Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-12
MAINE LEGISLATURE.
Continued from Page Six.)


eight are TO be bullctined to publishers
! and other Interested, twelve objection
able features Of advertising have been
/ corrected voluntarily by the offending
| advertisers at the committees sugges-
J ton and twenty-five are still under
consideration. The committee has
| thirty-two new cases on hand for in
| vesitgation.
/ want To touch the work that IS
| being done in other states, but will
only say that in great many of the
other states these associations arc
working along the same lines.
| have in my hand an editorial
which appeared in this weeks issue
of Printers Ink: when Governor Cox
of Ohio signed House bill No. 104, in
March, his state became the first to
adopt an adequate law against frauda-
I lent advertising. TO the advertising
men Of Ohio belongs the honor of Sc
curing the passage of the following
Iaw-the model statute recommended
by Printers Ink with a very minor
change:
An Act to provide against fradu-
lent advertising
sembly of the state of Ohio:
Section !. Whoever, with intent to
sell, or in any wise dispose of mer-
chandise. securities, service, or any
thing offered by him directly or IN
directly, to the public for sale or dis
;rbutj0n. or with intent to increase
the consumption thereof, or to induce
the public in any manner to enter into
any obligation relating thereto. or To
acquire title thereto, or an interest
therein, causes, directly or indirectly
Ia be made. published, disseminated,
circulated. or placed be fore the public,
in this state, in newspaper or other
publication. or in the form of a book.
notice. handful, poster, bill, circular.
pamphlet or letter, or in any other
way, an advertisement of any sort.
regarding merchandise, securities,
service. or anything SO offered to the
public, which advertisement contains
any assertion. representation or state
ment of fact which is untrue or dee
ceptive, shall be guilty of a misde-
meanor and on CONVICTION thereof
shall be punished by a fine of not less
than so nor more than 500 or by
Imprisonment in the county Jail not
exceeding % days or by both said fine
and Imprisonment.
one law actually upon the statute
books is worth pages of argument.
When Printers Ink a year and half
ago, advocated The adoption of this
law. we insisted much more strongly
upon the necessity for a police force
TO insure its enforcement. As was
right and proper, the police force
came first in the vigilance committee
movement, progress of which is
cIronicled on another page of this is
sue.
Mr. President. it is hard to under
stand why newspapers should object
to the passage of this law.
As matter of fact the man who
drew the Act, was Mr. Harry d. Minis
of the New York bar. He has stated
that il did not bear in any sense on
the periodicals. ] will quote from
recent article which he has published:
You will recall that in formulating
this proposed statute, one of the prin-
ciple things which | had in mind was
Is so frame it as TO put the blame
for misleading advertising where it
belonged. namely ON the shoulders of
tisemCnt: on the man whose goods the
advertisement was intended to sell;
on the man who would be benefited
by whatever deception of the public
resulted through the advertisement.
To this end the Printers Ink sta
tute, in skeleton. provides: Any per-
n--Who-with intent To sell
anything offered by such person-for
ale-publshes-or causes-to be
published-a advertisement
which-contains- assertion
of fact which is untrue deceptive or
misleading, shall be guilty Of a mis-
demeanor.
When the statute is reduced to this
form you will note % the man at
whom the statute is aimed is the man
who offers to the public goods which
he himself has for sale. This is clear
from careful reading Of the first
three lines of the statute. On reflec-
ton il would seem clear that no
| newspaper is offering for sale the
goods advertised in its columns.
What it is offering for sale is its cir
culation and its space; and | believe
that every earnest advertising man is
who misstates facts regarding his cir
| ,ulato and in eXemptinS him from
| legal responsibility as to mis-state-
| ments made by others through his
columns as to what they have for
| sale
| t2) The phrase makes, publishes,
! disseminates. circulates, or places be-
I fore the public refers back To the per-
son who is advertising something he
! himself has for sale. Can newspaper
/ or periodical be said to be offering to
! sell all the articles advertised in its
| columns
| To eliminate these words from the
| Statute, so far as | can see, merely
| gives an opportunity for qu1bble TO
be made as to whether or not making Il
statement is different from causing .
! statement to he made. In the first case
| brought under the New York adVer-
Using Statute with which ! had any
| thing to do, we have run atoul OF tins
/ very quibble. If it becomes necessary
| to limit the application of the Statutes
| in some way so as to make 1t more
| evident that newspapers do not come
within its provisions, would 1t not pc