which are seriously affected by many public movements. The public insists that the newspaper shall advocate reform measures; the interests of the proprietors demand that certain special great enterprises shall remain undisturbed; hence, news is perverted and arguments are twisted so as to give the appearance of patriotism and public spirit without its real presence. It is the fact that these motives and interests are concealed which is the real source of evil. The public has little to fear from the advocacy of anything by persons whose purposes are well known, but the secret control of a paper by some unknown power or its use of news furnished by a news bureau, similarly controlled, may well corrupt that public opinion which lies at the foundation of all popular government.

For instance, there was a bureau which furnished arguments against municipal ownership of public utilities for the purpose of protecting and promoting the particular enterprises in which those connected with the bureau were interested. This bureau would pay newspapers advertising rates for articles to be published as news matter in violation of the first principle of journalistic ethics.

During the investigation of the great life insurance companies of New York some of the companies, through a "telegraphic news bureau," sent paid items in their own favor which were fraudulently published as impartial news. . . .

The large advertisers in our most important newspapers have often secured the suppression of injurious facts in regard to themselves or to institutions with which they are connected.

These abuses infect free government at its fountain head, and newspapers, which are themselves the instruments of publicity, ought to be required both by public opinion and by specific law to furnish not only the names of all who are responsible for what is contained in their columns, but also, if demanded, the business connections of their directors and managers. Moreover, the furnishing of news by interested parties without disclosing such interest should be prohibited and visited with appropriate penalties.1

Since a large part of the information which ultimately reaches the public comes through the Associated Press agencies, it is extremely important that a fair and unbiased policy prevail in the dissemination of news. So important

1 William Dudley Foulke, on "Public Opinion," National Municipal Review, vol. iii (April, 1914), pp. 248-49.

Investigate the ownership of stock and the influences affecting the editorial and news opinions of the leading newspapers in your community.

Report on the Associated Press and other news-collecting agencies for local papers.

are these associations that it is a serious question whether some kind of control or public supervision ought not to be exercised over them.

Party Organizations and Public Opinion.—The political parties maintain a complicated system of machinery which is constantly at work in an effort to create and direct public opinion that is favorable to the interests of the party. Various committees, organized to forward party interests, conduct extensive educational campaigns in order to put the claims of the party before the voters. In the process of instructing the voters, newspaper and magazine articles and advertisements, as well as specially prepared campaign leaflets and documents, are freely used. Articles designed for newspaper use are prepared under the direct supervision of the literary bureau, and, without charge, are sent to the newspapers for publication. Campaign documents are multitudinous in number and vary greatly in form. Cards, posters, pamphlets, speeches, and books are prepared and distributed. The campaign textbook is the most ambitious effort to place at the disposal of party workers the material and facts to influence the great mass of the voters. On the whole, the efforts of the parties to inform voters and to mold public opinion are the most thorough and extensive which have yet been devised, and parties are unquestionably among the chief agencies in the formation of public opinion on some of the great political issues.1

National Organizations and Societies.-When a group of persons becomes conscious that there is need of change or of the initiation of a new feature in the management of government or in any of its activities, it is customary for those persons to attempt to lead as many other persons as possible to the same point of view, so that in time public opinion will be strong enough to bring about the desired change. This is best accomplished by organized educational campaigns, for only through organization is public

1

1 Report on party agencies to create public opinion in your community.

opinion able to become strong enough to be effective. "There is no public opinion that is not activity reflecting or representing the activity of a group or of a set of groups."1

Almost every government activity as now exercised had its beginning with small groups of persons particularly interested. And through an educational campaign the idea was carried to a larger number until sufficient sentiment was aroused to have it included as a part of the ordinary government activities. An illustration of this method is seen in the recent effort to establish a national department of education under a secretary who would be a member of the President's Cabinet. The bill presented to Congress was approved by numerous national organizations, including the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the American Federation of Labor. However, public opinion on this issue has not reached the point where its efforts have met with success. An illustration of the way in which legislation may be the direct result of the agitation of a group was the passage of the Adamson Law regulating the hours of labor and other conditions of employment on the railroads. This act was passed on account of pressure exerted by the railway brotherhoods in a case of extraordinary emergency. Similarly, organized labor has brought pressure to bear on Congress and the President to attempt to curb the exorbitant rise in prices following the war.

Among the questions which have aroused great controversies and have necessitated the education of public opinion pro and con are those which center around the control of great industrial corporations, such as the Standard Oil Company and the Steel Trust. The National Association of Manufacturers, as well as other organizations representing the employers of labor, are ever on the alert to see that their interests are properly protected by

1A. F. Bentley, The Process of Government (University of Chicago Press, 1908), p. 223.

governmental means. A number of protective tariff acts resulted from the efforts of these organizations. On the other hand, the American Federation of Labor, through its methods of organization and education, has succeeded in safeguarding the rights of the laboring classes by laws and by means of redress before the courts. The National Grange of Patrons of Husbandry and Farmers' Unions are the organizations through which the farmer urges his demands for a share of government protection.

Most reforms have gone through similar stages of organization, education, and, finally, government action or supervision. The extension of the franchise to women and the control of the manufacture and sale of intoxicants have come largely through concerted efforts of local, state, and national organizations. The National Child Labor Committee and the National Civil Service Reform League have aided, respectively, in creating a public opinion sufficiently strong to demand special protection for children against the greed of employers or shiftlessness of parents and a protection against spoils politics.1

The number of organizations whose chief function is the formation of public opinion is legion, and it is impossible to attempt a detailed description of all of them, for every field of government activity has an organization of those who are interested in securing changes in existing methods of political control.

What is true of national organizations is similarly true of municipal organizations. Most cities of any size have clubs, civic organizations, or municipal leagues for the purpose of educating public opinion in the interest of civic reform. Most of these organizations are maintained by voluntary subscriptions and are not under government control. They exert, however, a great influence in local

1 Consult especially the publications of such organizations as the American Association for Labor Legislation; Playground and Recreation Association; Public Ownership League; Russell Sage Foundation; Short Ballot Organization; New York Bureau of Municipal Research.

Report on the non-partisan league as an agency to form public opinion.

politics and assist in creating public interest in the projects for which they are organized, and their ultimate object is frequently to gain desired changes through legislative or administrative channels. In addition to these voluntarily supported organizations there have been established recently in several of the largest cities Bureaus of Municipal Research. The objects of these are to give city officials and citizens interested in government the benefit of what other cities are doing in the way of legislation and improved methods of administration. A useful service of this character may also be rendered by the municipal reference division of the public library, where civic information may be collected and classified for the use of officials as well as interested citizens.1

Specialized Private Agencies. One of the most effective of the private agencies which have been organized to influence and conduct public affairs was the American Brewers' Association which maintained an organization in every state and used every means available to prevent the spread of local option and to forestall the more radical step of prohibition. Large sums of money were collected and spent in so-called pivotal states. In a similar manner, the public utility interests have united in a campaign of education and of what one of their agents described as “the accelerating of public opinion" in support of the private ownership and management of public utilities. A private organization whose chief aim is the formation of public sentiment in favor of preparation for war and the adoption of universal military service is the National Security League. While some of these organizations may seem remote from government, it is only necessary to seek the source of new laws or new administrative policies to find how largely government is molded by such agencies.

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Official Publications and Documents.-Within recent

Report on the organizations to influence and control government of some city with which you are familiar.

Prepare a plan for the organization of a Bureau of Municipal Research. Cf. The Breweries and Texas Politics, 2 vols.