Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-05-23

/ e ne I0lfoNlng letter, referring II
the billboard controversy. was read
at the meeting OF the AID Club yester-
day noon:
May 81, 1913.
Mr. w. r. harrington, Honolulu.
My Dear Mr.. Harrington: Thanking
you for very courteous invitation to
J attend the lunch OF the Ad Club to-
morrow noon, regret TO say that, as
feared, my engagements viii prevent
my attending. / am very sorry for
this, as | should like extremely we'll
to be present at the discussion, and
perhaps contribute my own views.
There are few things that | would
like 10 say, but the subject generally
has been pretty well thrashed out.
i First and foremost | want to have
you and others get rid of the impress
sion, which is absolutely incorrect,
that there is anything like an organ
lied boycott against the billboard5, or
the Pioneer Advertising Company, Or
4 goods which are advertised on these
billboards. | have been present at a
number of meetings of the ladies of
the Outdoor Circle, and in all discus
siOns which have taken place any
thing like organizing for boycott has
been absent. There has been no such
thing. On the contrary | know that
| some of the ladies have been advised
| that any combination for boycott
might be actionable, but of course
this does not prevent the ladies or
anybody else from declining to pur-
chase certain goods. acting on their
own initiative. This is absolutely
| justifiable, and no one has any right
to complain of it. You may remem-
Der in this connection that, some
little time ago, answering a "direc-
| ton" published in, the Advertiser per-
| haps, to Order Pinectar from your
grocer | replied in day or two
| that could not obey the injunction
as | found it impossible to purchase
| that very pleasant drink as long as
| it was advertised on billboards. You
| will observe that did not and do not
propose to prevent anyone from adj
| vartising anything they choose on
billboards. While believe that it is
an injury to the city to have these
boards scattered about from place to
place, yet, at the same time, they have
legal right to exist, and everybody
has legal right to put anything on
them he wants to, but there is no OBJ
legation on my part to purchase goods
SO advertised, and the sellers cannot
object if / do not make such pur-
chases. Probably indeed my trade
would be so small as not to affect
the matter one way or the other.
As l have stated before l think this
community is indebted to the Pioneer
Advertising Company for its refusing
to advertise quite number of un-
pleasant things, but the fact that these
unpleasant things do not appear on
the bilIboards does not therefore ex-
cuse their existence, for otherwise
they the objectionable.
Mr.. Frazier, in some recent adver-
tisement, suggests that Mr.. Thurston
and | get the poles about town taken
down, in consideration whereof he
will remove certain billboards. Prob
ably no one is deceived with this pro-
position, which is purely an attempt
to blind the issue by confusing it with
other things. The poles about the
streets are bad enough, and / hope
with Mr.. Frazier, and others who de-
sire a real Honolulu beautiful, that all
poles may be removed, but up to the
present time the underground trolley, |
speaking only of that, has not proved
a perfect success, particularly in those
places that are liable to sudden and
tremendous floods of water. Anyone
can see exactly what my views are
with regard to street poles by visit !
ing Lunalilo street from the corner
of Victoria and down to the bounds
of Mr.. Fred Lowrey's lots towards
Diamond Head, where we erected troll |
ley poles of iron at our own expense,
The concerted effort on the part of
the ladies OF Honolulu to have bill
boards removed is simply one move |
'ment in trying to better our general !
conditions, and to have cleaner and /
more beautiful city so far as such
beautifying and cleansing pertains to
the removal of billboards. The fight |
for a cleaner and better city will not !
be finished when the bill-boards are I
all gone. There are lots of things to
be done after that, and ! have no I
doubt they will be taken hold of.
| think that the gentlemen who will |
meet at lunch tomorrow will agree |
with me that throughout the United t
States and Europe the opposition to
billboards is not only increasing but /
unifying, and already conditions are !
very much improved in some places.
| think no one will deny that, no mat
ter how clean they may be kept, no
matter how artistic the painting of t
signs may be, yet they are, after all,
simply an impudent thrusting in the |
faces of. those who use the streets. of
all sorts of attempts on the part Of /
all sorts of people to get YOU to buy
their goods. [ regard such use OF I
streets, public places or the country /
in general as. absolutely unjustifiable. /
The newspapers, magazines and the