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Show SO PEOPLE MAY KNOW; " By Fred Qoodcell I EDITOR SALT LAKE TELEGRAM ! Th expUnation is nudt today by tht United Frtu that iU mtg; cabled yesterday from' France and announcing the signing of an armistice by the alliee and Germany and fixing 2 o'clock! ae the hour when hostilities ceased on the western front, was authorised br Admiral Henry B. Wilson. 1 10. 8. N.( commander of the American forces in French waters. Admiral Wilson five the news to' Roy W. Howard, president of the United Frees, and approved the sendinr of Howard's message to j the United BUtea. . The fact remains, however, that the armistice, had not been signed and the information fur-j nisbed by Admiral Wilson was not true. In hundreds of cities throughout the United States, in! France and in England, extra editions of newspapers were islued. and in hundreds of cities impromptu celebrations were held, all baaed upon the incorrect information furnished by Admiral Wilson and flashed throughout the world by the United Press. . The Telegram felt justified in putting faith in the United Press report and gave the news as it ! came, without the change of a single word, to the people of Salt Lake City. At the same time it carried Associated Press reports and Secretary Lansing's statement discrediting the verarity of the! United Press message. Throughout all vesUrdar and last nlffht the United Press imisted it mm,m ' was eorrsct At midnight Ust night Tbe Telegnni received a message from the New York office of ' th. United Press, ssying: J -"The message from Howard is correct." j Under the circumstances. The Telegram did not feel Justified in discarding the United Press; messare. The situation lent color to the belief that the United Press had scored a notable beat. A total lack of newt dispatches from the western froqt gave emphasis' to this belief. In fairness, how-ever, how-ever, Tbe Telegram printed the Associated Press dispatches questioning the veracity of tbe rival association's news. Today somes the absolute proof that tbe United Press report was not true. What appeared for many hours to be a ootabl newt beat had been timed into one of the greatest news fiascos in history. . The Tslsgram relied npon the veracity of tbe United Press and gave the news to the people i of Bait Lake City in good faith. There waa ao reason to believe it false news; to the contrary, there waa every reason to believe it true, because the message bore tbe signatures of Boy W. Howard, perrident of the United Press, and William Philip Simms, manager of the Paris bureau of the United Press. It , was inconceivable that such important news would be passed by tbe censor in Prance if it was not true. : ' This statement is being made to tho people of Salt Laka City and to all readers of The Telegram Tele-gram that they may fully understand the situation. Keliance must be put ia the press associations with which any newspaper deals, and very seldom do these associations make a mistake. Veracity and reliability are the bulwarks oa which a successful newspaper must build, and The Telegram has! striven, and will continue to strive, to make its news reports as accurate as it is humanly possible to! be. The false report of the signing of the armistice was not conceived nor manufactured by The Telegram; it came to The Telegram office, just as it ttid to hundreds of other newspaper offices, backed by the good faith of tho United Press, and it waa handled by these newspapers in good faith. Thia, I know, the readers and the friends of The Telegra.m -1 believe. |