Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-10-03
les SECTION OF THE ARGUS

I day after the censorship had been es-
tablished 1 called at the war Office
and sent my card with an inquiry form
duly filed up to the chief censor. With
very little delay | was conducted to
his office. My card was taken in, and
gentleman came out who told me
! that the chief censor was engaged. He
talked to me vaguely for few min
utes in the lobby, but was, regretfully,
unable to give me any information
with the slightest degree OF precise
ness beyond the fact that military
movements were not to be reported.
More recently / wished to ask the
censor a definite question, and again
called at the war Office. / was again
conducted to the door of his Office
without delay. Another gentleman
came out and talked with me for few
minutes in the lobby. The chief censor
was out; he thought he would be back
in about an hour, but he himself could
not deal with the question | asked-a
very simple one.
To show that our complaints are not
made without good reason | would
like to give a few examples of our ex-
periences. l could fill column with
similar happenings. One day this
week l received a cable from New York
informing me that nothing at all of
the previous nights cable service had
got through in time for publication.
This means that a message filed here
at $50 p. m. London time, or $3.50 p.
m. New York time, had not been de-
livered at a. m. London time the
foil inc inc fnxur n AVG mr.
iously | received a cable telling me
that of some 5000 words filed here
between p. m. and 2 a. m. consider
ably less than onefourth had got
through in time for publication. A
message filed by one of my confreres
on a Wednesday night was not deliver
ed In New York till the following Fri
day afternoon. That this was not due
to the matter being Objectionable is
presumably proved by the fact that a
more fortunate correspondent, who
took the same story from the same
English newspaper several hours later,
got it through in time for publication
in the Thursday mornings issue of his
paper. Examples of this kind are of
daily occurrence.
A more amazing example of the cen
sorshlp is the following: The official
press bureau issued at D. m. on Aug
% the account of the naval action in
the Blight of Heligoland, a story that
thrilled England from end to end. !
There is probably hardly a newspaper
in the United States that would not |
have published a special edition for i
that story. But what happened to the |
American correspondents in London |
Every man hurried that official &C. |
count, just as it was issued, to the |
cable Offices, and the censors apparent
ly consigned their messages to the |
wastepaper basket, for they have not
arrived in America yet. The American
people would have known nothing of
that splendid feat of the British navy
until the English newspapers reached
them but for the fact that by some
fortunate accident-for it can only
have been an accident-the dispatch
Of just one correspondent escaped the
and got through. One may
imagine the establishment in the Offices
Of the other newspapers and of the
great news agenciesl
1 could give other examples almost
as startling, but fear 1 have already
IlCSpdSoSu tOO upon your l.
space. I will merely say, in conclu-
sion, that. though at first it was only
natural that NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. CEN
sorship should not work quite smooth
Y, there has how been time, had there
been the inclination, for all difficulties
o have been overcome. There are
only about nine American newspaper
md news agency offices in London.
l enclose my card, and am
Yours, etc.
AN AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT
london, Sept. 10.