Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-04-19
EDITOR
CENSORSHIP: PROBLEMS AND
POSSIBILITIES

Loyal acquiescence in the request of the navy de
EartInent that newspapers cease publishing ARR
walls as well as departures of vessels will be given
/ by the island press. Readers of the Star Bulletin
| il they find the ship news columns somewhat
! meager and abbreviated, will understand that the
newspapers are CARRYING ont the ideas of Officials
/ i'm Washington on necessary precautions. These
precautions are to prevent as far possible, news
of the movements Of naval and merchant vessels OF
the United States and the Allies from reaching the
enemy.
This whole question Of censorship just now Is
| arousing wide comment on the mainland. In gen
eral. the more influential newspapers agree that
| the censorship on facts should lie as rigid as mill
ary necessity dictates but they agree also that any
| movement, military or civil to limit the freedom
OF ideas will not be tolerated by the American PEG
pie In other words fair and intelligent criticism
| Of events is not only justified but imperative il
the democratic character Of government is to he
! preserved, On this line the Philadelphia Public
Ledger aptly observes:
/ From the beginning of the present war rigid
| censorship has been imposed in England. This cen
sorship has been directed without vision, without
proper of the value OF liberal criticism. appar
emily without any retaliation of the historical sgni
ficance of freedom OF speech From the first it has
been essentially Prussian censorship, an institu
ton designed to defeat the established traditions of
democracy. Its fundamental error has been the fall
to discriminate between military information and
legitimate critical opinion: between facts and ideas;
between the material and the spiritual elements of
the news. -:~
This discrimination must be Of the very essence
OF liberal censorship On the side Of facts, the
terial side Of the news, 1t must bear down with
heavy hand. But on the side of ideas, the spirit
ual side of the news, it should impose absolutely no
restrictions Criticism and opinion should be
free as in times OF peace. II it is sound it will be
Of public value; II It is weak It will work its
destruction. 1t is precisely this that the
present British censorship has throughout the
been Of Englahds most insidious enemies.
This. statement needs no further confirmation than
the instance of the Dardaneles campaign. When we
remember that throughout this campaign the news
papers OF England were full Of the most extraordn-
airy misinformation, calculated to create public
confidence in the operation which 1t did at any
time deserve cannot fail that the censor
~ chip was In reality doing both the government and
public opinion serious injury Had the truth been
allowed to come out had criticism of the operation
been free to express ITSELF is apparent of two
things would Immediately have happened: Either
the troops at the Dardaneles would have been re-
enforced or they would have been withdrawn. As
1t was, they were allowed TO remain In disastrous
military situation until conditions got bad that
the whole campaign had to be abandoned.
All the while the British public had been led to
suppose that the operation being measurably
successful When the crash came the effect upon
public opinion was shocking In the midst of such
q complete establishment the mind Of the English
people inevitably swung toward reactionary policies
OF course newspaper criticism should not degen-
crate into petty, faultfinding mean nagging slurs
or insinuations which cannot be backed up with
facts And in the times of national stress, every
newspaper owes it to unity to stand by the duly
constituted authorities until it is obvious that they
are on the wrong road. Hair-trigger attacks on
public officials are distinctly improper.
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