The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1917-11-19
CREEL BUREAU IS
DOING BIG WORK
GROWING APPRECIATION or rHR
MUCH ABUSED COMMITTEES
ON PUBLIC IMPORTATION.
LAB0Rs UNDER DIFFICULTIES
Telling People Why We Are In the
War and Spreading the Doctrine Of
A~merIcanIsm Constitute Largest
Part Of its Task.
BY EDWARD D. CLARK.

washington. - Some months ago
President Wilson by executive order
established what Is known as the com
mittee on public information. There
have been criticisms In multitude Of
the work Of the committee, and con-
fessedly the n who writes this was
Of the fault finders.
1t is only right to say that as a more
proper understanding has come Of the
work Of the committee. and the pecu-
liar difficulties under which II has la
bored, 1t seems that r~etraction of criti-
cism In considerable part should be
made and that the members Of the
committee should be gwen credit for
doing an enormous work well.
The committee on public informa-
ton as constituted by the president il
composed Of the secretary of state, the
secretary Of war, the secretary of the
navy. and a civilian chairman charged
with executive direction Of the work.
The civilian chairman Is George Creel.
There was a feeling among newspaper
men at the outset that the committee
on public information was charged
almost solely with the duty Of pro-
viding actual news for the press. In
part this was Its duty, and 1t still is
continuing along the lines Of an In
formation bureau which has In Il the
features which d~ifferentiate the faces
Of real news stories from those of hui
man interest and purely informative
stories. But II also has a greater
work OF information to do.
A man feels, once In awhile at any
rate, that he ought to make an at
tempt to be fair. and II ne is peni-
tently inclined for past deeds to try
to make that which the c~lassically In
clined call the amende honorable.
Doing . stupendous Work.
Certain 1t Is that the committee
public information has had Its trou-
bles and still IL having them to a less
or extent. It's work is stupendous, a
fact which does not seem to be known
thoroughly to the country, nor to be
understood In full by some people who
zee little or no good In anything that
the committee does or tries to do.
The newspaper correspondents In
Washington had all kinds Of difficult
ties ut the outset with the committee
and the ~dificulties as yet are not any
thing like entirely cleared from the
track. Newspaper men here, however.
are getting a better understanding of
the real constructive work which the
committee Is trying to do, and the at
titude towards II I believe Is changing.
In the first place 1t has been dis
covered that the committee on public
information Es not In the largest sense
news disseminating body. The real
news that 1t turns out forms about
one-tenth of the bulk of its product.
1t was only recently that some of US
discovered the magnitude of educa-
tional work Of the right kind which
these newspaper men laborers are try
Ing to do.
osms Things Have Gone Wrong.
There have b0en some unfortunate
90 far A the newspaper
world il concerned, In the Creel bu-
reau. The things that have gone
wrong are the things that everybody
points to and knows about, while the
things which have gone right are
those things with which the CORE
spondent in Washington does not have
to concern himself with intimately.
In the cases Of "awryness." real news
has been involved and therefore some
papers have suffered and their CORE
GpOndents with them.
Americans who have been heart.
soul and spirit In wal endeavor have
known In many parts Of the country
there r millions Of people who have
been wondering and asking why we
are In the war, and among the millions
there have been hundreds Of thou
sands who have thought and some OF
whom perhaps are still thinking that
ought not to have entered into hos
The committee on public informa-
Hon has been engaged from the day Of
Its organization In giving to the peo-
PIE Of the country who hitherto had
DOt received It, the reasons for Amer
cas- entry into the war, the story of
0ermany's a~ggreosions and inhumanl-
Hes and OF the workings Of a govern
nent which even today thinks that Il
oan dominate the weld ana maka an