Lansing Closes Sources of News of America's Foreign Relationships

Lansing Closes Sources of News of America's Foreign Relationships
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WASHINGTON, May 7.—The usual channels of information through which news of America's relationships to foreign powers have up to now reached the public were closed today by Secretary Lansing. An order bearing his name was distributed broadcast to State Department officials instructing them not to talk with newspapermen “even in insignificant matters of fact or detail.” Henceforth, under the order, the press will not be able to discuss the background of complicated international questions with the experts at the head of each bureau.
The order says that hereafter all news of the department must be given out eother by the Secretary himself or by the newly created so-called Bureau of Foreign Intelligence. Secretary Lansing sees the newspaper men twice daily, but does not pretend to be able to answer the maze of questions which every hour of the day is raised by newspaper cables. The meetings are becoming mare and more pefrfunctory.
The Bureau of Foreign Intelligence is about a month old and is charged not only with the press, but with supplying news to all American missions abroad. Usually very much behind the press cables because of the need of coding and decoding, the bureau, at the same time, because of its relative lack of authority, confines itself mostly to formal statements on news facts and does not attempt to provide the background or explanation which give international news its real value.
Consequently, from now on, if today's order remains in effect, the public will receive from the State Department only such perfunctory news as the bureau gives out, and such fragmentary explanations as Secretary Lansing himself finds time for in the crush of other work. The bureau chiefs, handling questions of the Far East, South America, the Near East, or Western Europe, will not be able to give to the public the benefit of their expert knowledge and intimate familiarity of their specialized situations.Secretary Lansing, in discussing the order tonight, said that the present situation was entirely too delicate for the various bureau chiefs to be giving out information. He said he recently had learned that some matters which he had not wished published had come out through newspaper men seeing various officials of the department, and he did not feel that they should expect to continue such visits under the present situation.
An official today declined to give information to a correspondent as to the personality of a foreigner who had lately come into prominence. The refusal was based on the Secretary's order. The text of the order follows:
“In connection with the organization of the Division of Foreign Intelligence the Secretary desires to restrict the giving of information to the press to those statements made by himself and to the statements of the division. It is desired that all officials of the department hereafter refrain from discussing matters of public business with press representatives. Any request for information should be referred to th division in Room 205. In order to avoid questions or conference it is desired that this procedure be applied even to insignificant matters of fact or detail.”