Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1917-09-26

fact anything that Is sent out pertain
ErE 80 enEa gsments On the water or
u the field
There IS none OF us that has not
/ been aggravated by some Of the wild
reports that have come from the war
zone. subsequently To be revised SO
mat they represented nothing out Of
The ordinary events thar are taken as
part og q days work IL modern
warfare. yet most OF Us understand
that there must necessarily be these
+ Inaccuracies and accordingly make
due allowances when we read q STR
ring story, taking into consideration
the source from which Il broke,
whether it had been passed o& Inc
censor Of this nation on whose terri
tory Il was stated to have occurred,
or otherwise. etc.
Only last week q passenger return
tuE from Europe gave out q report al
he Atlantic porka at which his snip
landed telling Of the sinking by Ger
man submarines Of Eve British mer-
chant vessels and two destroyeTs that
were conveying them This engage
meut between the Britishers and The
submarines was said to have taken
place of the coast Of France. The
story was carried by the Associated
Press. II was printed in The Argus
and ia all the hundreds of other news
papers that are supplied by the Asso-
ciated Press.
Yesterday Secretary Josepbus Dan
iaIs Of the United States navy depart
ment issued a statement declaring
that there was no foundation for the
reported losses off the French coast.
He said that there had been an In
vesttgatiou conducted under his d.
rectlon and that it had been learned
that there were not even the slight
est grounds upon which 20 base such
story Secretary Daniels pledged
his word that the American people
would not be kept in the dark on
news of the war. He says he wants
them to trust the navy department 10
inform them when there ifs news TO
give ont This ought TO be enough
10 satisfy the public.
1t is easy 10 see how Il report such
a7 that telling Of the alleged sinking
of The British ships By the German
subs could get abroad and how it
might he believed by most Of those
who read IT, When q passenger ship
reaches New York or any other AT
lautic port Il is boarded by reporters.
Every vessel that travels through the
war zone has some sort OF experience
that makes good reading, The pas
eenger who told Of the disastrous
engagement off the coast Of France
impressed the reporters 10 whom he
told Il with his trutbfulness, other
wise they would have ignored him.
IT. is not the first occasion on which
the reporter has been duped, despite
that tie is constantly on his guard
against such impositions. The Assoc
giated Press was careful to say that
the story had been given out by a
returning traveller and that there had
been no confirmation obtainabla.
Therefore it was put up TO the public
10 believe as much Of the report as
if chose
1t is not to be questioned that there
have been jnnumeraDle pipe dreams .
concerning the war printed in the
newspapers but the newspaper is not .
20 be blamed in all instances, When /
q great organization like the Ass0- /
ciated Press, recognized as the most
conservative thorough and accurate I
news gathering organization in the
world gets taken in occasionally it is /
not to be wondered at that other news F..
associations are repeatedly found fail (
ing for wild and unfounded dope from /.
the war fronts. There viii he more .
Inaccurate reports about the war in .
the daily press Some of them viii +
be groundless and others will be f.
coIored. But we who read must make ,
allowances When an official an
nouncemeut of news is given out at
Washington we have reason 10 take +
it for granted that it is truthful Like /
wise we must accept those reports /
that are issued through London and .
Paris and through the capitals Of our
other allies Those from BEFfEH
We must take with d grain Of
salt, for we have been warned by
President Wilson that not even the
official word Of that government is
to be trusted.