Publicity

Efficient as Democratic whip in the sessions of the House of Representatives, William A. Oldfield of Arkansas looked out from his Washington window upon the newsdealers and decided to bend the power of publicity to his purposes. Announcement:

"A number of prominent Democrats interested in the Party's future and having especially in mind the Congressional elections of next year, have made possible the publication of a Democratic weekly newspaper from Washington. It is The National Democrat.

"Lack of adequate publicity has been the greatest handicap of the Democratic Party in state and national politics. Special privilege, fostered by the Republican Party, largely controls the press of the country. The Democratic Party is committed to the policy of 'equal rights to all; special privileges to none. . . . '

"A strong advisory board will direct the editorial policies of The National Democrat, and it should have a million readers before next year's elections are held."

Many Democratic editors failed to exhibit the expected enthusiasm. They reminisced that Democratic troubles in Madison Square Garden last July received their due of publicity.

And Republicans, unable to obtain exact count of the fugitive circulation of The National Republican which lived strenuously for several years as a weekly, lately changed to a monthly, diagnosed Representative Oldfield as having been infected with the bacillus optimisticus common to all circulation managers.

Mr. Oldfield's real purpose is, of course, not to obtain circulation, but to create a dynamo. His dynamo is designed to generate high voltage of partisan pride among scattered Democratic editors who, in turn, will supply voltage to the voters. With a circuit working as efficiently as himself, Mr. Oldfield believes the Democratic Party will magnetize Congress in 1926 and the White House in 1928.