Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, 1917-02-14

deceived the American people for two
years past by putting out false news
stories. Doubtless the reason is that
the British censorship long ago dis
covered that there was no false news
too absurd or too improbable for a
large number of Americans to be-
lievo Now this censorship is doing
it's best TO excite war between our
country and Germany by sending out
one falsehood after another in it's
so-called news" Of submarine activi-
ties. For instance, 1t was cabled
over here that the Housatonic had
been sunk without warming. The
censorship knew this was false
hood It knew that the Housatonic
had been warned, and the safety Of
its crew provided for by the sub
marine towing their boats and call
ing a ship to pick them up On the
heels Of this exploded falsehood came
the news" that another American
ship had been sunk without warning;
and when this did not lead to instant
war, II was finally acknowledged that
the ship was a collier leased to the
British Government, and therefore
an auxiliary naval vessel lawfully
liable to.be destroyed without warn
ing. Then the Turina was sunk and
q negro named George Washington
was drowned At once the British
censorship cabled to this country
that German submarine had killed
an American citizen. The object, OF
course, was to inhame Americans to
demand war. When this failed, it
was acknowledged that the censor
ship had deliberately lied, as the
negro was a British subject, regis
tered as a Briton and well known by
the censorship to have been a Briton
when it cabled its falsehood Since
the beginning Of the war to this
present hour the news reports sent
by the British censorship to this
country have been either distorted
or garbled reports or downright
falsehoods. That is the way the
British Government took to excite
hatred Of Germany in America, in
the hope that it could excite enough
hatred to bring this country into the
war to fight and to pay for England S
benefit. 1t is the old, old trick by
which England has timo after time
induced other nations to fight while
she checred them on and picked up
trade and territories as they fought
and exhausted each ether And with
the aid OF the American newspapers
engaged in doing British propaganda
work, the old trick has been nearly
successful again, though it is such
q stale and clumsy trick that it is
hard to see how 1t can fool child's
intelligence We do believe that this
war would have been over long ago
il thore had been only truthful, fair
and manly news reports and press
propaganda; il there had been no
censorship except the necessary CEN
sorship OF reports OF military move
country had had full opportunities to
learn what the peoples Of other
countries were saying and thinking
and doing The feeling In our coun-
try would have been vastly more
reasonable and more sympathetic
toward all the warning peoples had
il not been for the suppression and
falsificatione of foreign news by Gov
crnment agencies and for the propa~
ganda OF falsehood and hatred SO
vigorously carried on by certain
American newspapers. In the Light
OF these truths, does not Mr.. Wilson
indeed do well, as anAmerican Presi-
dent, to wait calmly for reliable news
OF real facts; and does not The Amer
lean. as an American newspaper do
we'll defy the British censorship and
to tell you the real facts, without
needing the threats or caring at all
for the attempted punishments Of
the British Government? In addition
to condemning this distortion and
Of the news, we have al
ways insisted that the rihing Of the
mails by England and the cutting or
of telcgraphic communication be-
tween this country and Germany
were not only high-handed outrages
and violations OF international law
but that these Illegal acts were re-
sponsible for much az tho misunder-
and ill-feoling between the
two countries which might lead to
war. From the newspapers Of the
last few days you see how true this
u.s. During this serious period
through which we have just been
passing tho British censorship has
not only been stopping communica-
ton between this country and Ger
many but it has been deliberately
spreading falsehoods in Germany TO
excite anger and bring on war; and
then spreading counter-falsehood in
this country to rouse our people to
wrath and to clamor for war Thus
the dispatches from America to Ger
many were made to read that the
United States Government had seized
the German ships lying in harbor
here which would have been an act
OF war-and had begun to arrest and
coytne Germans in prison camps.
This was nothing but deliberate for
gerry The perltentiaries hold plenty
or men whose offonses were Of this
precise nature, and this forgery was
committed with the purpose Of
bringing our country into war-and
by Government that pre-
tends to be lighting for the ideals Of
Truth and honor against 'barbarians' 81
who cannot be trusted to act honor
ablyl Every sensible American will
agree that DR.. Zimmerman, German
Secretary, Is right when he
thus sums up the objects Of the Brit
ish censorship in committing these
forgeries:
'tNMq NOW have rrartico1lv M