Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, 1917-02-16

newspapers had worked the story of
the American passenger to the limit,
it developed that he was taken OF
the ship to q place of safety. 1t mat
ters not that he was a colored man.
Then, again the report went broad
cast over the United States on the
day after the President addressed the
Congress, that this Government had
seized all the interned German ships.
The reports weres tempered here and
| there with. the suggestion that the
German sailors were endeavoring to
destroy the property of their own
country, but nevertheless it was
broadly announced by our naval Of
ficers they had seized this German
property. l will not stop to discuss
the moral aspect of this seizure ex-
cept to say that there had been no
declaration of war and that it was
not clear why we should deliberately
take this German property and APP
propriate il to the United States.
Within a day or two the answer came
from both the State Department and
the White House, that these German
ships had not been seized, and that
while this Government was taking
certain precautions with respect to
possible impediments to navigation,
every courtesy was being shown the
officers and men in charge Of these
German vessels. 1t was evident that
somo tall lying was done in this in
stance for the purpose of irritating
Germany under very aggravating cir
cumstances. Somebody evidently
wanted Germany to commit an "oyort
act" that would bring on q war. We
ought to be on our guard against this
dangerous "rumors" business,
whether it originates in London or
in the United States / simply urge
that the true facts and only the true
facts be reported at this time when
we are at the verge of an outbreak
with foreign country. l think it
would be better for some of the
! editors to shut up" when they do
not know what they are talking
about. / think it would be better for
some Of these professional patriots
who have determined our interna-
tional relations in advance, and who
insist upon Adjusting our diplomatic
| affairs in this crisis, to not only
/ shut up" but go tie a rope around
their necks, attach an anchor to it,
and jump into the sea. We could
! better afford to dispense with their
meddlcsome services than to plunge
the people Of this country into for
eign war. / think it would be far
better for this country l regret to
say it, but we are gradually turning
over the business of Congress, turn
ing over all our constitutional rights,
turning over our powers delegated by
the people, to a lot Of editors, theor-
lists, and college professors who are
not capable of conducting our affairs
| and to whom we should not abdi-
cate"
A Newspaper Plot.
TO show the purpose Of these
"rumors" and the glaring headlines
Representative Galloway of Texas in
troduced the following exceedingly
interesting statement to be printed
in the Record in connection with the
remarks from Mr.. Moore. The state
ment reads;
I'm March 1915, the J. p. Morgan
interests, the steel, shipbuilding, and
powder interests, and their sub
sidiary organizations, got together IL
men high up in the newspaper world
and employed them to select the most
influential newspapers in the United
States and sufficient numbers OF them
to control generally the policy OF tho
daily press in the United States.
These 12 men worked the problem
out by selecting 179 newspapers, and
then began, by an elimination pro-
cess, to retain only those necessary
for. the purpose of controlling the
general policy of the daily press
throughout the country, They found
it was only necessary to purchase the
control Of 25 of the greatest papers.
The 25 papers were agreed upon;
emissalios were sent to purchase the
policy, national and international, OF
these papers; an agreement was
reached, the policy Of the papers was
bought, to be paid for by the month;
an editor was furnished for each
paper to properly supervise and edit
information regarding the questions
Of preparedness, militarism, financial
policies, and other things Of national
and international nature considered
vital to the interests Of the purchas-
ers. This contract is in existence at
ithe present time, and it accounts for
the news columns of the daily press
of the country being filled with all
sorts Of preparedness arguments and
misrepresentation as TO the present
conditions Of the United States army
and navy, and the possibility and
probability of the United States be-
ing attacked by foreign foes This
policy also included the suppression
Of everything in opposition to the
wishes Of the interest served. The
effectiveness of this scheme has been
conclusively demonstrated by the
character of stuff carried in the daily
press throughout the country since
March 1915. They have resorted to
anything necessary to commercialize
public sentiment and sandbag the
national Congress into making ex-
travagant and wasteful apDropria-
tions for the Army and Navy under
the false pretense that it is patriot
ism" They are playing on every
prejudice and passion OF the Amer
lean people"
OSie mcrNc idl 8urocr?