Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1919-06-13
How the Censorship Hid or FalSi-
fled Facts Is Told in
Pamphlet.
TRUTH kept FROM PAPERS
Never Any Official Admission Of
Marine Defeat-Strikes and Food
Ills Kept Secret-America's Posi-
ton as Neutral Distorted.

NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of the Stupid
fty and cunning" Of German newspa-
per censorship, which for more than
four years filled 100000 people with
the hope of an impossible victory, hid
from them the news of defeats, and at
last contributed to the downfall of the
structure Of pretense 1t had raised are
brought out in remarkable pamphlet
said to have been inspired by DIR. Will
helm Muehlon, formerly director Of
the Krupp works, whose expose Of
Germany in 1918 as the real instiga-
tor Of the war sent him into voluntary
exile In Switzerland.
The pamphlet, entitled. How We
Were Lied TO-" is published ostensi-
bly, under the name of Kurt Muehsam,
former Austro-G German war CORE
spondent. 1t Is filed with instances
of military duplicity, showing the eff
forts that were made to conceal from
the German people everything of a dis
couraging nature that had to do with
the war.
Newspaper editors. according to the
document, were forbidden, under dire
penalties, to discuss any subject re-
llating to the war without the approval
of hundreds Of government censors
operating through p newspaper bu-
ireaus and various branches of the gov
ernment The Lusitania sinking and
the submarine controversy with the
United States were so Unanswered in
the press that for months the people
were led to believe that the negotia-
tions were taking "a course very ia
vorable to u.s."
News Very Carefully Filtered.
Only such news was published as
the militarists thought would favor
ably affect public opinion, and to carry
out this purpose, the pamphlet points
out, all kinds of falsities were en-
ployed.
Secretary Lansing, for instance was
reported as Ill and on the verge of
leaving Office. A hopeless breach was
also said to have arisen between the
secretary Of state and President Will
son.
Doctor Muehlon, who, in earlier rev.
Citations accused the then Emperor
William Of having issued the order
stake no prisoners" points out the
! fact that not once in all of the Ger
man war reports can be found any ad-
mission that the first battle of the
Marine was German defeat. The
only thing that the German high COM
A. IN oh <ho<
reverse was disguised In these words:
in the western theater of war the
/ operations, details of which cannot
yet be published, have led to new
battle which is developing favorably.
Reports spread by the enemy unfavor-
able to us are false"
The former head of the munition
plant at Essen, who possessed COM
plete information as to the operations
Of the military authorities, said that
there was hardly day during all
the long war when the editorial offices
Of the German daily press were not
! 'honored' by the receipt of confiden-
tial communications, orders and pro-
hibitions from the censorship authori-
ties, calculated to limit free express
sion Of opinion on the most vital ques-
tions and ultimately to throttle it."
Mustn't Say "Ruthless U-Boat War"
The Germans. for instance, were
never to be charged with conducting
RUTHLESS" U-boat war, but rather
an unlimited" or "boundless" war.
Descriptions of devastation In France
and Belgium were forbidden and all
references to barbarism and wanton
destruction were taboo, with the sig
nificant expression, 1.-THE army knows
when to use force and when to be
mild" Details Of the closing Of fac
tories, coal and food shortages, poor