[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—To advertise a particular
soap or brand of cigarettes worth while, because the reader of the advertisement can easily get the advertised goods and try them, and thereafter his experience of the goods, rather than his reading of the advertisements, may make him a regular consumer. But although, as Mr. Murray Allison puts it, " The League has got the goods," mere advertisements of the League can produce nothing analogous to the purchase of a sample packet of cigarettes or of soap. But an advertisement may persuade uninformed and uninterested people to attend a meeting, and there obtain the personal experience which corresponds to the actual trial of advertised goods.
That personal experience, if it makes a sufficiently deep impression upon the whole mind of man—upon the feelings and purposes, as well as upon the intelligence—will give him enthusiasm as well as instruction, and both are needed to make an effective supporter of the League of Nations. To propose to win for the League that support which is essential for its success by newspaper advertisements alone amj without the educational machinery of League of Nations Societies, such as our League of Nations Union, would be like relying upon similar publicity for the success of a political party without using party machinery to foster corporate spirit and multiply. ing personal contacts between candidates and the electors.
Newspaper publicity, however, used in a capacity ancillary to these educational organisations for the support of the League, would be of the greatest possible value.—I am, (League of Nations Union).
15 Grosvenor Crescent, S.W .1.
Previous page
