The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-09-08
The FOUR-MINUTE men
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
BY Frederic j. Haskin, Director.
Washington, d. @.

formed under the auspices of the gov
eminent for the purpose of arousing
patriotism thruout the country.
The Four Minute Men, like the Min
ute Men of '76, are patriots organized
to meet an emergency, but they are
disciples of Patrick Henry rather than
Ethan Allen. Their task is to arouse
interest in the war by making
speeches about it-speeches strictly
limited, confined and restricted to four
minutes.
Maybe you consider that a simple
task? Well, it seems that it isn't
The organization has had the greatest
difficulty in procuring men who could
make a speech in four minutes. Many
men who are splendid speakers, If
they have plenty of time in which to
tell stories and get up steam, cannot
make good on a four-minute speech
at all. And yet the four-minute fea-
ture is absolutely essential to the sue
cess of the organization.
For the Four Minute Men speak in
moving picture theaters. At the end
of the big feature, an American flag
is thrown on the screen to attract
the attention of the audience. Inn
nouncement that Mr.. So-and-So will
speak for four minutes on a subject
Of national importance. He speaks
under the authority of the commit
tee on public informationI Washing
ton, D. c." This saves time in in
Productions, which the organization
dislikes for the reason that the in
PRODUCER is always tempted to make
speech himself that is apt to string
itself out and tire the audience. And
the audience must not be tired. That
is the basic principle of the four
minute idea
-Four Minutes to the Second.
So strict are the four-minute men
regarding this principle that a visit
ing committee, appointed by the or
ganization, visits the moving picture
theaters and times the speakers. If
man allows his speech to rim one
second over four minutes he is Sc
verely called down by the visiting
committee. And. if on a second oc-
casion, he repeats the offense, he is
asked for his resignation. The visit
ing committee is not lenient in this
matter. 1t is made up of deposed
speakers
AS a further check upon the time il.
which a four-minute man speaks the
organization has enlisted the aid of
the moving picture theater managers
too If at the end of four minutes
man goes on speaking they are re-
quested to stop him either by ringing
a bell, blowing a horn or, as one
member said, shooting him if neces-
sary.
The four-minute idea is the most
up-to-date adaptation of that ancient
principle to the effect that people will
listen to anything just SO long as you
don't tire them. Men in public life
have long practiced se1f-deniaI in the
matter of words in order to put over
their propaganda more effectively.
Politicians-that is, successful p2li-
ticians- always. make short speeches:
ministers are continually diminishing
the size of their sermons, and some
lawyers have recognized the value
of few words In combining their
speeches to that four minute period
between the change of films in the
moving picture shows, the four-min-
ute men have not only succeeded in
holding the complete attention of
their audiences-they have actually
made those audiences applaud for en-
cores.
VIII Be Excellent Speeches.
This. OF course, means that the
Four-Minute Men are really most ex-
cellent speakers. They come from all
walks of life. The organization will
accept anybody from a policeman to
cabinet officer. just as long as he
| can make good speech Mr.. McAdoo
and Mr.. Lane are both Four Minute
Men, altho in view of their present
heavy duties they will doubtless be
infrequent speakers. In Washington
the chairman of the local committee
N.
| nett, a lawyer, and the other forty or
more speakers who make up the rest
of the committee are mechanics and
professional men, government clerks
and enlisted men, the twc. cabinet Of
| ficers already mentioned the assist
ant secretary of the treasury, Byron
| S. Newton, and the treasurer of the
| United States, John Burke
The speeches of the Four Minute
Men are confined exclusively to the
war. Each moving picture theater on
| the list gets two speakers week. The
first night the subject is the Need of
Food Conservation" the second night
1t is why We Are Fighting" and the
next week another speaker gives a
| four-minute talk on What our enemy
| really is-the German government
rather than the Gel man people" In
this way all the facts about the war
| are presented to the moving picture
audiences by different speakers who
! keep the interest of the people by
| ceasing to talk just as they are about
| to lose it.
The subjects of the speeches are
| given out each week by the national
headquarters at Washington, which
mails the data, as well as sample
speech. to every Four-Minute Man
! thruout the country. He can either
use the sample speech or invent one
of his own from the information given
with the assistance of the outline
mapped out for him. Herr is the out
| line of the speech entitled:
"Nhat Our Enemy Really Is"
| L. We must understand that the
J German system of government is the
opposite of democracy
| II. We must realize that Ger
man victory would mean the downfall
of democracy thruout the world.
! Ill We must appreciate the mil
itary strength of Germany and make
! our preparations accordingly.
". We must unmask pro-German
arguments that pretend to be Amer
/ lean sentiment and which deceive
| many well-intentioned Americans.
v. We must develop American
sentiment in harmony with Americas
purposes.
A Big Verbal Campaign.
From this outline the Four-Minute
man makes his speech, which is US
! five. hilIadrad hun