TOPICS OF THE TIMES

Southland Times, Issue 21288, 8 January 1931, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE TIMES

“Nobody will seriously challenge that, lhe only purposes of the Army, Navy and Air Force are the maintenance of peace and the provision of security throughout the Empire. At least we are the las) of all the Great Powers against whom any other purpose could reasonably be alleged,” The Times remarked recently. “For example, between 1925 and 1929 British expenditure ou the Army declined by 11 per cent., whereas the expenditure of other great nations increased by from 15 per cent, in the case of the United States to 102 per cent, in the case of Soviet Russia. Moreover the true figure of our total expenditure upon armed forces is not £110,000,000, but £92,271,000, after proper allowance is made, for pensions, retired pay, gratuities, and other non-effective charges. The comparable figure for 1913-14 was £79,113,000. But against the increase of some £12,500,000 since that date must be set the cost of a practically now service, the Air Force, which amounts to nearly £18,000,000; the cost of higher pay, which amounts in the Army and Navy alone to over £6,000,000 for about 90,000 fewer men; and the increased cost of equipment, which cannot certainly be estimated but is certainly substantial. In 1913-14 the fighting serfices cost 42 per cent, of the total Budget, and social services cost only 23 per cent. In the current yen' the fighting services will cost only 13.4 per cent, of the Budget total and the social services 47 per cent., exclusive of £30,000,000 borrowed lo pay unemployment benefit. Though the cost of national defence both actually and relatively may be still high enough to suggest that it should be examined carefully, it is ccrtaiuly not high enough to warrant that it should be examined exclusively.”

Advertising in newspapers and magazines, by radio and through other mediums, has become something more than an attempt on the part of manufacturers and distributors to sell their goods; it is in many cases an honest and far-reaching method of education for lhe mass of consumers who will, in the majority of cases, buy the product of which they have gained some knowledge through the advertisements (states the Christian Science Monitor). An interesting analysis of certain types of. advertisements has recently been made by Miss Edith Abell, assistant professor of home economics in the University of North Dakota. She reports in the Journal of Home. Economics that she selected from popular magazines of 1926 100 -advertisements of food products, clothing and textiles, to discover what they contained that would make the reader a better buyer. She found that factual information 'was given in the majority of food advertisements, sometimes the process of manufacture or methods of preparation were given, many included recipes or offered to send them upon request. Specific qualities of the product were frequently discussed. Of the textile advertisements studied the same was true. Fastness of colour, reliability, process of manufacture and historic origin of design were some of the educational features of these advertisements. After these had all been classified and analyzed for misrepresentation, exaggeration, etc., similar advertisements from current magazines were selected for comparison. Concerning these, Miss Abell says: Exaggerations or partial truths were found in only very few of the 1930 advertisements. In general advertisements that detract from the buyer’s competency are fewer, and it may be said that the magazine advertising of foods and clothing has, during the past three years, gained in educational value for the consumer. Such findings should afford those who make much use of advertisements

added confidence, and they should inspire advertisers to greater efforts in the direction of strictly honest presentation of their goods.