Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-07-06
GAINS AND CLAIMS.

II Is to be hoped that the omclai
reports which Washington Is TO Issue
when American troops reach the front
and participate in battles Will lack the
exaxrerations Of the French and Eng
Iish reports as well as the equally eX'
travagant Misrepresentation IN winch
Berlin INDUCES.
Careful comparison of the various
renorts. one with the other and eacn
with what eventually comes 70 De
known as the fact. leave no doubt tnat
while the Berlin announcements olten
are untrue to the extent 81 ludicrous-
ness. the London and Paris statements
frequently convey an erroneous I'M
Ssrsston unless each Is read In the
light OF past experiences.
Germany has good reason to conceai
the real facts from her people, LOT
whom the Berlin reports originally
are intended. Deluding the German
public is as much part OF the kaisers
nlan Of war as the submarine campaign
II Ia only because he has built up In
the German mind false bellef IN the
righteousness OF his cause and the I'M
pregnability OF his armies that the
Germans have remained true through
three wears. Now. when the Prusslan
forces are being pushed back toward
the German frontier, the Berlin reports
discuss such British victory as that at
Messines 50 expertly that by the tune
a German reader has read the ofhclai
report and the inspired comment IN
German newspaper he is ready TO be-
I,eye that the British forces merely
blew I'M positions which the Germans
already had abandoned voluntarily for
stronger and more desirable ones just
beyond the limits Of mine destruction.
But the British and French reports
of some Of their minor victories are al
most as misleading The allies nave
permitted themselves to ape the Ger
mans in exaggerating the reports OF
their gains and minimizing those OF
their reverses, apparently in an EFFORT
TO buoy up their own people.
But would not the truth be better!
Certainly. after three years. the Eng
fish and French people are as much
alive to the clumsy ruse as are Ameri-
can newspaper readers. They have
J learned, as have we. to take all victory
claims with a grain OF salt and TO
make an extra allowance when any
capital In Europe admits reverse.
Washington should justify the conf
dence the American public has in the
administration and the army by max
ing It's reports deal only with facts,
whether they tell of successes or re-
verses. There is nothing to gain from
following the lead of the European cap
itals. there is danger of losing much.
Since Easter, when the allies inaug-
urated their big offensive which seems
now TO have reached its limit except
for the continuous hammering on Lens
and its environs by the Canadians. the
reports from London and Paris have
been so optimistic that the average
reader finds himself wondering II the
hattie line has not been shifted within
striking distance of the German from
tier. It is only when he unearths a
man showing the line early IN April
and compares 1t with one showing the
location Of the armies now. that he
realizes that the advance over which
the. allies have made such marked ado
amounts to few miles here and few
miles there. while in many points the
battle line remains unchanged.
It Is to be hoped that when Ameri-
cas- big war army gets into action the
deliberate program will be upset, and
that Pershing will score military vic,
tories which VIII demand extraVasant
language for their description. But
the American public will want to know
the real facts and must depend on
Washington to announce them.
The American fighting spirit Is up;
Il does not need false claims of not
able successes to keep it alive. Such
claims will be welcome indeed il they
are justified but they will work harm
rather than good II they are not. What
Americans need Is news from the
front which win impress on them the
importance Of supporting the troops by
doing their bit at home. There need
be no fear Of discouraging this nations
subtle with true reports Of slow pro.
gress: such reports, If they are fact,
will only emphasize the necessity for
Vnited action to the end that victory
may be quick and certain.