By this time placard marching, or “information parades,” had become quite a feature of Kingdom publicity, and it was decided to use this means of advertising in a pronounced way during this convention. Unknown to the convention administration, police officers had quietly come to the roadside just outside the tents. They listened carefully to the field service announcements, taking down details of all the prearranged meeting places on specified corners of streets in Sydney and suburban shopping centers. Police were then sent to these areas, where they waited to arrest the brothers as soon as they put on their placards.

One brother recalls that he and his partner made a mistake and went to the wrong corner. Thus they were able to wear their placards without any interference. When no other publishers came to join them, however, they realized they had come to the wrong place. When they found their way to the correct corner, the policeman waiting for them there greeted them with a smile and said: “What kept you?” He then took the placards they were wearing and the banners they were carrying and asked them to accompany him and the other brothers, who had arrived earlier, to the police station. It was quite a procession and attracted a lot of attention as ten or twelve brothers followed the two police officers, who were carrying the signs in such a way that they could be clearly read by all the passersby. In fact, this brought more publicity than if the brothers had been permitted to wear their placards without interference!

[Picture on page 73]

A group of Witnesses just prior to going on an information march in Dubbo, N.S.W., about 1940