§ 30. Mr. WILLIAM YOUNGasked the Home Secretary whether the principle laid down for the conduct of the censorship by his predecessor, namely, that no information should be withheld from the public which would not be of service to the enemy, has been strictly adhered to?
§ Sir J. SIMONThe principle stated by me in this House on 30th June and 22nd September—that the object of the censorship is to prevent the publication of information that might be useful to the enemy—is strongly maintained; but it has to be carried out to some extent by means of general rules. It would, for instance, be impossible for the Bureau to go through all the statements that might be submitted to it on the subject of the Zeppelin raids and eliminate all details that might be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy, and the Press have, therefore, been asked not to publish any information on this subject except the official communications.
§ 31. Mr. W. YOUNGasked the Home Secretary whether, on the Saturday following the recent air raid on the London district, a descriptive account of the equanimity with which the populace regarded the bombardment appeared in the Paris "Figaro"; whether, after the issue of the paper containing it had reached this country and, therefore, in all probability Germany, at least one news agency in London was refused permission to circulate it; whether this article contained any more information than was conveyed in the descriptive article issued to the British Press nine or ten days after the raid; and if he can say why such matter was withheld from the public for such a period?
§ Sir J. SIMONThe reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The publication in the Paris "Figaro" was refused reproduction by a British press agency because it went beyond the official account and gave details the publication of which had been refused to our own Press. The descriptive article issued 1001 to the British Press at a later date was drawn up with the approval of the Admiralty and myself, and it may be possible to issue, after a lapse of time, particulars which it would be inadvisable to publish immediately after the event.