THE SUPPRESSION OF BAD NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 July 1915, Page 4

THE SUPPRESSION OF BAD NEWS.

Much speculation lias been hazarded as to the grounds on wliieli the military authorities have initial?! and carried out a policy of suppression of by i news, allowing it to trickle through in a belated manner, as if it were too precioiiß to I>e put in circulation. It used to be said that "ill news (lies aipace," but tho war haa certainly upset that thco-y, and the people of tho Empire resent the change. If tho matter is analysed and probed to its depths the insinuation that must be be deduced is not of a flattering kind, for the only rational construction that can be placed on the policy is a charge of cowardice—the inability to stand the shock of the truth. This is by no means agreeable to British reputation, and loss so to colonial hardihood. We have only to look at what happened in Canada when it became known that her brave sons hail been so badly cut up on tho western front. At once there was an outburst of unparalleled enthusiasm to avenge those who liad fallen, and the general feeling was that Canada would send her last man to crush tho life-blood out of the remorseless foe. It was tho murder of helpless women and children in England by the German air-raids, and l>y the sinking of the 'Lusitania that the Old Country was thoroughly aroused to action against the world's oppressor?, and it is always in a crisis that the true character of the people is exhibited. The question that naturally arises ia: Do tlie authorities look upon the people as being so effete and neurotic as to he unable to Ixsar bad news, and yet to he sufficiently prepared to bear the cruel torture of harrowing suspense, unjustifiably prolonged? If tio, this attitude is a ulnning example of red-tape rule. What is it that made tho Empire of which we are so proud? Grit!—the dogged, solid grit of our men and women, and rt is that self-same characteristic that maintains and extends its scope of action. It is Nature's way to be severe in order to produce the. best fruits. The coddling, grandmotherly process leads to ultimate disaster, so that there is much virtue in the hardening process which operates as a necessary tonic, for without this healthy corrective there would be that degeneracy which is exemplified in the belief that physical comfort is tlie end of ends. Bad news has its use when it brings fear to a wilful optimism nourished I>y the sops of falsehood. Then why should the bracing tonic be withheld? It transformed modern, pleasure - loving France into a country braced to bear all misfortune witll cool wisdom, and out of a chaos of party strife there came harmonious vigor and courage, even the women of seventy cheerily toiling in the fields with the hearts of their absent Sons. We in New Zealand are by force of circumstances strong and courageous, and that is why we Want the. truth, the whole truth, and that as promptly as .possible, We heed no bracing ton Tool reverses to stimulate our patriotism, ah| resent- the imputation of cowardice implied by the authorities' short-sighted and nerve-racking policy. To suppress (bad news is to spoil a nation,, keeping it away from a thorough renaissance where that process is needed, and damping the ardor of the more virile peoples who have by constant contact with Nature become used to her severe discipline and grown sturdy, self-reliant and courageous enough to stand the strain of the war's dark side with all its inherent suffering and loss.