t adopted before the war"! In that case the absurdity
was so obvious that its effect upon most readers of the article
probably was to make them regard the whole of it as rubbish, which was
not correct. One wonders whether the following passage, which appeared
in the very early days of the war in one of our foremost newspapers,
may not have had something to do with that entirely unwarranted
confidence in the "steam-roller" on the Eastern Front which prevailed
in England between August 1914 and May 1915: "I refer to General
Sukhomlinoff, the Russian Kitchener, who is reorganizing the Russian
armies. Thanks to him, the Tsar's armies are irreproachably equipped."
Compare p. 283.

An article appeared in a leading Sunday newspaper in the spring of
1919, signalized by this amazing travesty of the actual facts. In a
reference to our land forces of the early days of the struggle, the
writer spoke of "armies sent to war lacking almost every modern
requisite." Now, the Press generally manages to avoid grossly false
statements of that kind when referring to individuals; if it does fall
into such an error, the sequel is either an abject apology or else an
uphill fight in the law courts followed by the payment of heavy
damages. It is quite conceivable that the author of this unpardonable
misrepresentation imagined himself to be telling the truth and that he
erred out of sheer ignorance; but, if so, that merely serves to
indicate how badly informed journalists often are of the matters which
they are dealing with, when the question at issue happens to concern
military subjects.

The expediency of affording greater opportunities to that great body
of temporary officers who had joined up (many of them men of marked
ability and advanced education), for occupying superior positions on
the staff or for holding high command, was taken up warmly by a number
of newspapers at the beginning of 1918. It is not proposed to discuss
the theme on its merits--there was a good deal to be said for the
contention. The matter is merely referred to because of the manner in
which it was handled by the organs that were pressing it upon the
notice of the public. Reference was very properly made to brains. But
not one word was said about knowledge. Now, brains without knowledge
may make an efficient Pressman--one is sometimes tempted to assume
that the battalions of journalism are to some extent recruited from
this source of supply. But brains without knowle