"Impossible to Conceal"

Thirty leading U. S. dailies have been studied carefully in recent weeks by French Socialist Party Leader Leon Blum.

He discovered, he told the Chamber of Deputies last week, that out of every 100 lines of foreign news printed by these papers 31 lines have been about Germany, 22 about Britain, 18 about Russia & Finland, seven about Italy, six about Japan & China and five about France.

"The responsibility for this sad state of affairs," charged M. Blum, rests with French censorship, "which holds back news too long! What makes this stupidity even worse is that France is not, as in the last war, isolated from the world. It is not possible now--with the radio in existence--to conceal the truth."

Socialist Blum cited as an example the recent programmatic speech of Fascist Foreign Minister Count Ciano of Italy (TIME, Dec. 25), which was cut to ribbons by Premier Edouard Daladier's press censorship but reached French radio listeners in broadcasts from Italy, Germany and even America in an assortment of languages which of course included French. Up jumped Rightist Deputy Xavier Vallat to agree for once with Leftist Blum, gave the Chamber other examples.

Placid and unmoved sat Chief Censor Deputy Martinaud-Deplat, even when Orator Blum boomed at him, "the personnel of the censorship bureau is discredited with the press because of their ignorance of the conditions in which the press has to work, notably the time limitations to which the press is subjected! ... As for photographs, our inferiority is even more disastrous. I have examined recent issues of an important American magazine and I have noticed many fine German pictures and only two mediocre French photographs!"

Premier Daladier, secure in the unanimous vote of confidence which the Chamber gave him fortnight ago, stayed home nursing a cold. Onetime Premier Blum was among the first to concede that control of the press in wartime is necessary not only from the military standpoint but even for political reasons. Thus the Communist dailies of France have been entirely suppressed with the entire approval of Socialist Blum. All speakers made clear they were not attacking the Government on this issue, only making suggestions.

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