Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-06-22
BRITISH MUzzLED PRESS
AS WAR CLOUDS NEARED
Last News Unccnsorcd Over Cables
Was OF Mobilization OF
Naval Reserves.
ENGLISH PAPERS REVIEW WAX
War Office, Admiralty, Foreign and
Home Departments Had Spoons In
the Broth and Many Complica-
ti0nS Ensucd.
rBv Associated rressI

IBv Associated PrcssI
LONDON. June 2l.--On the evening
Of the sunday. before the deciaration
of war British soldiers walked into
al the London newspaper offices where
there were telegraph wires connected
with the cable stations and quietly
cut , or the telegraph Instruments and
roc LOOK hor mem away. Editors and cor
9inceS 10 inquire what had happened
iound an the offices guarded by scntries
forbidden to enter. ana the men in
Khaki were forbidden to talk Thus
unexpectedly came the beginning of
thg British press censorship.
The mobilization Of the naval re-
serves ,, mad started that afternoon. All
with sailors hurrying to their sta, h11sa
arrayed in blue uniforms fresh from
me IN. s h,is . and carrying their canvas
war that I4ondoners witnessed. and the
news OF II vas the last uncensored
news news OF war preparations which the
cables transmitted abroad.
, Almost as unexpectedly came the
happy bulletin that on tho las, day
shutters and went out OF business
and, no more cheering announcement
could haye greeted the newspaper
in the price Of print paper. The e Xr
i,,,rsHis OF an official muzzle and in
novel one Tor the British papers and
public, and no other people except
thoSe ot the United states could have
suffered it more willingly. Most
other European countries have known
press censorShips in times of war and
peace. and some have had secret cen
SoEshIps winch the public knew moth
ing Of
Newspapers Forgive Wrongs.
Inc general vcrdic, of the news
papers. rcvicwinr the past five years
on earth. is that, all things considered
m, ,f,', cens2rship was not much more un-
pccted in an imperfect world They
say that the first few months were the
worst and that there has been pro-
gressiye Improvement since. The ex-
tenuating circumstances were that the
government had 10 organize very big
and complicated machine practically
overnight; TO do work that had never
been done before in this country. and
t,;,io. MAS yn bound to be Irritating in an
had been held not lower than the
ten commandments.
rhs P fSsr nrsau Was complicated
fee and the Home Ohice-each had a
under three heads-the censoring OF
domestic news and special war articles
Tor the British papers, of the kilograms
and OF an immense mass OF matter
written in different languages by cor
responnen's FOR the allied and neutral
The. nominal head Of the censorship
Was the Home Secretary but Lord
Kitchener was it's founsrr. and for a
long time an autocrat whose prohibit
lions were law. without any appeal save
70 the British Cabinet. For months the
matters 10 consider the working OF
what was first regarded As a very
minor department. Time altered that
point OF view.
Censors Berome Militant.
BEFORE the end of the war the press
m ha
came very important and militant en-
terprises so that even in England
ths newspa pers express misgivings
gle TO return TO the old conditions of
entire freedom from official pilotaRe
Kitchener, like Sherman and Wolscley.
The Old guard of British war CORE
spondents whom kiplinE photoEra phed
in the Light That Failed. suffered a
slight at his hands which their dig
nifty never forgave when Kitchener Of
ficially recommended soldier for a
medal for saving the life of a camp
one of the most important of the corps
OF professional war writer's.
Five Home Secretaries passed across
the stage Of the Press, Bureau. They
were Sir f. +. Smith. the present Lord
Chancellor: whose new title is Lord
B;rkenhead: Sir Stanley Buckmaster.
who also served brief term on the
woolsack of the Lords; Sir John simon.
VINO opposes Sir Edward Carson in
nearly all the most important cases in
the English courts: Sir George Cave
eral Scotchman. who was transferred
TO the Home Office after brief service
as Chief Secretary for ireland.
early In its history the administra-
TWO directors, each with precisely
equal and similar powers and duties
Each was dug out" which is the
term for the army of retired officers
ana civilians who put on the harness
again when the war came. and which
does not imply disparagement, because
Sir Frank Swettenham's active career
had been on the civil stan of the
straits Settlements and he had retired
from the post of governor-general
Malay language. and a list Of several
books on Malay life to his credit Sir
Edward Cook had long record in
journalism, ending with the editorship
of the Daily News, and afterward de-
voted several years to the editorship
Of Ruskin's works and authorship of
writings on English literature.
Bureau Really Side Issue.
Real control of censorship. as Amer
lean correspondents found it. rested
with neither the Home Secretary nor
tions OF military and naval news were
passed upon by military and naval
G SesSts no The heads Of those depart
and Admiral Sir Douglas Brownrigg,
while matters of foreign and diplo-
matte affairs often went to the For
eign Office. The press bureau was only
side issue among the many activi-
ties OF the Home Secretary, and the
directors of the bureau could not over
rule professional advice when mill
tary matters were put before them SO
long as Lord Kitchener was on the
scene his policy was one Of extreme
secrecy; and for some time afterward
the military chung to the conviction
that war censorship was essentially
a military measure. and one to be con-
troiled by the military.
Probably the general reputation OF
the British censorship suffered from
the hrst few months Of the war when
an ovcrburdened and anxious Cabinet
found no time for lha uffuirs nf liz