The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-10-15

Belligerents Now Real
ize Value of Pub
licity
CENSORSHIP
is RELAXED
Writers Are Allowed
More and More
Liberty
6Y HERBERT COREY

CHdlttu tLe ulISe OF the war CoTTe-
spondcnt. II was apparent that cor
respondents were not 10 be given
the fr' edom they had in other wars.
They could not live at headquarters,
ride an army mule, and call the gen.
eral commanding jimmy" So that
this conclusion was reached.
The war CORE respondent" said
many eminent people. lis deader
than E snl, mackersl His occupa.
ton is gone. lie will have 10 do
police court reporting or go into the
movies"
Ii looked that way al the time.
Correspondents landed jauntily in
England, covered with medals and
equipped with khaki uniforms and
tin stoves. They met with an in
calculable degree OF courteous frost
nt the war department They came
TO France and were arrested I'm pla-
toons. and confined in COW stables.
They went 10 Russia and were eject
ed from that empire with certainty
and despatch A squad OF the most
talented OF the profession Joined the
German army As soon as the Ger
man army found out about It they
we're put over the frontier. There
( wss even some talk OF shooting one
or two as spies
Now the war correspondent has
come into his own. He has won a
triumph over the military organiza
lions OF the allies and the central
powers. Or perhaps the military or
CARNATIONS have modified him II
IL matter OF opinion. In any case
he Is as important as he ever was,
but In different way. His methods
have been brought mp TO date. az be
comes practitioners OF correspond.
Cnce In this war OF submarines and
aeroplanes and gas.
"He MS become an asset instead OF
potential liability is the way one
publicist defined his present actiy-
ity
At the beginning OF tho war the
military element had quite justin.
able fear that the correspondent.
might reveal milltery secrets. The
average officer OF stan rank also has
perfectly irrational but quite mill.
tary contempt for all professions not
directly connected with soldering.
Now he has learned that he is be-
set with troubles back home" I'M
less the correspondent is call TO
his aid Those responsible for the
conduct OF the various governments
have also learned that the CORE
spondent can straighten out tangles
thai miEht otherwise be dangerous
Three weeks ago there was an
undeniab BILE feeling in France that
England had not been doing her
part. France was not TO blame for
II. She had been denied all inforina.
ton. Few Frenchmen read the Eng
lish papers, In which the activities
OF the feet AM army are set out at
length The French papers have
been greatly reduced in size because
OF the war The space available was
the possibility OF unpleasant fric-
ton
let us send correspondents 90
the English front was the sugges-
ton OF those In authority here.
The correspondents were not war
correspondents OF the old sort, II Is
true. They were men whose names
are known In France by reason OF
their literary activities. They told
what the English are doing In the
generous and enthusiastic way pc
culiar 10 the Frenchman. We in
Paris could feel almost overnight
the difference IN sentiment here.
The man on the street has his eyes
opened
Then the English are fighting,
after ALP" said he.
There was still the matter OF the
English feet Few of the middle
class Frenchmen had credited the
fleet with the important functions #
is performing.
This feet. then" said one to me,
what is II doing? 1t does not
Hghf|
lie must not be blamed for that.
He has two sons and brother
somewhere at the front. Ills atten-
ton is conferred on what the French
soldiers are doing. and he did not
realize that the English fleet has not
merely swept German commerce
from the seas. but has penned up an
enemy fleet that would otherwise
have ravaged French shores. With
the consent OF the English naval au-
thoritIes a party OF French journal
lists visited the fleet. Their descrip-
tons OF IL may almost be described
"a rapturous. met my doubling
friend the French man this morn
ing:
why were we not told OF this
fleet before?" he asked. 1--WE did
not know"
This Il not propaganda. but the
dissemination OF Information to
which the public In entitled. In
England the working classes have
been uneasy from the beginning Of