The state herald., 1915-04-23

No ! peope through tne medium OF the
i press of the country. The attempt
has been highly successful as per-
- haps the readers of newspapers do
Not need to be told, for the interesting and and at
times compelling writings of the service men have
oeen before them from day to day.
In the department of agriculture there is an of.
nee OF information which was created in June 1913
before Its establishment there had been no active
enor to give directly to the people the results of
the departments work Walter H. Page at pres.
ent the American ambassador to Great Britain said
on this subject of getting agricultural information
10 the people that the department Had been reser
Voirlng an enormous mass of information collected
with the peoples money and which the neopIe wera
entitled to get"
In the past there were issued at frequent inter.
vais publications largely in bulletin FORM but with
the exception of more less perfunctory notices of
uheir appearances comparatively little was done to
make the public aware that they were at its dis.
posai' one OF the first things that the Office of in
formation did therefore was to deyelop n svs,eu
ny whch absolutely accurate newspaper stories
based on the material contained in these bulletins
couiu oe sent out to such newspaper, which Il
seemed reasonable to expect from the nature of tho
various subjects, would be Interested In nubsbirc
tnem for the sake of their readers. This work stilI
forms large part OF the activities of the office
some time ago there was criticism of what were
called the publicity efforts OF the department of
culture The critics did not understand at all the
nature OF the work which was being done They
seemed 10 think that press agency had been es
tablished simply for the purpose of booming tho
activities of the agricultural department with view
perhaps, as some of the critics may have tbou,bt
OF saying something kindly occasionally about The
officials OF government concerned In the worl
Criticism passed quickly for congress was told In
letter to Speaker Champ Clark of the house nj ror
resehtauVes oil Just what the information work OF
the department consisted and a sharp line was
drawn between the nature OF the information which
was being sent out and the usual stun which /,
turned out by publicity bureau which is not AT
NIL necessarily information bureau
In the letter to the speaker OF the house the sec
retary OF agriculture said this:
The nation Is spending through the depart.
ment many millions OF dollars in acquiring agri-
cultural information. 1t would be little short of
criminal to spend millions OF dollars to acquire
information and not to use every possible efn.
cient agency available for placing II at the dis.
posal OF the people as promptly possible II
is the purpose OF the office 1.-THE office OF informa.
toni. with as little delay as possible. through
every proper medium TO give the knowledge
which the department possesses as the result OF
investigations and field work to all the people
who desire II or should have II. The Office un.
dertakes to deal solely with facts. with sugges.
tions OF remedies, and OF methods OF applying
them In every field OF agriculture"
Prior to the time that the Office OF information
was created nearly all the printed matter con
veying information was In the form OF bulletins
and circulars and the issues not very vol.
luminous Frequently great deal OF time was
II and TO distribute II. II was inevitable for
many reasons that these bulletins could not
reach the great mass OF the people who would
be interested In them. Many farmers did not
know that the service Mt their disposal
They knew nothing about the bulletins or which
ones OF them would be helpful TO them. did
they know how to secure them. Moreover. the
publications largely were technical. dlf
Hcult to interT<et, to understand and TO apply.
One OF the particular duties OF the depart.
ment's office OF information is TO put the matter
which comes from the different bureaus In tech.
nlcal or scientific form into language which lay
readers can understand II seemed easier and
better 10 the department officials that the Office
OF information should choose the matter OF spe.
oial value 10 particular districts or sections OF
tho Union and TO have II distributed to such sec.
tions quickly. Il had been found that delay In
issuing the official printed bulletins and In mail
ing them often defeated the ends OF real service
In case OF the appearance In district OF an
insect plague or OF n disease that inonaeed the
stock. quick action. OF course, II was realized.
was necessary TO accomplish results
The Inauguration OF the service Of Information
ms II Ia at present carried out neccssltatcd most
efficient mailing system which would onabl. tho
onlco to circulate It's material among those
classes OF publications and In those sections Of
the country which could derive benefit from H.
and Mt the same time avoid u distribution that
would bo expensive 20 the government and use,
less 10 the newspapers and, II they should pub
iish Il. TO their readers.
Now there IL a mailing system Installed and
under operation by the division OF publication
and by means Of II the publications of the coun.
try are classified geographically and by their
character Now u n possible TO transmit
story TO all tho newspapers IN the United States,
20 all the newspapers In any city group of
cities, to all the farm publications In the country
or IN any state. omitng the general newspapers,
10 the trade papers OF amy one or all OF the
trades 10 daily newspapers In big cities alone.
Or 10 those In small county seats nlone-in short.
practically amy desired combination OF publica.
tionH IL possible