The Connecticut labor news., 1921-11-04
NOW BELIEVE GERMANY FAXED
 PREMATURE ARMISTICE TO FORCE
 BRINGING ABOUT OF REAL THING
FORMER A R M Y INTELLI- GENCE OFFICER SAYS FALSE NEWS WAS WORK OF TUE TON PROPAGANDISTS.

The belief that the flake" armistice report on Nov. 7, 1918, was hoax of German propagandistS who wished to stir sentiment in the allied countries for the real armistice-which came four days latcr-iS expressed by Arthur Hornblow, IT,, army intelli- gence officer at Brcst during the war, in an article in the November issue of The Century Magazine.
 It, was at Brcst that the erroneous report received Credence that carried it almost around the world and stir red peoples of the United States and other parts of the allied nations to rcjoicing unmatched in the ages. Mir, Hornblow tells of the receipt of the report by Admiral Wilson at Brest from the commander who was naval attache at the Embassy in Paris, of the admiraPs courtesy in showing the telegram to Roy Howard, president of the United Press, and of Towards energy in leaping to what he believed would be the greatest news "bcat' or Scoop" in newspaper history.
 But if the Wilson statement exon erated Howard" wrote Mr. Horn blow, "as it did and as it should have done, for in my opinion he was some
 
 armstice celebration than the Amer ican newspapers which printed the cable as absolute truth, despite other conflicting dispatches they were i'll re ceipt of at the time, who was to blame?
 Tt is said that the wire signed by Commander Jackosn was based on in formation tclcphoncd 10 the American embassy by person who purpOrted to be speaking officially from the French ministry of war. Thus in way we find ourselves face to face with an object of ultimate blame that is as mysterious as it is unknown, for subsequent investigation showed that no one at the ministry had called the embassy that day.
 Possibility of Joke.
 "There is a possibility, of course, that the cmbassy's anonymous infor- mant was nothing else than a practi- cal joker. This, however, is scarcely credible. Some other motivating force may very properly be looked for than the mere desire to jest.
 For reasons which I shall ex- pound, it is my belief that the naval office in Paris, Admiral Wilson, Roy Howard, and the entire United States of America were the victims of one or more secret agents of the German Espionage Corps.
 Tt will be recalled that, on the morning of Nov 7, enemy plcnipOten tiaries were reported to be coming through the lines to sue for an armis- tice. It being a principle of the Ger man intelligence system that fixed operators'-namely, spies on perman- ont H11f\v rI] 1Ct nINrl on their own initiative and without orders, taking into consideration the news and needs of the day, 1t is req sonable 10 suppose that an intelli gent enemy agent in Paris would set about doing his utmost on Nov 7 to create popular desire and demand among the allied people for the Ger man-sought armistice.
 The existence of such an attitude on the part of the people would make for a more certain and sWiftcr cesSa- ton of hostilites and an avoidance of the terrible smashing blows that German arms and Germany itself seemed doomed to receive. From psychological and somewhat typical ly German point of view the best possible way of making the public want an armistice would be to tell them that there was an armisticc, and let them taste of the joy that would naturally, await upon the news.
 Might Have Hurt Morale.
 Had the American people not been rewarded with a real termination of the struggle a short time after their wild celebration of the supposed, it must be believed that the reaction of their disappointment would have been both severe and dangerous to home morale.
 "A similar effort to stampede the French press into announcing an ar mistice appears also to have been made It was impossible, of course, to fool Paris, but St. Nazaire re- ,ceivcd the rumor, as did Bordeaux, Marscilles, Nice, Lorient and other French points. It was present in Brest before Admiral Wilson's re- ceipt of the message from Paris.
 "London had it, but it's press was highly conservative in passing judg- ment on its credibility and with one unimportant exception, did not an nounce 1t to the people. Holland and parts of Belgium had it. Hollands having the news" is strongly sug- gestive of enemy espionage effort.
 Thus it would appear that an or ganized attempt was made to make the allied nations cherish an armistice which, though not yet existent, was within easy reach if the people want ed it and showed clearly that they wanted it.
 "Who knows but what it may have had something to do with accom- plishing their purpose? President Wilson cast his important decision for an armstice after he had wit messed the demonstration of Nov 7, reliable proof of the country's senti- ment, and it is said that Wilsonian pressure was largely, if not entirely, accountable for the granting of an armistice at time when French and allied military leaders were prepar- ing to administer to Germany the terrific smashing for which they had built up and to which they were look ing forward eagerly, exultantly."
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