New-York tribune., 1918-05-27
Kanities of Opinion
By P. w. Wilson


outbreak of war The first object Of ~
censorship is to prevent naval and milih1
information reaching the enemy In 81
matter Europe has had to be partieuArE
careful, because our newspapers car besrE
| lily mnanicated to Germany by vaHnH
routes. Greater freedom is possible
| America because the cables are under 81
troll, while it takes many weeks TO trano&
printed matter On neither side of thssl&
lantic has there been any serious corn
versy over naval and military articles
June, 1915, Colonel Repngton disclosed
"The Times" the shortage Of British AZ
munition on the Western front, but this ),
calculated indiscretion. and he was ~
tected by Mr. Lloyd George. More receHi
he dealt with strategy on the Western fueH
| and was prosecuted by Mr. Lloyd Ge01k%
One or two naval articles by distinguis&l
writer's have been suppressed, but othervh
there has been little trouble over the nso1
technical censorship Of the war. 81
Serious difficulty does, however arises
any rate in Britain, when there is intEl
Vference with expression Of opinion. TA4sa
difficulties are of two kinds, and both Ill
present in the case of Mrs. Stokes FixSj
|
Socialist attack on the government anx II
Northcliffe attack. Why should syndcaHrI
newspaper like "The Foreword," of Glaseuxl
be suppressed when powerful organs go sci
| free? Here let me say that we haweSMi
press in England which corresponds to I'LL
newspapers controlled by Mr.. Hearst. It'll
suggestion against Lord Northcliffe is re3
that ne is unpatriotic or against the W.T.
but that his zeal may be sometimes great3
than his discretion. On this there will ia
ways be two opinions, and you may ssk,{
your choice. No one has ever doubted IxriI
Northcliffe's entire devotion to what he 81
lieves to be the national interest. 3
Still. among our labor men, who nSs{|
careful handling we have found sense Aaz
there is rule for the strong and anotAs;3
rule for the weak. In one case newspsls,1
called "The Globe" (London) was suppresei3
for saying substantially what appearedh{
its contemporaries. I refer to the st&k [
ments about Lord Kitchener's alleged II
ignation. One result of such suspected dt /
elimination has been that practically m
proceedings against the press have bes]
dropped, and you may say in England I'll
day pretty we'll anything you Ike. Extrsaa|
paclflst literature is sometimes seized sh9|
destroyed, but there is disinclinationh I'll
make martyrs of women who obviously al
stirred by emotions which are more inccu|
venienz than actually criminal
Our second difficulty appears also to hass
arisen in the case of President Wilsons
book, "The New Freedom This raises 4
dilemma with which our statesmen are ven
familiar. When Lord Morley was Secretar
for India the extreme reformers constantls
quoted against him his former writines
about personal liberty, and tried to get pui
into jail for spreading their illustrious prus.
ecutor's own doctrines. English pacifstl
are fond of submitting to the eovernme1l
passages from the Sermon on the Mount ana
asking whether these are seditious VIII
people be prosecuted if they are found wa
Bible in their pocket? have often he, 4
this asked in the House of Commons am
on our military tribunals there have beeI
warm theological arguments with conscien
tlous obJectors who quote the Beatitudes
lhere was time when the nation dealt ven
severely with irritating people of this per
suasion. Most Of us, think, are now of th,
opinion that we took them too seriouslv
Many OF them are quite genuine and hay.
done good work among the poor before thu
war. Others are egotists. But in eithel
case 1t Is a pity to make martyrs excspl
where necessary l am myself firmly CON
ganda is good propaganda thing printe<
can be answered. The real danger is ofter
what is muttered under the surface. Youl
own exposures of the Hearst press are ex
actly the material which gets at the mar
who might be led astray if the thing wez1
not put SO clearly
know we'll that the American and BrR
ism cases are not identical. Our populatia
speaks one language, and is, broadly, home
geneous. You have many races and man
languages to deal with. Apparently Won
trouble lies, or. rather, lay, with certain wal
defined sections of the people Our troubj.
is the general morale Of the whole con,
munity, which has had four years of wsr
1t is remarkable that in Britain as IN
strain has increased so has there been -.
stored wider latitude of discussion. SOM
of this discussion has been misunderstood
here, because it has suggested, undouhtedv
two views OF peace by negotiation. Hence
the Importance to England of President
wilson's dehnIte declaration that the an.
proaches by the Central Powers are insiu.
cere. The working classes in England viii
take tnat from President Wilson when thsy
would not so readily accept it from states.
men nearer home IS
general conclusion from our experience
seems to be, therefore. that the state should
exercise its right of interference with dis.
cussion as rarely as possible, but that in 20
administering the law it must deal with sb.
soiute impartiality. In democracy grave
soclal unrest is bound to arise if there II
the sllghtest suspicion that the poor are
punished while the rich go free. ous
trouble In Ireland is due mainly to our fail.
ure to administer the law fearlesslv ia
vi, ulster when illegal drilling took place
nat the Protestants were allowed to do ths
ca'hohcs ctain, the right to do, and tha
.o".iaatiohs OF authority were weakened Il
VI. yneir oase' which must always be justies
The mistake did not fully reyea, itseIf until
years later. but we are now navinc tho mar.
alty-and it is serious one. with repard
10 your own problems, the question might
oe asked. not so much What do thew amount
to now" but ITO what will theu eroxr Il