The sun., 1918-07-07
By ALBERT WHITING FOX.

IT. HE conference which Gen. Peyton c.
i March, Chief of Staff, holds with
newspaper correspondents each Saturday
morning are welcome lessons in advanced,
up TO date military strategy, punctuated
here and there by items of Give news"
Their object, according 10 Gen. March,
is TO establish a point Of contact between
the War Department, responsible for the
management of this nations part in the
war, and the American people.
Il believe the public is entitled to know
everything that can properly be told
about our forces overseas Gen. March
said by way of introduction at the first
conference; at is their war"
To those who had grown accustomed
to regarding the Chief of Staff's Office
as the official source of secrecy and silence
this announcement came as a welcome
surprise. From the outset Gen. March
has lived up to his promise. He either
gives the information with a direetness
smacking of military. precision or he ex-
plains why it cannot properly be given.
And his explanations are always so SIM
pie that they carry conviction to the en-
tire gathering.
For example, the General is asked
about the Seventy-seventh Division, made
up of New York troops. He replies
without hesitation that these troops have
now taken over a sector of the line and
are the first National Army troops to
60 into front line service against the
enemy.
No Chance Of Helping Germans.
A question is then asked about another
organization. Cant tell you about
that" snaps the General. He then ex-
plains that no mention is to be made of
the whereabouts or presence of partic-
ular organizations at the front until it
is definitely ascertained whether or not
the Germans have succeeded in obtaining
information about them. Reports from
Gen. Pershing are coming in daily giving
details Of what the enemy has discovered
about the Americans. As soon as the
enemy by raids, airpiane observations or
by other means has definitely located spe-
ciic American troops the need for secrecy
yanishes. But until the enemy obtains
this information the necessity for silence
remains paramount, for Gen. March has
no intention of aiding the enemy in his
campaign Of getting information.
Thus in the case of the Seventy-seventh
the Germans knew these troops had gone
into action, and as soon as Gen. Pershing
reported this fact to Washington Gen.
March felt no conjunction about giving
the information to the public. In the
case of the other organization inquired
about there was no evidence that the Ger
mans had spotted its presence. The Chief
of Stats plan of giving the public all
the information that could properly be
gwen was being applied.
There is a snap or breeziness about
these Saturday morning conferences which
creates a distinctive atmosphere and
seems to temporarily transport the room
where the meeting is held to the vicinity
of the battle zone where strict discipline
and military precision prevail.
The daily conferences which some of
the newspaper correspondents hold with
Cabinet officers have long been informal
affairs, and there was a certain air of
democracy and informally about the con-
ferences which President Wilson used TO
hold with members of the press.
Secretary Lansing frequently meets the
correspondents with smile, and these