OCR Text |
Show LEER ACTION AGAINST CREEL RECOMMENDED: i Senator 'Smoot and Representative Repre-sentative Kieas Submit Report MEN CHARGED WTH SECRET CONNIVANCE Numerous Abuses in Government Govern-ment Publications and Alleged Al-leged Misuse of Funds WASHINGTON, April 11. (By the Associated Press) Logal proceedings brought by the government against George J. Creel, former chairman of the committeo on public information, Roger W. Babson, of Welleslcy Hills, Mass.. and others, concerned In tho transfer of tho committee's war publication, pub-lication, tho Of flclal Bulletin, to Bab-son, Bab-son, are recommended in a report made public today by Senator Smoot, Republican, Utah, chairman, and Representative Rep-resentative Kiess, Republican, vice chairman of the joint congressional printing committee. In Secret Connivance. Tho report charges that Babson obtained ob-tained tho "bulletin" In March, 1919, by "socret connivance" with Creel and others, "without the government receiving re-ceiving a cent in compensation," and urger. that suit bo brought to obtain "Just compensation" for the government. govern-ment. Numerous abusos in government publications, including army and navy and other war service Journals, aro charged in tho report. Many of these publicatlons.lt says wore used for propaganda prop-aganda favorable to tho league of nations, na-tions, the league of adherents and officers of-ficers in charge. Advertisements, the report asserts, included "get rich" oil speculations and political propaganda Improper in government publications. Abuse of Fundc. Another alleged abuse of government govern-ment funds charged by tho report, was printing of 30,144,362 speeches of fed-oral fed-oral officials at an expense of $442,798 to the government. Paper consumed totalled 1,451,000 pounds. Tho report says the committee under un-der its power to supervise government printing investigated 2GG Journals, magazines ma-gazines and periodicals and discontinued discon-tinued 111 at a saving of $1,200,000 annually. an-nually. Eight army and ,navy newspapers newspa-pers and magazines were suppressed at a saving of $400,000. "TI1I3 has been done," the report states, "without a single protest from any man from the ranks, chiofly in whose interests it has been urged tho publications were printed. Tho objection objec-tion to discontinuing came entirely fiom high ranking officers." Many of the war service publications, publica-tions, tho report declared, "wero established es-tablished fo the slf-glorificatIon of certain interests and lb provide comfortable com-fortable and safo' places for a large number of men who found such occupation occu-pation more congennial than active in the front line trenches." Propaganda Nipped in Bud. The law giving the printing committee commit-tee control over government publica-tlonc, publica-tlonc, the report declares, "nipped in I the tho greatest propaganda scheme the country has ever escaped." f'Thore is no doubt," the report says.! "that a certain clique both in and out or the army and navy had their preparations prepa-rations well advanced to cover the country with an all-enmeshing claim of nowspapers and magazines for the' purpose of spreading and fastening their military and international doctrine doc-trine upon the United States. "Another extravagant publication issued by the Creel committee," tho report re-port said, "was the so-called national school service," which distributed to teachers. Scheme to Enliot Teachers. "Its underlying purposes," the report re-port declares, "seems to have been to convert teachers to tho Idea of the league of nations and to urge them to teach that doctrine to their school children." The government publications were used extensively by propagandists, the report charges, declaring articles favoring fa-voring tho league of nations appeared in many with no articles in opposition. "This propaganda extended as far as tho Amaroc "News printed at Cob-lenz, Cob-lenz, Germany," the report adds. "Even tho wet propagandists," the report continues, "got a good start in army publications. Articles and editorials edi-torials boosting the liquor interests appeared ap-peared before the committee suggested that further discussion of the subject was not essential to army vocational training or operation of army hospitals." hospi-tals." in |