Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-07-30
"PitiIess Publicity"


campaign publicity bureau in the De-
partment of Commerce.
Since the passage Of the Underwood
tariff law the Department Of Com
merce has been to the perpetrators of
that outrage the object of their tend
crest solicitude. Every wish Of the
Department has been INDUCED; every
recommendation Of Secretary Redfield
has met with Congressional sanction.
The reason for this Partially is be-
coming more and more apparent as
the months roll on: Secretary Redfield
is the anointed champion of the Dem
ocratic tariff policy. He has comman-
deered the bureau of foreign and do
mestic commerce Cthe spearhead of
the department. as he terms it, and
has pressed government employees in
to service. With a generous allow
ance from Congress, dipped from the
public purse, he is running as busy
a little Democratic campaign public
ity bureau as one could wish to see.
Note the following items in the ap-
preparations for the Department of
Commerce for the fiscal year 1916: ITO
further promote and develop the for
eign and domestic commerce of the
United States $4,000: field investiga-
oLr
promote and develop the commerce
OF the United States with South and
Central America, $4,000: for COM
mercial attaches. 100000 All of
these sums to be expended under the
personal direction of the Secretary of
commerce. What the Secretary saws.
goes. Here are the sinews for hid
den advertising. Three hundred
thousand dollars appropriated for DUR
poses OF present doubtful utility at
a time when economy should have
been the watchword of the govern
'ment. What could have been done
ito further promote and develop" com.
merce after the Democratic tariff law
was passed. it is difficult to imagine.
The concrete result of these appro-
prlations, aside from the money de-
voted to printers ink publicity. is the
appointment of large number of de
serving Democrats some of whom
have been sent to Europe as CONNER
clal attaches and are drawing large
salaries to study~cemmerciaI condi-
tions which are n temporary abev-
ance. Others as special agents. whose
cnle1 junction is to gumshoe around
the country, snoop into the business
OF manufacturers, and then render re-
ports SO partisan and abusive as to
be utterly valueless for economic pur-
poses, even if their authors had any
ideas respecting the science of econo-
my. The report on the pottery in
dustry in New Jersey and on the
hosiery industry in MONTGOMERY
County, Pennsylvania, are examples of
the lengths to which these political
pests will go in villifying the manufac-
turers Of the country.
Still others are being put on the
payroll to correct "the methods of
collecting export statistics" The ter
r1f1c slump in our export trade fol-
lowing Democratic control convinced
Secretary Redfeld that "the statistics
OF our export trade are incorrect to
an extent sufficient to alter at times q
trade balance on mercantile transac
tons which is actually in our favor in
to one which appears to be the re.
verse;" 1t is apparent that Mr.. Red
field received this illumination some
time after August. 1914, when the ball
ance of trade for that month was over
$16,000,000 against us and he sent DR.,
Frank r. Rutter, assistant chief of the
bureau to the New York custom house
to fix that little matter The large ex-
ports due to war orders having, for
the time being. put that subject in
the background. Dr. Rutter is again
at his desk in Washington.
But it is the audacity of campaign
publicity work at the taxpayers ex-
pense which amazes. All this Demo-
cratic propaganda, furthermore, is
sent out under Government frank. For
some months the Commerce Reports
which are intended to be devoted SOLE
lys to matters concerning our trade
have been carrying pages Of matter
having nothing to do with commerce
and adulatory Of the Administration
/. In plain words, the public is getting a
correspondence course, at its own ex.
pense. full Of partisan teaching de.
signed to create favorable feeling to-
ward the Administration. and this
whether the public wants it or not
Mr.. Redfeld is running a Democratic
campaign publicity bureau on forced
subsidization. He will close in 1916.