PRESS CENSORSHIP.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 January 1918, Page 5

PRESS CENSORSHIP.

DEFENCE MINISTER AND NEWSPAPERS Außtralian-N.2. Cable Association. Received Jan. 14, 10.5 p.m. Melbourne, Jan. 14. Senator Pearce (Minister of Defence), in evasively replying to the Sun's censorship comments, maintains that the particular message was never published in England, but sent direct by the London representative. Therefore it was not a case in point. Tie Sun states that Mr Pearee's challenge contained no reference to publication in London. The fact remains that the British censor passed the cable, which was interfered with here. No farcical military explanation can do away with the fact of the political censorship. [A previous wire stated that an interesting controversy had arisen between Mr. J. E. Fitzgerald, Minister of Health, and Senator Pearce, respecting the operation of the censorship. Senator Pearce challenged Mr. Fitzgerald to produce evidence of one single instance wherein deletions had been made in war news from Britain. Mr. Fitzgerald accepted the challenge, publishing expunged passages in a recent message referring Bolely to football matches among the Australian forces. Commenting upon such censorship, he said it was a particularly poisonous thing, because it was political censorship for party purposes. He added: "If Senator Pearce want* further instances, he can have them, not singly, but in battalions."]