A propos of this incident it may be noted that
strong proof of the reality of this danger of the Censor overstepping his functions, and becoming a special correspondent without responsibility either to an employer or to the public, is afforded by the Daily Mail last week. It published on Tuesday an account of the way in which the Censor dealt on a former occasion with a telegram sent by its correspondent. Here the Censor did not merely omit certain expressions used by the correspondent, which, whether correct or not, were certainly perfectly harmless, but actually inserted words of his own which entirely altered the effect of a telegram in regard to matters of opinion. Mr. Edgar Wallace, the correspondent in question, wrote in regard to a certain action that the Yeomanry and the Australians had done specially well. The Censor not only cut out the commendation of the Yeomanry and the Australians, but also the name of an officer, Captain Marker, selected by the correspondent for special comment, and. substituted the name of another officer, Colonel Owen. These facts were formally notified to Lord Kitchener by Mr. Wallace.
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