New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-29

II n representative Of the government came
from Washington to speak in Madison Square
Garden some evening and attracted an audi
ence Of $1,000 persons 1t would be great
public event Practically that very thing Is
being done in New York every evening Inc
only difference Is that there are thirty rep
resentatives of the government, instead OF
one, and that they live in New YORK lhey
are Four Minute Men-volunteer speakers
who talk in motion picture theatres, under
authority Of the governments Committee on
Public Information.
They began a few months ago, when the
United States declared war on Germany. a
man in Chicago, named Donald Ryerson,
realized suddenly that lot of folks in his
town went to the movies every night
He assembled a few friends and they
developed a plan. They secured permission
from owners of motion picture theatres for
volunteer speakers to make nightly addresses,
and then they began to talk. 1t is generally
conceded that the nightly attendance at
motion picture theatres constitutes the
greatest aggregation of ready-made audi
ences that can be, imagined. 1t is small
town, indeed, that does not boast at least
one movie The fact that the industry rs
the fourth largest in the United States set
ties any doubt on that point
II did not take the beginners long to make
themselves heard in Chicago, and then they
branched out to neighboring cities. AS the
work developed its possibilities were borne
in upon the organizers with such force that
they went to Washington to submit to the
government plans for a national organza-
ton. There they won an immediate hearing.
Headquarters were opened in Washington
and the Four-Minutc Men became a national
organization, under the Committee on Public
Information, and there the big story of its
activities began
Parrots Not Wanted
The Committee on Public Information in
cludes the Secretary of War, the Secretary
Of State and the Secretary of the Navy-the
departments most directly responsible for
the conduct of the war. Bulletins are issued
from the Washington headquarters, based on
official information from these departments
With this background of authoritative facts,
the Four Minute man proceeds to construct
his speech, into which he puts his own per-
sonality. He is a spokesman for the govern
ment, but he is not expected to be a parrot
or a "me too" partisan. His instructions are
TO stick to the facts in the bulletin and to
make MS speech CONFORM 10 the BeHeiai toiic
of the document. but he is at liberty, and Is
urged, TO use all his resources Of tact, force
and adaptability to put his message across
And they are doing it-9,000 Of them, in
forty-six states of the union.
Their first big effort was with the Liberty
Loan, and the men in charge of its distribu-
ton recognized the help the FourMinute
Men rendered by asking them to take an i'm
portant part in the campaign for the forth
coming loan. Henry p Dawson had their aid
in the great campaign for the Red Cross,
and Herbert Hoover called on them to speak
for food conservation For weeks they have
been conducting a great educational campaign
to make the nation understand why we are at
war, and have done it so effectively that they
have aroused the enmity Of the German
propagandists.
There is no Disgusting the fact that pro-
German elements would like to stop the
mouths of the Minute Men. Right in
New York City proprietors of motion picture
theatres have been told buntly that the
speeches were dstasteful to their patrons
and have been threatened with boycott. To
the credit of the managers be it said that
they have refused to be inundated and have
given their loyal cooperation in spreading
the gospel of national unity.
When the Four-Minute Men came to
New York early in the summer they were