Evening journal., 1918-08-12
TAKING PICTURES
OF THE WORLD WAR
Work is Conducted Under
Supervision of the
Government
ARE SHOWN
IN THE MOVIES

WASHINGTON. Aug. i2.-The story
OF the government policy and sctivl-
ties in pictorializlng the war. not
only for record and information but
for morale at home and for combat
ting the German lie in other countries
OF the world" Is told in a report
which Secretary Baker laid before Con-
gress.
II IL In reply TO a resolution OF In
qulry regarding motion and stlll pic
lures OF the American eXpedltlonary
force and OF the military preparations
at home, and II shows a comprehensive
system Of picture activity safeguarded
by a permit system revised by the
Committee on Public Information and
approved by the War Department.
The pictures are taken by Signal
Corps units and are shown in thou
sands Of motion-plcture houses under
contracts on & commercial basis to
help pay the committees expenses in
motion-ploture propaganda.
The funds received from these
sources, which are put IN the Treas
ury to the committees credit, say the
report, do not represent profit in any
sense. Every cent goes TO manufacture
and distribution OF the enormous
amount Of film the committee is com
PEELED TO distribute without return in
foreign countries as part OF the United
States educational campaign All fea-
tures and war reviews will be supplied
free Of charge to cantonments In the
United States and to the picture shows
on the firing line in France. The re-
turns are TO defray the heavy expense
Of the free distribution demanded by
the necessities Of our morale at home,
and even larger necessities Of COM
batting the German lie in other coun-
tries OF the world"
Secretary Baker says each corps
headquarters Of the American EXpe-
dictionary Force is provided with a Sig
nal Corps Photographic unit, consisting
OF one officer and three enlisted men.
These units. together with personnel
necessary for development laboratories,
supply service, and to do special pho
tographic work ordered by General
Pershing aggregated A. officers and i02
enlisted men in May All motion-pic-
ture negatives received from overseas
and prints OF still pictures are dellv-
cred 10 the war plans division Of the
general stan for historical record and
government propaganda. Duplicate
negatives, Of no value TO the enemy, are
turned over to the committee.
General Pershing was allowed last
December TO grant permission to out
siders 10 take photographs subject to
censorship Of the Expeditionary Forces
but the War Department has no infor-
nation as to whom this permission ha:
been given. Here in the United States
the committee, In cooperation witt
the army, by order Of the Secretsr!
Of War, worked out a permit system Z
enable civilian photographers to tak'
pictures Of the war preparations in thii
country. This system" says Secre-
tary Baker, Safeguards military inter
ests and deals adequately and even gen
erously with all private interests de-
string 10 present the nations war pro-
gram TO the people In picture form. TX
cept In certain camps, where secret
tests are being made, cantOnments have
been free 10 photographers from the
beginning Of the war. With respect
10 ordnance and airplane production
the military authorities have not deem
ed Il wise TO expose secrets to other
than those in uniform, and while per
mits have been given In some cases
the general policy has been to exclude
private photographers from factories
where ordnance and airplanes are be
ing made. The permit procedure makes
INVESTIGATION Of the applicant possible
and furnishes control over the pictures
taken"
Permits are limited 10 IS days from
issue. Photographs cannot be taken
OF experiments in materials entrench-
ments or formations, machine guns, tar
gets or camou1age. All have 10 be
censored promptly and before publioa-
ton by the committee.
In the case Of the famous seven
reel-war picture. the material was
collected by Signal Corps operators In
Frence and in this country TO set be
fore the people a comprehensive record
OF war progress in this country and In
France" Il was shown through the
committees organization in the prin-
cipal theatres Of the larger cities, with
patriotic organizations and citizens CO.
operating. In these showings, the re-
port explains there Is no thought OF