Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-05
NEWS Of THE WAR
RATED AS LACON|C
Official Announcements in
France Made Brief as Mat
ter of Precaution.
VIEWS OF LONDON TIMES
ON BRITISH CENSORSHIP
Paper Quotes Premier Asquith as
Declaring Public Is Entitled to
Authentic Information.

|. LONDON, September (S:52 ami
A dispatch to Reuters Telegram Com
pany from Paris says that official an
nouncements are becoming more Ia
comic. This is explained by the neces-
sity of giving no information which
might be picked up by the enemy.
| Apparently there are still Germans
in Paris. as a notice has been displayed
Informing Germans and Austrians that
they must present themselves at the 81
Lazare railway station at given houi
in order that they may be transported
Elsewhere.
Criticism Of British System.
The London Times editorially deals
with the British system of censorine
news dispatches. 1t calls attention te
the fact that the German government
has always understood the value OF
presenting it's own news to the public
abroad, and says:
kind of propaganda with contempt
/ They believe that truth will prevail
over untruth, no matter how sclen-
tif1cally falsehood may be spread. In
the long run their confidence is no
doubt justified, but in the present cir
cumstances the practice of giving lies
too long a start may be attended by
serious drawbacks.
"Our attention is concentrated upon
the war and it's vicissitudes. We are
apt to forget that the public in neutral
countries is as eager as we are for
news and that its view of the course OF
the war is likely to be Influenced by
the first news it receives.
Censorship Declared Severe.
"Our government, in it's justifiable
| anxiety to prevent transmission from
this country Of news that might be OF
assistance to the enemy, has estab-
tlished severe censorship on all out
going kilograms and has thereby neces-
sarily caused great delay in their
transmission. But until very recently
sure that it's own official news shall be
sent with all dispatch to neutral coun-
tries or that well disposed correspond
ents of newspapers and telegraph agen-
cies of neutral countries shall be given
facilities for sending unexceptionable
news rapidly from this country.
Constant and well founded COM
| plants have been made by dozens OF
| Italians and American correspondents
of the treatment Of their messages.
are detained from twelve to twenty
| four and even forty-eight hours by the
British censorship.
NO time is to be lost if this re-
grettable and indeed dangerous situa-
tion is to be remedied. The war may
last long. 1t may affect the very ex-
istence of the empires and countries
involved in it. 1t is not too much to
ask that our government should spare
neither pains nor money to insure that
neutral countries whose attitude at
critical moments may be of vital i'm
portance shall not be left without au-
thentic and veracious information OF
the progress of the war and fortunes
of the allied armies"
Public Entitled to Authentic News.
Premier Asquith said Monday that
the government felt that the public
was entitled to prompt authentic in
formation Of what happened at the
front and that the government was
making arrangements to that end. We
wish we could see any sign that these
arrangements were coming into force.
THE co. .ry has now been at war
for a month and during that period the
public has been furnished with only
one adequate official statement re-
garding the land operations of the
most powerful army Great Britain ever
sent to the continent. During the re-
mainder of this week no further i'm
port Int information has been vouch-
safed.
In time of an unprecedented crisis
he press has a great patriotic duty
to perform. 1t has to stimulate and
sharpen the public interest in this
| struggle, which is bound to last q very
long time and on which the fate of the
empire depends.
| Germany is well aware of the potent
influence of the press and uses it to
...e uttermost.
Alleges Fake Statements.
I'VE commend to attention the fac
| smile we published today of a com
munication purporting to emanate from
| a member of the Times staff. a person
| who has never existed. This unscrupu-
lous communication has been publish
ed in hundreds Of newspapers in west
ern America.
I'VE could quote innumerable ex-
amples of the kind. One reason why
Turkey - on the verge Of war is that
Constantinople is swamped by Ger
many with fabrications about alleged
, British and French reverses. Another
example we quote shows that the Ger
man and Dutch press is now being
from the entente.
Germany has even approached the
Times and other English newspapers
Offering for publication the reports of
her general staff upon the military op-
erations.
our government has done nothing to
counterfeit these activities. In a month
we have had only one statement of any
value. We have received from Petro-
grad infinitely more information than
from our own war Office
Berlin's Point of View.
BERLIN, September S, via Copenhagen
and London I2:0 2 p.m.).-Commenting
| today on the scantiness of war news in
/; Berlin, an officer of the general staff
| explained that the leading military au-
thorities originally had planned to give
out much fuller reports and that they
| would have done so if the situation had
been similar to that at Mukden, during
! the Russo-JapaneSe war, where the
| engthy conbats from position to position,
j with occasional intervals of rest, mad
| d summary OF events possible.
| Thep resent rush Of the German forces,
| into France, it was explained, made it i'm
| possible to follow this procedure for the
| reason that not only was there no time,
| but the leaders themselves knew only the
! seneral results, and had no information
concerning details.
Sues for Alleged False Arrest.