Judsonia weekly advance., 1917-02-28

It will be the endeavor of the corps of Washington correspondents to se- cure an amelioration of the conditions laid down in the existing plan, and CO., operation will be promised, so far as the standing committee of correspond ents has authority, in the name of ev- cry correspondent who today is admit ted to the press galleries of the two houses of congress.
 Don't Like British Methods.
 Thus far no attempt has been made by the authorities to censor dispatches from the city of Washington. Conf dence has been placed in the members of the correspondents corps to use their own discretion as to what shall be printed and what shall not be print ed. There are newspaper men in Washington who know a great deal about the present condition of the army and of the navy and something of the plans which have been formulated to put both to effective service in case war shall come. These correspondents have, so far as is known, refrained from saying anything which might be of service to possible enemy.
 Talks with army and navy officers who however, will have no hand in the laying down of censorship rules, for that duty is imposed on special board, prove that in the main the men of the two services are convinced that the British methods of censorship have been not only too drastic but also un- intelligent.
 In England when the war was about eight months old 1t was possible to send through the mails to America anything which one chose to write. and the chance was only one to ten that the letter would be opened and read for approval or disapproval. The re- suit was that mass of stuff was sent to America which eventually found It's way back to Germany.
 Then the system of censorship in England changed and all letters were opened. The unintelligence of the off, cers in charge of the work was shown by the fact that they frequently cut out stories of things concerning which the British government had already made public announcement, and on the other hand, they allowed things to go through which were pronouncedly i'm proper for publication in Q time of war.
 What the Correspondents Want.
 What the newspaper men here will probably ask of the war department is that set of rules plainly expressed be issued as guide to writing, and more than this, that the censors shall be men who have had experience in Journalism. There are many such men in the army whose service can be se- cured.
 More than anything else the core spondents will ask that their dis patches and their letters be passed up on as quickly as possible. The ordi- nary government official has no more conception of the value of quick dis patch of a news article than he has of the comparative qualities of beets as sugar producers, and there are few army officers who have had experi- ence as farmers.
 In France the censorship works well. The French do things quickly and moreover the army censors save work by explaining individually to the cor respondents the nature of the things which must not be touched upon in their writings.
 To Buy Famous Battlefield.
 Representative Charles 0. Carlin of Virginia, acting as spokesman for veterans of both armies of the war between the states, has introduced a bill into congress for the purchase of the battlefield of Bull Run, where the first pitched fight of the war of the sixties took place.
 On the fftieth anniversary of the Battle of Bull Run the boys in blue and gray shook hands in friendship. It seems hardly possible that the bill which Mr., Carlin has prepared can pass at this session, but generally where the veteran soldiers of nation have been whole-heartedly sentimental congress pays heed to their wishes.
 The bill, as drafted. provides for the carrying out of the recommendations made by the special board of army officers appointed in 1913 that the sec retary of war be authorized to pur- chase for the United States the battle fields of the first and the second Bull Run, at cost not to exceed $5O,OOO. The measure would authorize the sec retary of war to protect the two orig inal monuments erected by the United States troops in 1865 and to assume the care of the other monuments and markers on the historic battlefields,