Progress of the War.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16214, 17 May 1918, Page 6

Progress of the War.

The war news to-day again records no events of outstanding importance on any of the fighting fronts. In Flanders there has been a marked, stimulation of activity, but it is still of a purely local nature, and represents what one correspondent terms a "jostling for positions" rather than initial movements in major operations. Both the French and Germans appear to have launched attacks in the neighbourhood of Kemmel, but as far as can bo gathered from the .communiques the honours rest with our Ally, the Germans admitting that a breach remains in the foremost line on this sector, while there is no confirmation of the German claims of success in their attack. South of the Somme there has also been local fighting, no change being effected in the battle line however. According to Mr Philip, Gibbs the resumption of the offensive has perforce been postponed owing; to the weather conditions, the Somme battlefield being a quagmire again. Apparently the conditions have improved since his despatch was cabled, however, for official reports, dated a day later, record great aerial activity on various sectors, including Allied raids on German towns and an enemy attack on Paris. A message from Mr Malcolm Ross contains the satisfactory news that quiet prevails on the sector held by the New Zealanders, and that there has been a marked decline in the daily casualty lists. The remainder of the cabled messages to-day deal for the most part with news of a military-, politico nature, no actual fighting being recorded apart from the local operations already referred to on the West front.

In referring yesterday to the new loan of twenty millions which is to be placed on the market towards the end of the year, we suggested that the Government could increase the sale of war certificates, which afford the only means by which persons with little spare cash can support the loan, by a vigorous publicity campaign. This part of the business of war-loan flotation has been handled so far in New Zealand very indifferently. Any good advertising oxpert could have done it much better. The advertisements —we are looking at tho question from the point of view of the man or woman with £10 or £20 to spare, and no very keen desiro to put! the money into the loan —were unconvincing, and compared poorly with similar appeals appearing in hundreds of British and American papers. If the Government's advertising department cannot be original in its lo&n advertisements, it could at least show sufficient enterprise to adapt to local coni ditions the many admirable appeals to | which We hare referred.

Sir Joseph "Ward would do well to get into touch with the publicity agents who had the stage management of the loan campaigns at Home and in the States. In the latter particularly, where advertising has been raised to the dignity of an art, the publicity work in connexion with the third Liberty Loan was of a most extensive and varied character. The campaign extended over a month, and the result, as we mentioned the other day, was that the subscriptions to the loan, which was for £600,000,000 for tern years, at 4J per cent., the bonds being non-convertible, amounted to £800,000,000. The bonds ranged in value from 50 dollars upwards, and might bo bought in three different ways. One was by cash outright, and the second by four separato payments—s per cent, at the time of purchase and further payments of 20, 35. and 40 per cent, at intervals of six or seven weeks. The third method was on the weekly timepayment principle. The purchaser of a 50-dollar (£10) bond put down two dollars, and will pay a dollar a week for forty-eight weeks. By an arrangement among the banks, these weekly payments can be made at any bank in New York. This is a. most attractive method for the small weekly wage-earner, and might well be adopted in New Zealand.

Other methods of advertising the launching of the loan and stimulating the financial patriotism of Americans were as quaint and varied as American ingenuity could devise. New York simply twinkled with waving flags, parades of soldiers, sailors, and others, headed by bands, and accompanied by choirs, marched through every district of the city. The singing of "America," and a prayer by an army chaplain, were followed by addresses by the Mayor, and the Assistant-Secretary of the Treasury, and the reading of Lincoln's • Gettysburg address, the "exercises" closing with • 'The Star-Spangled Banner." Little cardboard replicas of the famous Liberty Bell of 1776, bearing an admonition to "Ring it again." by buying a bond, were hung on a million doorknobs in New York. "Honour flags" were awarded to cities subscribing more than their quota, and four claimed them before the opening day. Three could claim the addition, of a blue star to their flag, to show that they had secur- i ed double the amount of their quotas.

Loan literature, couched in the most eloquent or forcible languago of appeal, was distributed broadcast. Seven aeroplanes from a neighbouring aviation camp dropped leaflets over the city, and in Wall street an attractive young lady, who is said to have shown "two perfectly good reasons for wearing pink tights," disported herself on a tight who stretched from the Sub-Treasury building to the offices of J. P. Morcan and Co., and as she skipped and balanced let fall on tho surging crowd of financiers beneath her, showers of leaflets urging tho purchase of war savings stamps. Washington had the assistance. in the inauguration of its "loan drive" of four world-famous "movie" stars —Mary Pickford, Marie Dressier, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin. They met the President at the White House, and led a parade through tho streets, and then went on to New York, where _tho two men addressed all of the public that could by any means crowd into Wall street. They had come across the continent, speaking for;

the loan all the way, and after leaving New York they each went W a lonehanded campaign throughout the country.

We do not, of course, suggest that Sir Joseph Ward should induce wiredancers in pink fleshings to perform "stunts" in Cathedral square on behalf of the coming loan. But behind this and other more or less sensational ways of exciting public interest in the Liberty Loan,there was a tremendous amount of quiet hard work, and business enterprise, without which it would not have been so great a success. What we need here is some of the "ginger" that the Americans put into raising money for the country's needs in war time. If we were the Finance Minister who wanted to raise another 20 millions in New Zealand, we would invite business men in each centre, bi<r or little, to form themselves into committees to push tho thing, having first allotted every district in the Dominion its due quota of the required amount. We would make such use of publicity methods that every citizen of the country, from the timo he picked up his morning paper until ho wont to bed, had the Loan perpetually before his eyes. He should never get away from an appeal, in some sha-n<» or other, for the silver bullets that are so essential. If that p<>>cy were adopted there would be no need, we fancy, for the exercise of any compulsion.