Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, 1917-05-08
LIES WHICH ARE
MORE DISASTROUS THAN
HOSTILE ATTACKS.
From the New York American of
May z.


April was cabled to and printed IN
American newspapers. AS stated by
the British censored report, the Ger
mans lost 369 air machines, the
French lost 201 air machines and
the British lost lat air machines.
These figures were then used to
prove that the British had command
OF the air
These figures constitute a very
striking example of the incurable ly-
ing habit of censorships.
The TRUTH is that on April 26
Mr.. Joynson-Hicks, the authority on
aerial conditions, told the BRITISH
PARLIAMENT that he held in his
hand the WAR OFFICE
FIGURES, and that these showed
that the number of British air pilots
killed from April / to April "a, in
elusive, wasTHREE HUNDRED AND
NINETEEN, NOT including naval
air service pilots. of whom ONE
HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-ONE had
been killed, or seventy-three recruits
killed while learning to fly.
And JoynsonzHicks told Parliament
also that this terrible loss Of British
airmen during April was due to the
fact that THE MACHINES BEING
BUILT FOR BRITISH USE WERE
INFERIOR TO THE GERMAN
MAGAZINES.
The difference between the number
of British pilots stated to have been
shot down in April by the censored
report sent to this country. and the
true total exhibited to Parliament
the week before by Mr.. Joynson-
Iflclxs-which is the difference be-
tween 319 and 147-is a very fair
measure Of the censorship's ability
to lie and Of its inveterate and in
durable habit Of exercising that abil-
ity.
Contemporaneously with this false
statement of aircraft conditions, the
same censorship repeats the stupid
and clumsy subterfuge by which 1t
tries to conceal shipping losses, while
apparently making a frank official
statement.
The losses during last week. as
announced bv the British censorship,
are thirty-eight merchant ships of
over 900 tons, and thirteen ships
under that tonnage, besides eight
fighting ships and eight fishing yes
sells.
Now. the deceDtion in this is, first,
that DESTROYED NEUTRAL shipping
in BRITISH employ is omitted, and,
second, that nobody knows the actual
tonnage destroyed, because thirty.
eight ships of OVER / 500 tonnage
might mean 10000 tons or might
mean 100000 tons: so that. as a
matter of fact the British censorship
is hiding that large part of shipping
losses covered by neutral registry,
though in British use, and is prac-
tjcally concealing the facts as to the
real loss OF British registered ton
mage.
And, surely, this clumsy and
stupid trick does not deceive the
Germans, who know what they are
doing; but does deceive and delude
the English people, who are the only
sufferers from such folly.
Iii a mild way, we have already
examples of this inexplicably stupid
method in the cryptic utterances Of
Secretaries Lansing, Lane and
Daniels, vaguely limiting that some
still unknown means or inventions
will overcome the submarines-
which there is not particle of actual
reason to believe.
1t should 60 without saying that
every unfounded statement calcu-
/ lated to make the country feel more
easy over the submarine situation is
JUST THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL
HINDRANCE OF RAPID PREPARA-
TION FOR DEFENSE.
We regard anything that tends to
minimize the danger confronting the
country as nothing short of q crime,
as it most certainly is the last word
in stupidity.
The country should vividly realize
the menace of the situation. 1t
should know the exact truth about
| this submarine warfare and its pros
poets Of success. And The American
means to tell the country that truth.
On the first day Of February, the
| total tonnage of ocean-going steam
Iessels, allied, neutral and American,
available for carrying cargoes to
England, France and Italy was
| ELEVEN MILLION, at the extreme
calculation.
Whenever that total is reduced to
SEVEN MILLION. the allies are in
danger. When 1t is reduced to FIVE
MILLION, the allies are beaten. At
that point they would be forced to
/ SCCh PCdCCs nat - a
proposition.
The German submarines destroyed
| ONE MILLION SIX HUNDRED
| THOUSAND TONS of allied and neu-
trai shipping in February and March.
1t is no secret now that they de-
stroyed over ONE MILLION TONS in
| April Secretary Lane tod the Gov
ernor's Convention last Tuesday that
the shipping destroyed in the prev
ious week alone totaled FOUR HUN
| DRIED THOUSAND TONS.
The fate of the allies depends upon
whether or not an effective defense
against submarines can be found be-
| fore theGermans can destroy THREE
| MILLION more tons Of shipping. AT
the rate they went in April, this ad-
| ditional destruction would be ac-
complished by the Germans in the
| NEXT THIRTEEN WEEKS. AT the
rate they went last week, they would
destroy the additional 100000 tons
in the NEXT EIGHT WEEKS.
In these circumstances, it does
seem to us that prudence urges fan