Evening star., 1928-11-04

trary to common belief, he must deter
mine great deal more than whether or
not photograph reveals information of
value to the enemy. He must visualize
in what ways the enemy might make
use of the picture for propaganda pur-
poses by perverting the caption under it
and give it an entirely misleading i'm
port.
The greatest lie ever told about photo
graphs is the statement that photo
graphs do not lie" The military censor
of photographs and every professional
photographer knows otherwise.
Another good example of an "inno-
cent" news photograph that was eagerly
pounced upon by the propagandists in
the enemy countries in the Fall of 1917
and used for bolStering up the morale
of the Germans and Austrians showed
a gathering of lower East Side women
in City Hall Park, New York. These
women had assembled to plead with the
mayor against the rise in price of war
bread. But the picture was circulated
nations, embellished with descriptive
captions that would have made the
newspaper cameramen look pop-eyed.
Behold the anti-war riots that are
sweeping the United States!" was the
substance of the made-in Germany
caption. American women rise in pro-
test against their country's entrance
into Europe's quarrel A collapse of the
United States is iInpending!"
DYNAMITE lurked in more than one
- of the photographs that were care
fully guarded in the secret files of the
War Department in Washington. One
of the most highly explosive of all the
official photographs was made in the
Spring of 1918 in one of the most care
fully guarded spots in all Washington.
To the casual observer the picture was
harmless enough; it showed merely
group of four men, obviously conscious
OF the camera and posing for the occa-
sion.
A closer scrutiny of the picture shows
that one of the civilians in the group
has but one arm; more minute inSpec-
ton reveals that he is none other than
the famous Mexican general Alvaro |
Obregon. Further inspection reveals |
that he is f1anked by two United States |
Army officers, members of the General |
staff Corps. And the background of the |
picture shows enough of brick and |
stone building to be recognizable as the |
Army War College, where what was |
then designated as the War Plans Di-
vision of the General staff Corps was
stationed.
What, the inquiring military mind
may well ask, is Gen. Obregon doing |
N SNashington-and at the Army War
College, of all places?
In the answer to that question lies |
the explosive character of the picture.
It happened that the enemy agents
~ Mexico-SDecifically the German
agents-had been actively engaged in
cultivating anti-American sentiment
among the Mexican people. This cam
oaign had been extending over period
dating back to 1914 and had for its ulti-
mate object an attack upon the United |
States by Mexico. Such move would |
have diverted some of our mill
,ary, naval and financial resources from
.he European battlef1eldS to our South
srn boundary.
Whether or not Gen. Obregon's pres
ence in Washington was known to the
Germans is a matter that may or may
not be on record in the secret archives.
Certainly no Sherlock Holmes would
have been needed to point out certain
probable reasons for his trip. Per-
haps even his secret" presence was
made known to certain |
parties as delicate hint of Uncle |
Sans intentions. Certain 1t is, too, that /
at that time But had this particular |
slipped out of its secret |
hiding place and burst into the public
prints inopportunely the war sentiment |
IN Mexico might conceivably have flared
up, gotten out of hand and precipitated
dangerous situation.
Not all the photographs that were