation of presidential timber"
 Governor Wilson based his speech on what Ambassador Bryce had said about the establishment of facts before views, saying what was most needed in gov ernmental affairs was a knowledge by the people of the country of all the facts.
 The root of all evil in politics. he said, "is private concealment. This is the complaint of the people of the country who do not know the processes of their welfare. The common interest can only be established through the instrumentality of tie facts Really what we are after in the field of po- itics is to drive everything into the field of facts
 Politics has in recent years been tied to the private arrangement, to a board of directors sitting behind closed doors and administering everybody's business as if it were their business. That is exactly the way in which pol itics has been conducted | in recent years, with this addition, that many of these gentlemen, sitting behind closed doors and administering the business of corporation, have also been admin lstering the business of parties.
 Now, admit that business and pol ftics are closely related. because pol itics is not something separated from our life. It has to handle the vital matter of our business and because our business Is public, our politics must be public.
 If you can once establish the repu- tation that you are speaking, so far as your Knowledge and capacity enable you to speak, from the viewpoint of the common interest. your views will be influential and in proportion as they are disinterested they will be influen- tial
 That is the reason why my hobby If l have any, is the hobby of pub licity. l cannot imagine anything legit- innate that a man is doing that he heed be afraid to talk about
 That is the whole present purpose of what We call the popular move ment. The popular movement in our country is to change the machinery of our government from privacy to pub licity 1t Is to chase it out of commit tee rooms; 1t is to get at the nomnat- ing process by a widespread method which is called the primary You can not conduct statewide primary prl- vately. You can conduct a caucus prI- vately, but not a primary--not the pres ent kind of primary With the old kind you could"
 pr. Welch of Johns Hopkins talked on vivisection and animal experiment. characterizing the efforts of the anti vivisectionists as "misdirected senlt- mentality"
 He said live animals under the in fiuence of anaesthetics did not suffer any more pain when handled by the surgeons than after death. He added that animal experimentation was of increasing benefit to medicine and the welfare of man.
 Ambassador Bryce devoted his time to plea for the establishment of facts before views in the moulding of public opinion. He lauded the work Of setting facts before the public as a task of great opportunities to the writers of today.
 Secretary MacVeagh talked about the personality of President Taft, charac- terizing him as a Statesman" rather than a politician"
 Major General Wood said the deveI- opment of the army was the subject which occupied his mind most. He told of the meth ods by which large re- serve military establishment could be built up in the United States i1 prep aration for war.
 A. R, COwart Released