The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1906-2016, 1913-06-17
MANUFACTURING SENTIMENT.

/ IN the investigation OF the alleged
lobbying that is said to have innu
caced senators, the United States
senate has stumbled on to fact that
/ every newspaper editor IN the cOun
Try has known Tor a long time: thai
/ there are certain well defined agen
cies whose activities are confined
10 The creation OF public sentiment
on this that or the other economic OF
political subject.
II seems to have created some sur
PRISE among the gray and reverend
senators TO discover that there are
people who devote their time and
their money to the purpose OF Undue
ing other people to form opinions
and communicate those opinion 10
the members Of congress. The ave.
age newspaper man could have i'm
parted this information and could
have given dates. places and names
long ago if he had been asked.
Probably in no time in the history
OF our country has the printed docu.
ment been used so largely in getting
before the people as is now being
done by those who are Interested in
special legislation. Every editorial
desk in the country is piled high
every morning with the literature of
this class received through the mails
Most OF II is splendidly gotten up
with the idea of attracting the eye of
the prospective reader, and it is
usually framed in the most correct
English.
II certain clique desires congress
TO purchase heavily Of munitions of
war, the mails become fun OF com
mnnicaiions calling attention to the
! disability o. war, the necessity for
larger army and navy, and the ar
gumonts are so framed as to appeal
to the sound judgement Of the reader,
and are not sensational pamphlets
calculated to arouse fanaticism or to
induce irrational action.
If the sugar interests desire to OBJ
pose the placing of sugar upon the
free list, again the mails are cum
bered with letters. pamphlets, edi-
torial suggestions, arguments and
briefs in support of the sugar con
tention that the present purpose Of
congress to place that article on the
free list within three years will put
every refinery on the scrap heap i'm
mediately.
Not only that. but all the interests
that wish to get In touch with the
people and thereby create a new Pub
lie sentiment on the subject in which
these combinations are Interested
find their way into the magazines
and newspapers with articles and
stories written for the express pur-
rose of influencing public opinion.
Not ono Of the great magazines is
free from the incursious of these flu
ent and forceful writer's, Even the
independent, one of the leading re-
lieious MAGAZINES of the country.
opens its columns to the sugar inter
csts SO that they may exploit their
side of the controversy.
While this method OF creating pub
lie sentiment Is much less objections
able than the usual forms OF lobby
lug, it still has it's drawbacks, The
great attempt on tho part of these
agencies IS TO get into the columns of
newspapers and thus before vast
OF readers, by the insdious
cfGer Of the material as news. Where
a paper accepts and publishes these
articles, II gives the public d certain
that the opinions stated IN
the articles are its own. and covers
the real fact that the opinions are
manufactured by bureaus which
have for their sole purpose the de
eeiying of the public Us to the author
ity and the extent of the opinions
they promulgate
The american public can be trust
ed 10 discriminate. TO very large eX-
tent between the real opinions OF
its fayorite journals and the mann-
featured stun sthat occasionally finds
publication in their columns.
The members OF the senate ase
Just beginning to find that much of
the sentiment, much of the publlc
opinion that they supposed existed
among their constituents. was really
in offices in the eli Y
where that august body holds its scs.
sions.