distributed. To the merchant who inclines to consider advertising in connexion with the broader aspects of his calling, it may be suggested that a new channel of trade demands very serious attention. What is called in England “postal trade,” and in America “mail order business,” is growing very rapidly. Small dealers in both countries have complained very bitterly of the competition they suffer from the general dealers and from stores made up of departments which, under one roof, offer to the consumer every imaginable sort of merchandise. This general trading, which, on the one hand, seriously threatens the small trader, and on the other hand offers greater possibilities of profit to the proportionately small number of persons who can undertake business on so large a scale, becomes infinitely more formidable when the general dealer endeavours not only to attract the trade of a town, but to make his place of business a centre from which he distributes by post his goods to remote parts of the country. In America, where the weight of parcels carried by post is limited to 4 ℔., and where the private carrying companies are forced to charge a very much higher rate for carriage from New York to California than for shorter distances, the centralization of trade is necessarily limited; but it is no secret that, at the present moment, persons residing in those parts of the United Kingdom most remote from London habitually avail themselves of the English parcel post, which carries packages up to 11 ℔. in order to procure a great part of their household supplies direct from general dealers in London. A trading company, which conducts its operations upon such a scale as this, can afford to spend an almost unlimited sum in advertising throughout the United Kingdom, and even the trader who offers only one specific class of merchandise is beginning to recognize the possibility of appealing to the whole country.
The following is a brief summary of the laws and regulations dealing with advertisements in public places in certain of the countries of Continental Europe and in the United States of America, the chief authority for which is an official return issued by the British Home OfficeLegal regulation. in 1903.
France.—The permission of the owner is alone required for the placing of advertisements on private buildings; but buildings, walls, &c., belonging to the government or local authorities are reserved exclusively for official notices, &c.; these alone can be printed on white paper, all others must be on coloured paper. Municipal authorities control the size, construction, &c., of hoardings used for advertising purposes, and the police have full powers over the exhibition of indecent or other objectionable advertisements. The Société pour la protection des paysages, founded in 1901, has for one of its objects the prevention of advertisements which disfigure the scenery or are otherwise objectionable.
Germany.—By §43 of the Imperial Commercial Ordinance permission to post any trade advertisement in a public street, square, &c., must be first obtained from the local police. The police also control (by §55 of the Imperial Press Law 1874) advertisements which are not of a trade character, but this regulation does not affect the right of the federal legislatures to make regulations in regard to them (§30). It would be impossible to give in any detail the police regulations as to advertisements which exist, e.g. in Prussia, but the following rules in force in Berlin may be given:—Public advertisements in public streets and places may be posted only on the appliances, such as pillar posts, &c., provided for the purpose. Owners of property may post advertisements on their own property but only such as concern their own interests. Advertisements on public conveyances are forbidden. In 1902 a Prussian law was passed authorizing the police to forbid all advertisement hoardings, &c., which would disfigure particularly beautiful landscapes in rural districts. The Hesse-Darmstadt Act of 1902 prohibits the placing of any advertisements, posters, &c., on a monument officially protected under the act, if it would be likely to injure the appearance of the monument. As instances of the numerous local provisions against the abuse of advertising may be cited provisions against the abuse of advertising may be cited those of Augsburg and Lübeck, by Which any advertisement that would injure the Stadtbild or appearance of the town may be prohibited and removed by the local authority (see G. Baldwin Brown, The Care of Ancient Monuments, 1905). Full powers exist under the Imperial Criminal Code for the suppression of indecent or objectionable advertisements.
Austria.—Permission of the police is required for the exhibition of printed notices in public places other than such as are of purely local or industrial interest, such as notices of entertainment, leases, sales, &c., or theatre programmes, and these can only be shown in places approved by the local authorities (Press Law 1862). The press-police act as advertisement censors and determine whether an advertisement can be allowed or not. In Hungary there are no general laws or regulations, but the municipalities have power to issue ordinances dealing with the question.
Italy.—All control rests with the municipal and communal authorities, who may decide on the places where advertisements may or may not be posted, and can prevent hoardings being placed on or near ancient monuments or public buildings.
Switzerland.—The Federal Government has no authority to deal with this question; certain of the cantons have regulations, e.g. Lucerne prohibits the public advertising of inferior goods by means of a false description, Basel-Stadt gives the police the power of censoring all advertisements. Many of the communal authorities throughout Switzerland have special restrictions and regulations. In Zurich the police choose the advertising stations, in Berne the municipality possesses a monopoly of the right of erecting advertisements. The Society known as the Ligue pour la conservation de la Suisse pittoresque or Schweitzerischer Heimatschutz has for one of its objects the preservation of scenery from disfiguring advertisements.
United States.—There is no federal legislation on the subject, the matter being one for regulation by the states, which in most cases have left it to the various municipalities and other local authorities. With regard to indecent and objectionable advertisements some states have special legislation on the matter, others are content with the ordinary criminal laws or police powers or with the law of nuisance or of trespass. Thus control can be exercised over such advertisements as are dangerous to public safety, health or morals. The state of New York prohibits advertisements of lotteries. It would be impossible to give in detail the different laws and regulations passed in the various states or by municipalities. The following are some of the more striking measures adopted in certain of the states. In Massachusetts no advertising signs or devices are allowed on the public highways. Power has been granted to city and town authorities to regulate advertisements in, near or visible from public parks. In the District of Columbia no advertisement is allowed which obstructs a highway, and all distribution of handbills, circulars, &c., in public streets, parks, &c., is prohibited. This prohibition against what are generally known as “dodgers” is very general in the local regulations throughout the states. In Illinois, city councils are empowered on the incorporation of the city to regulate and prevent the use of streets, sidewalks and public grounds for signs, handbills and advertisements, &c., and also the exhibition of banners, placards, in the streets or sidewalks. Chicago has a body of most stringent rules, but they apparently have been found impossible to enforce; thus no advertisement board more than 12 ft. square within 400 ft. of a public park or boulevard, no advertisements other than small ones relating to the business carried on in the premises where the advertisement is posted, or of sales, &c., are allowed in streets where three-quarters of the houses are “residences” only. Prohibition is also extended to the advertisements of those professing to cure diseases or giving notice of the sale of medicines. In Boston there are regulations prohibiting projecting or overhanging signs in the streets, and special rules as to the height at which street signs and advertisements must be placed. The distribution of “dodgers” in the streets is prohibited. Advertisements for places of amusement must be approved by the committee on licences.
