Evening star., 1926-10-28
PRESIDENT SEES ADVERTISING
AS AID TO u. S. PROSPERITY
Helps Maintain Wages at High Standard,
He Tells Convention Delegates at
.MayAower Hotel Banquet.

I
it's cost units were reduced, it's profits
were enlarged, it could sell it's product
| to it's customers at a lower figure,
and the whole industry was improved.
More wealth was produced. But the
reaction went even further. The
whole standard of living in that To-
cality was raised. All the people be.
came better clothed, better fed and
better housed. They had aspirations,
and the means to satisfy them, for
the finer things Of life. All of this
came from the judicious application
of the principle Of advertising.
THE system which brought about
.hese results is we'll known to the
members of this association. You
have seen innumerable instances
where concerns have failed through
'ack of advertising and innumerable
others where they have made a sue.
cess through the right kind and
amount of publicity. Under it's stim-
ulation the country has gone from
the old hand methods Of production
which were so slow and laborious
with high unit costs and low wages
to our present great factory system
and its mass production with the
astonishing result of low unit costs
and high wages. The pre-eminence
of America in industry, which has
constantly brought about a reduction
Of costs, has come very largely
through mass production. Mass pro-
duction is only possible where there
is mass demand. Mass demand has
been created almost entirely through
the development of advertising.
Business Demands Publicity.
I'm former days goods were e,-
pected to sell themselves. Oftentimes
they were carried about from door
to door. Otherwise, they were dis.
played on the shelves and counters
of the merchant. The public were
supposed to knSv Of these sources
of supply and depend on themselves
for their knowledge of what was to
be sold. Modern business could
neither have been created nor can it
be maintained on any such system.
1t constantly requires publicity. 1t
Is not enough that goods are made,
demand for them must also be
made. 1t is on this foundation of
enlarging production through the de-
mands created by advertising that
very much of the success of the
American industrial system rests.
1T Will at once occur to those who
nave given any thought to these sub
tinu1ng success of the business which
this gathering represents, and to the
general welfare of the country, that
the conditions under which these re-
suits have been secured should be
maintained. 1t Is our high rate of
wages which brings about the great
est distribution of wealth that the
world has ever seen and provides the
enormous capacity for the consump-
of oil IL t1e 90
characterlZeS our country. With our
improved machinery, with the great
increase in power that has come from
steam and electricity, with the appli-
cation OF engineering methods to pro-
ductlon, the output of each individual
engaged in our industrial and agricul-
tural life is steadily increasing. The
elimination of waste through stand
ardization has been another most i'm
portant factor in this direction. If
we proceed under our present system,
there would appear to be little reason
to doubt that we can continue to
maintain all of these high standards
in wages, in output and in conSump.
ton Indefinitely, and with our home
markets as a foundation increase our
foreign commerce by a greater eX-
change of those commodities in which
we are peculiarly favored for the
commodities of other nations in which
they have a special advantage. But
nothing would appear to be palmer
than that this all depends upon the
maintenance of our American scale
Of wages, which is the main support
Of our home market.
1T Is to be seen that advertising
is not an economic waste. It minis
ters to the true development of trade.
1t is no doubt possible to waste money
through wrong methods of advertis.
ing, as 1t can be wasted through
wrong methods in any department of
industry. But rightfully applied. 1t is
the method by which the desire is
created for better things. When that
once exists. new ambition Is developed
for the creation and use of wealth.
The uncivilized make little progress
because they have few desires. The
inhabitants of our country are stimu-
lated to new wants in all directions
In order to satisfy their constantly
increasing desires they necessarily ex-
pand their productive power. They
create more wealth because it is only
by that method that they can satisfy
their wants. 1t is this constantly en-
larging circle that represents the in
creasing progress Of civilization.
Sees Great Responsibility.
"A great power has been placed in
the hands Of those who direct the
advertising policies of our country,
and power is always coupled with re-
Sponsibilities. No occupation is
charged with greater obligations than
that which partakes of the nature of
education. Those engaged in that eff
fort are changing the trend of human
thought. They are molding the hu.
rryl,o
that tablet write for all eternity.
There can b. no permanent basis for
advertising except a representation
Of the exact truth. Whenever decep-
ton, falsehooa and fraud creep in
they undermine the whole structure.
They damage the whole art. The eff
forts of the Government to secure
correct labels, fair trade practices and
equal opportunity for all our inhabi-
tantS is fundamentally an effort to
get the truth into business. The Gov
,rnment can do much in this direction
by setting up correct standards, but
all its efforts will fail unless it has
the loyal support of the business
1en of the Nation. If our CONNER
cial life is to be clean and wholesome
md permanent in the last resort, it
"ill be because those who are en-
aged in it are determined to make
It so. The ultimate reformerS of busi-
less must be the business men them
elves. My conception of what adver-
Using agencies want is a business
world in which the standards are so
high that it will only be necessary for
them to tell the truth about 1t. 1t
will never be possible to create a per-
manent desire for things which do not
have a permanent worth. 1t Is my
belief that more and more the trade