Life — December 28, 1922 — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ASHINGTON, Dec. 26— Within a few days, if the plans of our party leaders do not miscarry, our leading newspapers and periodi- cals will carry the word of the stu- pendous prize offer that Congress is making for the best title for the Ship Subsidy Bill. The Prizes Are First prize: A free tour of all the public buildings in Washington. Four second prizes: One year’s subscription to the Congressional Record. Unlimited number of third prizes: Autographed photos of either Henry Cabot Lodge or myself. Each title submitted should be written on one side of the paper only, and should consist of not less than one word. The winning title will be the one that most subtly con- veys the meaning, “a bill to pay a subsidy to shipping interests,” with- out offending a taxpayer’s ear. (Note: Do not submit “Adjusted Compensation” as Congress has al- ready made use of that euphemism.) That Is the Opening Gun to be fired in our snappy campaign of putting the Ship Subsidy Bill across, and I take the sole responsi- bility for the somewhat novel methods that we shall pursue. But from the beginning of the de- bate on the measure, I could see’ that it was useless to rely on old political methods. Ora- torically, the subject is one of the ripest that has come before us since the days when we could go on the stump and let our hearts bleed for the boys overseas. Think of the possi- bilities in such themes; “Shall American goods, wrested from Ameri- can soil by the sweat of American brows, be carried in foreign ves- sels?” or “Shall we let © ALeSFCE + Sounder Announces Prize Offer In Connection with Congress’s Great Selling Campaign. the Stars and Stripes perish from the seas?” An orator can work him- self into tears over less. Seeing at a Glance that our speechmakers would not easily relinquish so fruitful a topic, I speedily persuaded our party leaders to take the bill out of politics and put it on a sound business basis. The ship subsidy is, after all, a straight merchandising prop- osition—a matter of dollars and cents. As Chairman Las- ker of the Shipping Board has said, we must “sell it” to the nation. Being one of the more busi- nesslike men in public life (I am a graduate of the Better Business College for Snappy Salesmen, in Ten Lessons), the work of organizing the cam- paign has fallen largely on my shoul- ders. In Addition to The Prize Com- petition I have arranged for weekly “get-together” meetings at the White House. These are to . stimulate the “go-getter” spirit among us. We attend these gather- ings not as senators or representa- tives but as salesmen, and speakers Head-Salesman Harding drilling his staff in the “I will” spirit Mr. Lasker gives the boys a man-to-man _ talk “sell” the subsidy invariably address us as “you men,” or “you boys.” The President or Mr. Lasker usu- ally gives some little talk designed to put us on our mettle. At the last get-together, the President roused a lot of enthusiasm by point- ing out that it’s easy to sell something that somebody wants, but only the Man with a Punch can sell something that somebody doesn’t want. Then he urged us to get on our toes and put the Subsidy Bill across. Further, I am pre- paring a little house organ, “Snappy Ship- ping Searchlights,” for distribution in Congress. This will contain photographs of our star salesmen, news from the home office, a department called Selling Point- ers, and another very valuable one called The Ready Answer. In the Ready Answer, I list all the argu- ments against the bill, and I admit that they make a pretty formidable array. But I point out to our “live wires” that by cul- tivating the proper degree of scorn they can demolish any of them with some re- mark about keeping the Stars and Stripes afloat. Indeed, I feel that the whole campaign has been so systemat- ically organized that we are pretty sure to “sell” the bill to the nation. It isn’t part of the salesman’s job, of course, to worry about whether the na- tion may subsequently consider it a sell. Sounder, on how to comicbooks.com