The Cordova daily times. [volume] (Cordova, Alaska) 1914-1947, 1918-03-09
SPIRIT SHOWN BY PRESS
COMMENDED BY DANIELS

duuleSS Vi HON. JOSopnuS Daniels,
secretary of the navy, before the Balti-
more Press Club, Baltimore, Md, re-
Gently:
THE press of America has won ma
tional gratitude by it's splendid spirit
of service during the past year With
few exceptions, the newspapers have
put service of country above every
thing else. News has been secondary
to service. During the days after
relations were severed with Germany
it was to the papers that the people
! looked for a clear presentation of the
J duty of this country. 1t rang clear
and true, and when the declaration of
war was made in solemn assertion of
national duty the press vas almost a
unit in support of the noble utterances
: of the President. And from that hour
whether it was in support of the Sc
/ lective draft, the recruiting campaign,
propaganda for the Liberty loan, food
and fuel conservation, the drives for
the Red Cross and the Y. M. c. A, or
leading in community honors paid to
youths going to war-whatever the
call, the press has responded with a
cheerful Aye, aye, sir and has led
in the enthusiastic support of every
measure for national unity and nation
al victory, The splendid way in which
the press as a whole has risen to the
occasion and measured up to it's re-
sponsibilities has given me an added
pride in the profession.
Citizens Before They Are Editors
What is the duty of the press when
their government is at war? That is
the question which every patriotic edi-
tor has asked himself every day since
the 9Th of April. 1t has not been a
difficult question for most editors.
for they regard themselves as citizens
before they are editors, and, therefore,
they have supported the policy of the
government, through it's chosen agents,
when its policy commended itself to
their judgment. When they were not
convinced, they have acquiesced,
pointing out in d way that could not
be used against their country, their
suggestions of better ways to win the
war. The newspaper men in this hour
are the eyes and ears of the public
which has a right to know what the
government is doing. 1t is their duty
to tell the story just as it is, neither
magnifying defects nor minimizing ac
complishments In ever country al
: war except America there is strict
{ censorship of the press. Here We
have none. The government, through
its committee on public information
: has formally requested the newspapers
to refrain from publishing certain in
: formation for military reasons. Off
: Gals in many cases have taken news
: paper men into their confidence, and
rarely has this confidence beer
8 abused.
9 Few Violations of Censhorship
"Some of our military preparations
z and operations can not be revealed
: without giving valuable information
: to the enemy. They would make great
: reading, of course; but the publica
: ton of them might do as much dam
age as if the secrets had been stoler
: by German spies. The press is loya
E and the comparatively few violations
: of the voluntary censorship have il
: most cases been due not to any dis
position to aid Germany, but to the
: anxiety for scoop. But some of these
news beats have been achieved at 6
risk we should not have incurred
The cablegrams telling of the arrivals
] of the first transports with Pershing's
] men were published by few papers
when there were other vessels of that
expedition still in the war zone, fac
ing the danger of attacks by subma
rines, and this premature publication
which might have given the German
| O-UOdI IldIlOl lildf
there were other transports following
caused anxious hours before the last
of those vessels reached port
1.-THE press understands, and most OF
them act upon the principle, that when
a country is engaged in a foreign war
the President becomes the spokesman
of the nation. When executive action
becomes necessary in any and every
measure for the successful conduct OF
the war, the world must know that
the President is asserting the will OF
the nation which the people have de
creed must be executed by force OF
arms. Party differences are overcome
by the logic of the necessity of ma
tional unity. An attack upon the Pres
ident's foreign policy in war raises the
question not only of ethics but one OF
loyalty to the government of which