The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-07-07
WHAT THE BRITISH CENSORS DO
TO ALL MESSAGES
$4,000 TELEGRAMS A DAY
Force of Officials at Work Day and
Night Regulating the Flow Of
News and Safeguarding Military
Secrets Being Published When
They Might Help the Enemy.


the methods of the Official Press
Bureau.
The censorship, the government in
forms parliament, is one Of several
instruments designed to prevent in
formation of military value reaching
the enemy. Pains are being taken to
do this with as little interference as
possible with the transmission of cor
respondence or the publication Of
news.
"In the course of the present war
the memorandum says, cit has be-
come apparent that in censorship
there lay to hand a weapon the full
value of which was not perhaps an
ticipated prior to the war and which
can be used to restrict commercial
and financial transactions intended
for the benefit of enemy governments
or persons residing in enemy coun-
trieS.'
Under the existing system the cen
sorship is divided into two main de-
partments, .the censorship of private
and commercial communications, un-
der the army council, and the press
bureau.
The latter department came sud
denly into existence last August and
for a time the censors worked with
out rules, simply acting on the gen
eral instructions issued by the war
Office and the admiralty.
The Importance of the bureau grew
win its size and it was soon found
eXpcLient IT, T:b:tvn to larger QUAR-
tiers in the Service Institute, White
hall. About this time it was found
necessary to place under the press
bureau the censorship of press cables.
The staff of the press bureau con-
sists of the director, who is Sir STAN
lev Buckmaster, solicitor general;
two assistant directors, a secretary,
and about fifty censors. These CEN
sors are naval officers, military cen
sors, who are senior captains, attach
ed to the general staff, and civilians.
The latter are appointed by the direc-
I,tor and include former employees Of
the civil service, barristers and jour-
naliSts.
The censors inspect all press mat
ter which comes to the bureau and
because Of the press of this business
have to work in day and night shifts.
By government order all press cable
messages to, from or through London
are diverted by the post office and
the cable companies into the censor's
office. Messages sent into the bureau
also include inland press telegrams
| if they, even in the slightest way, re-
fer to the war.
To facilitate the passage Of mat
ter through the hands Of the censor
| tube has been put into operation
between the press bureau and the
central telegraph office. AS soon as
| a message is filed it is rushed through
| the tube, censored and dispatched
back to the telegraph or cable office,
! and the memorandum instances as
proof of the speedy work Of the cen
sor that only six minutes is taken to
make the trip and return.
"The submission cf other press
matter by the newspapers is volun-
cary" the report continues. "Those
who publish without submission dc
so on their own responsibility and
subject to the penalties provided for
I breach of the regulations under the
| Defense of the Realm act. The great
er part Of the press submit a large
amount of matter dealing with naval
and military operations, questions OF
foreign policy, and like matters, to
| the bureau.
Maps, diagrams, and photograps
are also commonly submitted. The
voluntary nature Of the censorship
accounts for many complaints, which
are caused by some newspapers pub
fishing, without submission, matter
| which others on submission were pre-
| vented from publishing
Up to the time of presenting the
/ memorandum the bureau had issued
200 orders of instruction to the
newspapers. These are private and
are issued at the request of the ad-
miralty or the war office. The bureau
distributes also all official statements
issued by any branch of the govern
ment, such as casualty lists, foreign
office dispatches, and seat of war mar
ratives.
The objects of the cable censorship
is thus summed up: To prevent as
sistance being given to the enemy;
to prevent the spread of false reports
likely to cause dissatisfaction or to
interfere with naval or military sue
cess or likely to prejudice relations
with foreign powers; to collect and
distribute to the several government
departments information derived
from the censorship that may be of
use to them; to deny the use OF
cables to persons or firms for COM
mercial transactions intended to ben
eft the enemy, and to interfere as
little as possible with legitimate Brit
ish or neutral trade.
The influence of the chief cable
censor is far-reaching, for through
his service he not only controls some
12O cable and wireless stations in va
rious parts of the empire. but he
controls in the United Kingdom mes
sages sent over the cables Of private
cable companies as we'll as those
transmitted over the government
wires.
1t Is Sdlu lil<tG lIolii cpiVoo w co'-
900 teIegrams pass through the CEN
sor's hands each twenty-four hours.
All cables are liable to be stopped
which show clear evidence, either by
the text or by the known facts as to
the sender or addresses, that they
relate to a transaction, whether in
contraband or non-contraband, to
which a resident in an enemy coun-
trv is one of the parties.
The cable censors-and there are
about 400 of them-are, with few ex-
ceptions, retired naval and military
officers. many of whom were in COM
mercial life when the war came.
Like the cable censorship, the
postal censorship is designed to exer-
else supervision with the least pos
sible interference with legitimate