Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-01-26
War Censorship Inconsistencies

tBy Reginald Wright Kaufman, Sp
cial Correspondent Of the philadelphia
North American and accredited G
respondent with the y. .. Army
| in +
ANGEL
| The greatest difficulty in the wor
Of an American war correspondent ism
the enemy. 1t isn't tho mud or TIT
cold, or the twenty -four hour working
| day.
Its the American military censor
ship.
| You may dodge the shells--not tina
censorship.
About month ago since the rnajo
in charge Of the censorship sent fol
me.
Cut this out" ne said. my order:
are that nothing may be written tha'
| implies anything improper In the re
lations between an American soldier
and a French girl"
I cut It out.
A little later there came another
summons from the same officer
"Cut this out" he said. MY orders
are that nothing may be written which
implies that any American soldier ever
drinks anything but water"
l cut that, too.
4 fortnight passed with no further
word. Was it possible that there was
no new restrictions: II wasn't. ! re-
! ceived letter from the censors office
which ended thus:
Il was obliged TO delete the good
~, 90
came under a rule which we are giver
against passing quotations from sol
diers containing profanity"
Now. nobody IS more anxious &c
please the censorship than your obed-
lent servant. l wrote an article in
which there was praise of the Ameri'
can soldiers calm under the threat Of
hostile aircraft over the American
camp One OF the censors spoke to me
about It.
You'd better omit that" he said
1--WE don't want the boys folks at home
TO think that they're going to run into
any danger In this war"
German bomba rdments have GER
tain regularity; coming attacks cas-
their shadows before the. American
military censorship pouncee without
warning. and is never twice the same
German gases like the death they
carry. are no respectors of persons;
our military censorship is Pauline; II
is all things TO all men. and 1t spares
the favored OF fortune where 1t as
phyxiates the unloved.
When our first soldiers went into
trenches. the word went forth that no
correspondent was to accompany them.
A clever reporter from Chicago pro-
duCed his correspondents pass, signed
by the secretary OF war and the adju-
tant general. which gave him permits
sion to accompany troops in the field.
In vain.
The Chicagoan slipped among the
soldiers and went anyhow.
He was caught and brought to Paris.
There the Chicagoan, who was the
friend OF high officer pleaded that
he be allowed at least to tell his paper
Of his predicament. Permission was
granted and ne SENT 900 words. A
New York correspondent said to the
officer in charge OF the military cen
sorship:
That's the worst I've heard yet"
But" protested the officer. You
must remember that the Chicagoan is
a mere boy" .a
II am commencing what the boy
did, said the New Yorker What
am condemn'ng is the system that
first ruled against It In all instances
and then permitted II In one"
There is a highly entertaining little
book isSued by the chief of staff OK
the United states army. It !s called
"F';eld Service Regulations" In its
4p4th parasra phi It SAYS: Nothing IN
these rerr,lat tons Is to be construed as
limiting the correspondents freedom OF
opinion once there ceases 20 be
necessity for military secrecy. the sole
object being to keep information from
the enemy at time when II might
be Of service to him" The field OF
those "Field Service ReRulationsN
doesn't extend as far as France. IL
is true that here the military censor
ship Is the big Joke, but It is. at the
same time, the great danger: not only
to the American reporter. but also 10
the American public that he serves
British Learned Better.
The British censorship has learn
It's lesson. OF the French political cen
sorship know nothing. but OF the
French milltarv censorship haVH
heard no complaint. It remained for
the Americans to score the best laugh
IN tho Americans.