Arizona republican., 1921-10-06
By Frederic J. Haskin

OTTAWA, Canada, Oct. 5.-Can- ada has a branch of government that every progressive country will eventually have-a commercial nov ing picture office.
 So far, Canada is the first gov ernment to advertise itself commer- cially by the films. A few days ago the announcement came of one of the states, Nebraska, opening it's official moving picture studio to distribute pictures advertising the state, but this venture. like most of its kind, depends on state funds to finance it. The pictures are to be distributed free.
 The Canadian government offers some of it's films free to schools and clubs. but tor the most part dis tributes official pictures through big, well established moving picture con- cerns, and charges regular rates for them- They become part of thie programs in the various movie houses all over the country. Tie idea is that people appreciate ard are p.ore interested in something they pay fer than something they get for nothing. So the moving pie ture bureau of the government de- cided to make it's film as good as or better than the commercial ones, and to offer it to the trade The plan worked. The government produc- tions are in demand. Moreover, the films practically pay for themselves, and as publicity they are invaluable to the country.
 The project was started four years ago with the purpose of showing not only people of other countries, hrrf Taro6ionC a u-nlI what Canada is like. It is a well known fact to quote one instance, that while many Americans go to Algonquin Park in Ontario for vacations, Canadians find it more of an adventure to cross the border and come down to the Maine woods to rest. So a picture of Algonquin Park is regarded as novel entertainment among Cana dian audiences, just as a moving picture of the Mt Shasta region would be something new to a large part of a New York audience.
 Even the old legend of Canada be- ing largely the frozen north obtains to some extent among southern Can adians The government film mak- CTS say: "A good deal of what is now regarded by intelligent Cana . dians as arid, snow covered land is not barren the year round The Mackenzie basin, with it's short. hot summer of long days is promising [. wheat land. But it takes days tc get there, and the country is not opened up, and never will be. so long as people dismiss it as the frozer north. We are taking pictures there and in other regions where pictures showing real conditions, have never been taken before.
 Canada Not All Cold
 "There is a frozen Arctic region 1T Canada, it is true. But that is no Canada as it has been developed and as people should think of tn, country in general. Because so man, people do think of it in that vagu way the wide variety of climate scenic effects, cities. and types O people are new and interesting stor ies to. Canadians as much as tC | others"
 Actual returns to a country iron finn publicity can scarcely be esti mated, but Canada rates her film activities as an invaluable methos | of showing people in other countrie what the Canadian land is like, hoy the people live, and what industrie l and arts thrive there.
 | This is more important to Canad; than it would be to England, for in l stance, or to France. The world il general has fairly correct idea O 1 the place of these two countries il civilization. But Canada is apt t
 be dismissed as largely backwoods 1 Showing cross sections of Canadian life abroad arouses interest in tn 1 country and that means trade, set
 tiers, visitors. and that importan
 asset, good will. Canada is not tn
 only country to accept the doctrin
 that it pays to advertise.
 l Every big government in the worl
 has some sort of publicity organiza 1 tion to advertise itself since tn
 war. Before then, publicity and ad
 vertising were regarded as commer
 cial devices which dignified govern
 ment did not stoop to use The mer
 suggestion of posters would hav
 shocked any war department off
 cer in 1913.
 But the war. to be backed by tn
 people, had to be advertised An
 ever since governments have bee
 using posters, films. stills (the pho | tographic ldnd) slides and publicit