New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-13
Precedent

tArse days IN very ..,.,..
=. 90 fer IS possible, any repetition
~, vou must have heard by cable
80. only such published facts as are
.,e.sssry basis for what ! have 70
The question is one that has con-
med us all in Amerie" deeply IN times
e'a' "a concerns Us still. write OF
:, one whose connection with very
subieet has been at times very
close, ,.
..rL. Times" and the ATiens Letter.
what happened was this. THE Oh.
.,n Of Sunday morning published
Lang critical article upon the military
,,ns,iop which WAS little less than
~ despair. Then there were
,...rd, All over London in the hands
,.vsbovs with papers to sell, ask
:, oCan our army be savcd? Then
IN carly in the day appeared the
w.,tlv Despatch" and the war extra
= erbe Times" with a letter from its
.-,espondent at Amiens, drawing
- n;cture OF defeat and disaster, of
.,,v obits" surviving and of regiments
,.r oMeerless The narrative was
canned up in the phrase "a retreating
IA broken army" and the assertion
-, she first effort Of the Germans
has succeeded - ..o.a
;,sss Of English public opinion when
ssy that all this produced no panic
I, nroduced. naturally, alarm and dls,
.,.ss and people said: 1.-The Times
..iS NOT print il II they did not know
!, wss true." The Amiens letter was
,lsinly the work of a journalist VINO
new his trade as journalist and mad
ssen war. In the afternoon ! went out
,na house in the country. There under
~ trees in the park in the August
,pnsbipe sat o group of young men and
romen was asked at orce whether
,hsre was any news. ! gave them the
,nhstance of the Amiens letter. A 81
lence fell Hardly question was
asked. Presently my hostess sand 10
.rYou do not know what you nave
Sone. All these boys are going to the
war They are here to-day to say
goodby TO ne. / shall never see them
again
be on duty day and night, ! imagine
he was away when this extra with the
Amiens letter was published. II was
, subordinate. though a responsible
subordinate. who gave it to the public.
Il had possession Of the public mind
all day. Not till evening did the re-
assuring statement b. Lord Kitchener
appear
Since this was written, which | leave
standing as a first impression. there
has been a debate in Parliament and
sThe Times" has made its own state
nent. There are plenty of people,
especially rivals and Radicals, always
ready to attack "The Times" because
il is "The Times" They are not very
important, but they are noisy.
The Censor's Responsibility.
sonhne myself to what | may call
personal view The Prime Minister
eontented himself with describing the
incident as regrettablc and suggesting
that, 81 some future day, drastic les
ilstion" might become necessary. In
that case the first subject of leglSla-
ton might well be the Press Bureau.
For it was the Press Bureau, and the
Chief Of the Press Bureau, who au-
thorized the publication Of this letter
Mr. F. Z. Smith himself not only au-
thori5ed but. in the language of In
Times" begged us to publish II IN
the form in which he returned IL.
This singular Censor had deleted GER
tain passages, had restored some wnlct
the editor rejected, and had inserted
others. His conception Of the nature
Of his duties includes the manufacture
oi correspondence which the public VIII
suppose from the pen OF the writer IN
the field. But Censor or no Censor the
defence Of "The Times" Is complete;
save for the error of judgment which
allowed the phrases above quoted 10
appear II was ease in which the
Judgment Of the Editor and not the
vhim Of the Censor should have pre-
vailed.
1t is more singular still that the
Censor should take no account OF the
tteet of such d letter upon public tecl-
lg He thinks his duty done when nc
has excised names, even OF places
mere the Germans themselves were
I'D where they had fought the English,
ii, these names should supply lnfor-
HztiOn TO the enemy. lie must nave
nown, in substance, the facts later
gwen to the public by Lord Kitchener
the long and reassuring account pub
luhed that same evening. Presumably
hat would not have been published but
Tor the appearance of the Amiens let
Ter. That alone would more than com
prnSate for the original error OF lssu-
ing that letter whosever the response
hlity. Lord Kitchener, soldier with
soldiers view that only what is mil
lafy matters. has heretofore LETT pup
lie opinion out Of account, and the
Censor has followed his example or
his teaching. The result IS visible IN
the slackness Of recruiting. An officer
aald 10 me yesterday:
There's nothing like disaster 70
tll the ranks. Ny regiment IN lnGla
was cut 20 pieces by a vastly superior
ioIee. The story was known: Mlthlh
fortnight the ranks were hlled.
Bu, this government and this war
Onee and this Censor clearly think, or
I'D think, that a knowledge OF such
TsyerseS as have been suffered would
taiil the spirit of the people and stop
recruiting How little do they under
stand the true temper and toughness
o. the Briton
Barring Out Correspondents.
For similar reason it is doubtful
whether the refusal to allow CORE
spondents at the front is wise. Any
i,stFietions you like, but this is a war IN
saeh Great Britain must put forth her
slole strength, and she will not do 1t
ihe is left in the dark. Lord kitch-
SIH is great soldier and a great
var Minister, whose distrust of CORE
Pondents is known. But here IS
story: