The Yale expositor., 1912-06-06

..
Publicity That Has Value.
The government has benefited vast
ly by Its attempts to employ proper
publicity agents, and If any of the
writers on behalf OF the government
service have overstepped the bounds
OF propriety they have unquestionably
dealt a blow to publicity of the right
kind. Take the bureau Of education.
for instance. 1t furnishes and has been
furnishing for some time interesting
matter concerning educational affairs
all over the country. and the trend OF
education in other countries. In the
main 1t Is wholesome stuff and fire.
quently it has not only real educa-
tional value, but real news value. The
stopping up Of this source of educa-
tional publicity probably would not
only be an injury to the government.
but distinct loss to educators all
over the country who take a deep in
terest In their profession and all that
pertains to 1t. OF course the publicity
the regular publications of the de-
partments. There has been no hint
Of an intention to interfere with their
issue.
Not long ago there was established
by congress what was called bureau
Of mines. The officers Of this bureau
are engaged in the work Of showing
mining corporations and their en-
ployes how to prevent accidents and
how to save life and property. Some
Of the material furnished by the pub
licity agent of this bureau has been
read by hundreds of thousands of peo-
pie the country through. Frequently
these articles have been accompanied
by illustrations made from photo
graphs Of actual accident and life-sav-
ing scenes.
The state department also has a
publicity agent, and now much mate.
rial is given out of kind which be-
fore this was held secret simply be
cause the holding of everything secret
was the departments custom.
Cheaper Money for Farmers.
The American state department
through five of its ambassadors has
been investigating European systems
by which the farmers there are en-
abled to borrow money at reasonable
rates. The intention of the state de-
partment, after studying the results OF
the. investigation, is to attempt to In
troduce the European system in this
country, so that the American farmer
can borrow money at cheaper rates.
1t seems TO be the Administrations
thought ;hat If the European system
is adopted In America the farmer can
raise money on his farm by means OF
a bond saleable in any part Of the
country. In Europe, it is said, the
farmer borrows on equal terms with
the biggest railroad, industrial corpor-
alton or municipality. The state de-
partment in printed communication
to the public on the matter says:
The investigation Is considered one
Of the most important undertakings
yet attempted In dollar diplomacy.
Myron T. Herrick, the newly appointed
ambassador to France, is Secretary
knox's right-hand man in the investi-
cation. Mr.. Herrick is himself the
product of an Ohio farm, and has made
The problem Of the farmer" a hobby
Tor years. When the work in Europe is
the state department will
prepare an organization plan TO fit the
scheme to American conditions, and
legislative program will probably be |
mapped out for the president to sub
nit TO congress- The investigation is
centered about the Credit Foncier OF |
France and the Landschaften of Ger |
many.
How the Credit Foncier Works.
The Credit Foncier Is a limited-li- |
ability company operated under the su-
pervision Of the French government |
or the purpose of lending money to |
public service corporations, communi- |
les, counties and landowners, and to |
create and negotiate bonds based on |
which are limited to the !
amount due from the lender. In
)ther words, the Credit Foncier acts |
rs the agent for the French farmer, so
hat instead of seeking to raise money |
lirectly from some local investor by |
his farm, the farmer places
lis mortgage with the Credit Foncier,
which in turn issues bond based upon
hat mortgage and which can be cold
anywhere throughout the country. In
his way the French farmer is freed
rom the necessity OF borrowing in the
limited market of his own immediate
'icinity.
1T Is just this restriction v hich is
orcing the American farmer to pay ex-
,rbitant rates of interest and to put
Up with none too acceptable terms. In
his country the farmer is practically
orced to borrow from some investor
n his community. If local con.
litions make money tight" there he
uffers accordingly. In one section of
he country he pays six per cent. in.
crest, and in another ten per cent,
hough in both instances the security
'ffered may be the came. Never can
le compete with the bonds of the big
Industrial corporations, though in
many instances the security which he
'ffers is just as good as that OF the
orporation."
1t is intended to make the venture.
adopted here, a project primarily for