The Alaska citizen. (Fairbanks, Alaska) 1910-1917, 1914-09-21

New ' ON IltI dIN ~ AAtA '''.'''
sitting constantly at the end OF
every European cable, using huge
blue pencils without stint or diff
dence. ii is perhaps no wonder that
definite. detailed news of the great
European war is difficult to get and
that there are suggestions of unfair
ness in the handling of dispatches
rom some OF the war stricken ma
lions This especially applies 10
Germany. from which no cable news
can come at all until it has filtered
through either a French or English
cable station
Since the first guns We're fired in
the siege of Liege. In Belsium, Ger
mans throughout this country have
lodged bitter complaint that news OF
their armies was colored to make
it appear that the Fatherland was
suffering disastrous reVerseS, WheT"-
-. il was asserted by the same per.
sons. Germany was holding up he"
end with her accustomed bravery and
success in all the early engagements.
While there is no disposition on
the part of the great newspapers "
America to misprint or misiead, ii is
not Improbable that some news from
Germany that might have given 4
more optimistic picture of conditions
from her standpoint has not been
published This is due to the
fact that it has been neNt to
impossible to get information
through by way of cable stations in
other nations unless the other ma
tons desire to have it published.
WORST EVER.
Never within the memory of cable
operators now living has there been
anything like the rigid censorship
over cables that is now exercised by
all nations and. of necessity, by cabia
companies themselves No cipher or
code messages are accepted by the
companies to any of the nations
now engaged in war No mystery
or code messages are accepted to
any European countries. for the sim
nle reason that at present to reach
almost any section of the European
continent they would have to 90
through a British or French station
and there they would be held up.
War time is in the rulings Of war
generals. no time for secret mess
ages. During ordinary times many
of the big financial. importing. eN-
porting and industrial corporations
do practically all their cabling in
cipher. They make one word con
vev the meaning of half a dozen or
more, thus saving tolls This means
tens of thousands of dollars saved
annually to many big houses which
send anywhere from 800 TO $1,000
worth of cable messages a day in
normal times.
STOP CIPHER MESSAGES.
In peaceful periods these ''mys-
tery" phrases are not regarded as
sinister and are accepted. But no"
the most important message. with
vital bearing on the great cor
flict now raging throughout Europe,
might be flashed over the cables
as simple. mnocuous business
communication. and so the cOmpau
les have posted this order in all sta
ton:
Gables whose meanings are not
obvious are liable to suppression
without notice or recourse.
Which means that if there is the
slightest suspicion in the mind of
the cable manager or, later, the
censor that message has double
meaning or might bear secret in
formation to a warning nation, or if
it is in any way Objectionable IN
the estimation of the cable company
or the censors, it is passed along,
payment for it having been made
and somewhere along the line it is
spiked" and never sees the light
again.
The theory that dispatches are
"colored" is without justification.
Governments at war have no hest
fancy in suppressing cables They
announce they are going to do SO.
But they never interpolate. They
never change the meaning. 1t often
happens that they eliminate so much
from some news dispatches that 1t
is very difficult for the recipients -
interpret the meaning of what Is
left, but there is no wanton mis-
representation, even, it is always as
sumed, when the strife is bitterest,
and public sentiment and publicity
become vital factors in a great strug-
gle.
When the war was in its prelmn-
AIRY stages the German cables
We're being operated. Then German
news came to this country without
being vised at French and English
cable stations. Then, suddenly, they
were interrupted, and since then