The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-04-30
The Propaganda's Last Stand.

The country has by this time learned
thoroughly the crookedness OF the pro.
German propaganda, and has come to dis.
trust everything from that source The
| propagandists will hurt rather than heir
their cause by concentrating their atten-
ton on point over which not few
honest minded Americans have felt not
a little concern. We refer to the British
admiralty order of Nov. 2, 1914, declar-
ing the North sea a military area. Some
have seen in this certain justification
for the retaliatory barred zone of the
Germans, while others have drawn the
inference that since both groups of bel
ligerents have offended, the United States
should either take no action at all or else
take action against both sides.
This feeling, by no means negligible
when the country as a whole is consid-
cred, has been seized upon by the propa-
ganda and. following its regular prooe-
dure, it has set about distorting the facts
to its ends. DR.. Edmund Won Mach,
whose Misrepresentation in connection
with milk for babes have been thorough
ly exposed, and whose elaborate diplo-
matte history of the war was withdrawn
rom circulation by its publishers be-
cause OF inaccuracies, now falls back
upon the British admiralty order, and
in the Fatherland that was, declares that
"The honor of America is at stake"
Not content with arguing that if Eng
land declared a military area Germany
might deliberately kill Americans in do
ing the same thing on bigger scale, he
is absurdly accusing Secretary Lansing
of suppressing the fact that the British
admiralty issued such a decree and that
two American ships had been sunk by
mines in the North sea with loss of lives.
The basis of the charge is that the Brit
ish order is not included in a selection
of documents relating to belligerents and
the rights of neutrals, and in support
is printed letter from Mr.. Lansing ex-
planning that 'as it was impossible to
publish all the material in the depart
ment relating to the war, and as the
order OF November 2, 1914, had already
been made public by the department, 1t
was deemed unnecessary at the time to
reprint the order" If the order had
really been suppressed the responsibility
would have to lie with Mr.. Lansing's
predecessor, Mr.. Bryan, but as a matter
Of course suppression was impossible.
Few documents relating to the war have
been more widely published, and the
contention that the state department has |
ialsified the record is so absurd that it
an only damage the cause 1t may be
written in the obituary of the pro-Ger-
nan propaganda that it touched nothing |
without adding ornaments.
As for the absurd contention that the |
sinking of the Carib and the Evelyn by
mines in the North sea should have cre-
tied State of war" between the Unit
ID States and Great Britain, it is suffi-
lent to say that nobody knows whether
he mines were British or German. Both
ides put mines in the North sea, but, UNI
Ike Germany, Great Britain established
anes of safety. To this day ships would
,e free, but for the British blockade. TO
cave and enter even German ports. The
mines are a military measure, and have
lever been meant to destroy commercial
hips, routes for which have been pro-
ided. The true parallel is between the
british commercial blockade conducted
" cruisers which bring suspected ships
nto port for search, and the pseudo
blockade of the German barred zone in
fhich mines are sown indiscriminately
nth no safety lanes and submarines
o their best to sink without warning !
II ships, regardless of character or ma
ionality. Both sides have used mines,
9th sides have warned shipping from
nrtain areas. But when we examine the
salities the contrast between the two ,
sts of facts becomes glsring.-Spring-
ED Republican.