The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-02
HOBSONCONDUCT|NG IA BIG MAIL BUSINESS Hundreds of Thousands of
 Letters Sent Out ON GREAT DESTROYER Fifteen Clerks Are Kept Busy Send ing Copies of Speech to All Parts of the Uni
 ted States
py WALTER HARPER

Washington, March 1.-(Special) )-Cap''
 Richmond Pearson Hobson, congressman | from Alabama, is engaged In propa- I g.nda that reaches, or is intended to
 reach. the remotest confines of the United l States and to touch every individual
 He calls it a propaganda of education education along moral lines. The task ne has set himself is a big one, but he
 seems to have the machinery and the will
 to carry out his purpose.
 A fight for his seat in his homie district
 coming as 1t does in the midst Of this
 broader campaign, will hardly interrefe | with his work.
 The principal task of this propaganda is ;, to get copy of u speech he delivered on
 the floor of the House February 2 1911. I on the subject of prohibition in the hands | of every man, woman and child In the 1 United States.
 l The speech is called "The Great De- stroyer." and goes into an academic, l scientific and moral discussion of the ef- l fects of liquor drinking. More than I51O l copies of the speech have already been distributed in the state of Alabama This activity has led to the rumor that
 Captain Hobson is grooming himself to l lead the prohibition party in its future
  at the office of the Alabama congress- | man. It is declared that there is no per sonal political significance in the propa- ganda. It is declared that Captain Hob | son is a democrat first. last and all the 1 time, and will always be found fighting 1 in the ranks of that party. For several years he has been prominent in prohibi- tion activities, and it is declared that the special work he is now doing Is in the l interest of humanity.
 W. J. Monette of Gainesville. Ala, is in i charge of the propaganda. He came to Washington several months ago 10 con duct the campaign He spent several l weeks in organizing his plans under the direction of Captain Hobson. The plans comprise one of the largest mailing estab- lishments located in the vicinity of the capitol. Fifteen clerks are employed un-
 der MT. Monette and great bags of mail are dispatched from the office of Captain Hobson in the House office building every
 week day. There is hardly room In his office to breathe freely, so crowded Is it with stacks of printed speeches, envelopes. busy clerks and bags of mail ready to
 dispatch.
 Already, though the campaign has only been on for a few weeks, more than 350,- GOO pieces of mail have been sent out from the office. and the states Of the
 union have been covered down to Iowa,
 taking the list alphabetically. One hundred and fifty thousand letters have been sent out and 2Oo,0o0 copies of
 "The Great Destroyer" have been dis
 patched. Ii Is estimated that 10000 copies
 of the speech will be sent out. and that the total number of pieces of mail, in-
 cluding letters. will reach 100000.
 The letters and speeches are being sent to college and university officials, teach CTS and pupils, teachers and pupils of
 high schools and others who make re- quests through personal effort of those to whom the correspondence is personally sent
 Lists of names of school officials and pupils are being furnished by the United States bureau of education. "rhe Great Destroyer" is a lecture printed in the Congressional Record under
 leave to prime February g. 1911. when the House had under consideration bilt making appropria tions for the department Of agriculture. The speech as distributed is an exact copy as if appeared in the Con gressional Record of that date. II is in neat pamphlet form and covers IS pages It is claimed at the office of Captain IIobson that the entire expense of this work. printing and mailing. is being borne
 by Captain Hobson himself
 Circular letters are being mailed to
 school officials. teachers and pupils ac-
 companying the speech. A little different
 form is used in the letters to colleges and universities and those of high schools.
 However, the substance is substantially
 the same in each case.
 Following are samples of the corre- spondence:
 Here Is copy of the letter that is be-
 ing sent to teachers of high and public schools:
 Dear Friend: I am mailing you under
 separate cover a copy of my speech, ''The Great Destroyer" The information it con-
 tains has been collected from authorta-
 tive sources furnished by the Library of
 Congress. such as reports of officials and
 senni-official commissions. reports of life
 insurance companies and investigations
 conducted by scientists and scientific as- sociations
 T would call your especial attention to