Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-05-10

ST AR, Washington, DC.
Y, MAY 10, le45.
the first announcements they In
formed me verbally that their pass
ing of the dispatch was rescinded.
They made it clear their decision
was not due to any matter of mill
tary security but to a decision as
to what channels through which
the news would be announced.
Notified Chief Censor.
Il have enough confidence in the
censors to believe that if any mill
tary security had been involved they
would not have marked my dispatch
passed and affixed their signatures
to that statement"
After my return to Paris the
German government announced Off
cially that it had surrendered and
I was informed that BIC likewise
had announced the capitulation. I
therefore went to 1t. Col. Richard
Merrick, chief American press CEN
sor, and told him that since it was
conceded that no military security
was involved, and that I regarded
the suppression as purely political
censorship, that I could not be
bound by it, intended to send the
news. I based this statement on
assurances given by the late Presi-
dent Roosevelt and other respon-
sible American officials that the
sole purpose of censorship was mill
tary security in Europe, except inso-
far as it might affect the war in the
Pacific. I also telephoned to Gen.
Allen to tell him of my intention
of passing this dispatch, but was
told by his secretary that he was
too busy to speak to me.
Gen. Aliens next point is that
breaking of the story before the
Russians had their own formal sign
ing might break down negotiations.
IF this were true then it must be
assumed that the Reims agreement
was an empty gesture, although it
was signed by the Russians and
agreed to by the Germans.
All Troops Informed.
THE contention that negotiations
might break down is not borne out
by the supreme commands action
in that hours before my story was
sent out Gen. Eisenhower officially
notified all troops that the sur
render was signed and that the war
was over at 1901 am. May 9. This
showed that he had no doubts that
the Reims agreement officially ended
the war.
Il have been reporting this war
since its start and have found that
despite assurances given that the
sole purpose of military censorship
was military security, in many in
stances censorship has gone far
beyond this point. l have always
made it perfectly clear to Gen. Allen
and to public relations officials gen.
orally both here and in the Medi-
terranean theaters that I took the
guarantee that censorship was con-
fined to military security very seri-
ously and at its face value and
would not voluntarily submit to
political censorship, as this would
mean the end of free press and
of all freedom in the world
Gen. Aliens statement follows:
The following facts are pertinent
to the widely publicized incident
in which the Associated Press is
alleged to have obtained a scoop"
l. In anticipation of some offer
by the German high command to
surrender its forces, I applied to
the supreme commander for author
lty to have any meeting between
representatives of the German high
command and our own forces COW
cred by accredited representatives
of the press.
OF Utmost Secrecy.
2. The supreme commander in
formed me that negotiations mi
tiated by the Germans were of the
utmost secrecy, particularly because
of the great difficulty, due to dis
lance, of exactly co-ordinating an
action of this kind with the Russian
Army so that any unconditional sur
render could be made Simultaneous
ly on both the western and eastern
fronts. The need for secrecy was
intensified by the fact that the Ger
mans were then desperately trying,
through propaganda and false state
ments, to create misunderstanding
between the Russian forces and the
Allies on the western front and
even broadcast as late as noon May
6 that they intended to begin nego-
tiations with the Allies so as to
gain time and strength for the
battle with Russian forces.
Due to the desire of the supreme
commander to obtain a surrender
at the earliest possible moment so
as to save Allied lives on both
fronts, he requested authority from
the Russian high command to act
initially in accepting an uncondi-
tional surrender on all fronts so as
to bring the whole matter speedily
to head. The understanding was
that he would observe the greatest
secrecy in any negotiations with the
German high command to accept
nothing less than simultaneous I'M
conditional surrender on both fronts
and particularly to make no an
nouncement of any kind until the
Russian high command could be
satisfied through later and more