Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-06-08
HOW CENSORSHIP
IN ENGLAND IS
BEING CONDUCTED
Government Responsible for
Hampering of News in
Great Britain, Is Declaration
of Official Press Bureau,

London, May &C. Particulars of
the British governments methods Of
censorship over newspaper messages
and over commercial cablegrarns and
postal correspondence, are given In
two white papers, which bear the
titles Memorandum on the Censor
ship" and Memorandum on the Press
Bureau"
In the matter of the press censor
ship. il Is stated that the methods
used in conducting this are based on
voluntary agreement between the
newspapers and the admiralty and
war office The work Of the press
bureau as defined. is to censor all
press cables and inland press tele-
grams The submission of other
press matter is voluntary. but those
editors who publish without submits
sion to the censor do SO on their own
responsibility and subject to the pen
allies provided under the defense Of
the realm act. "the staff of the press
bureau" says the memorandum, con
sists of the director
Government Responsible.
1.-THE criticism has been made. and
the belief still persists, that the press
censors are responsible not only for
Withholding from publication news
which has come TO the press from
other than official sources, but also
for emitting from the official an
nouncements information which the
press thinks the public should be
given. Apart from one or two in
stances where the bureau has cen
sored official announcements, the
criticism is unsound. The government
departments alone are responsible for
the scope and form of the cOmmuui-
cations they make public and for the
rules and directions guiding the press
bureau"
The memorandum describes the
censorship as zone of several instru-
ments all designed with the three fold
object of preventing information Of
military value from reaching the
enemy, of acquiring similar informa-
ton for our own purposes. and Of
checking the dissemination of infor-
nation likely to be of use to the
enemy or prejudicial to the allies. So
far as is consistent with the attain
ment of the above objects, there is as
little interference as possible with the
transmission of correspondence or
the publication of news, and every
endeayQr is made to safeguard the
legitimate interests, private and com
mercial of British subjects and neu
trails.
"In the course of the present war
IL has become apparent that in the
censorship there lay ready TO hand q
weapon, the full value of which was
perhaps not anticipated prior to the
war. and which can be used to re-
strict commercial and financial trans
actions intended for the benefit of
enemy governments or persons re-
siding in enemy countries,
How Ii Is Carried Out.
The chief cable censor, it is ex-
planned, is a senior officer of the gem
eral staff at the war office. He coma
trolls some 1870 cable and wireless
stations in various parts of the Brit
ish empire. From 10000 to $4,000
kilograms pass through the hands OF
the commercial censors in the Unit
ed Kingdom every twenty-four hours"
saws the memorandum. 1.-THE number
Of censors employed in the censor
ship OF commercial cables is 1870 In
England, and elsewhere in the enl-
pire. about 400. In the United King
dom they are, with few exceptions,
retired naval and military officers.
THE objects of the postal censor
ship are similar to those of the ca
BILE censorship. All mails which have
to be censored are necessarily sub
jected to some delay, but harmless
letters, whether private or CONNER
cial are not stopped, even when com
ing from an enemy country or adj
dressed to an enemy person. No let
ter, however, addressed to an enemy
country can be transmitted unless its
envelope is left open aud is enclosed
in cover addressed to a neutral
country. Letters in which any kind OF
code or secret writing is used are
liable to be stopped even If the mes
sage appears to be harmless and tot
ally unconnected with the war. In the
private branch more than ton oil
mail matter is censored every week
exclusive of parcels. Commercial cor
respondence with certain foreign
countries is dealt with in the trade
branch and amounts to nearly four
tons week. The staff of censors re.
quired for the supervision Of postal
correspondence is about 500.