Evening star., 1923-11-15
FRANCE ASKS HUGE
FUND
5000, 900 Francs to Create
Favorable Opinion Abroad
Is Sought.
BY PAUL SCOTT MowRER.

By Cable to The Star and Chica 90 Daily News.
Copyright. 1928.
PARIS. November 15.-Premier
Poincare and Finance Minister Las
teyrie are asking the house of depu-
ties, in the name of President Mile
rand, for a credit of 100000 francs
in 1924 as secret fund for the pur-
pose Of disseminating French news"
abroad.
An interesting statement of motives
accompanying this demand saya In
part;y 90 .,@,.
! "Ths campaigns directed against
France in the foreign press and the
errors made in interpreting French
policy have shown how dangerous 1t
would be, TO allow the opinion. ,not
only OF neutrals and former enemies,
but also OF our allies and friends. to
be m !sguided by mischievous fables. or
unjust reproaches concerning US.
The voice. of our press and the
words OF our orators do not penetrate
to the masses of the foreign public.
To reach these masses effectively. the
only sure means is daily Information,
sent by agencies or special correspon-
dents, and reproduced mechanically
Dy newspapers TedQ III tHOuBhuQS Oh
copies throughout the universe.
Reaction UnfavsrabIe.
"It is under the discreet and cease
less action OF these press kilograms
that great currents Of opinion are
formed which reacts powerfully on
the attitude of governments.
Hence all peoples having view
points to defend try. to favor that
system Of information which. by It's
rapidity and accuracy. imposes itself
upon the foreign press. There results
an emulation between the various
countries. each seeking to spread its
own version OF the daily happenings
and control the network OF news
which covers the world.
I'm this competiti whose ups and
downs do not appear to the public.
France does not occupy a place appro-
Its civilization. Certain countries
have long possessed highly developed
telegraph and telephone systems Of
fer.ng quick and cheap means of
are almost all under foreign control.
The wireless. In which our technical
and material progress has been 80
striking. Is not able always to render
the same service as the telegraph.
Our offices Of information therefore
are often at a disadvantage as COM
pared with our rivals" .,..-r
United States Situation Bad.
"Tn the United States. French news
Is far from obtaining all the diffusion
desirable, our Latin American friends
frequently complaining that they are
unable to follow events in France.
save through mendacious or sus-
picious versions. In the far east
unique source Of Information on de-
velopments in European politics.
Germany. which even before the
war understood so well the primor-
cise prodigious activity in this field.
The Wolf agency. 1t is true, is no
longer without rivals. 1t has COM
petitors, some subsidized by power
ful financial consortiums and others
all are fighting for the same cause
painting in daily bulletins a picture
of a Germany impoverished and un-
able to pay her debts and denounclng
with avidity the injustice Of Ger
many's adversariea and the pretended
violence Of their methods. -
"Thanks to skillfully arranged tele-
phone relays, German news spread
from Berlin or Munich over the Scan
Jugoslavia and the Balkans. The hap
penings announced in this way are
usually travestied and disfigured.
Frezch News Submerged.
Beaten in speed and submerged
under, a flood of mendacious or lying
teiegrams, French news risks being
relsgated to the background or me-
elected completely. Considerable ef-
fort should be made TO remedy this
state of things. There are no
shadowy or unspeakable substrata In
our national policies, and we have
everything to gain from the fullest
possible light. ..~.
'By daily news dispatches we
should correct the. Misrepresentation
concerning the situation Of our credit,
our finances, our commercial balance
and the reconstructfon' OF our devas-
tatedi areas The task is particularly
arduous because OF the high telegraph
,Trhe government. therefore. asks
parliament for q credit Of six milliop
francs for the dissemination Of
Trsndh news, without rendering any
public account Of how the sum 10 ex-
pended" - - is