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Paris office had been placed for publication in France and in

the French Colonies themessage of PresidentWilson to Congress December 3, 1917. The Havas Agency was also asked to send it out verbatim to all of its correspondents in Italy, Spain , Portugal, and Switzerland, and it was also entrusted with sending it ver batim from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro .43

How serious are the responsibilities of all foreign news-collect ing agencies is indicated by the action of the Associated Press, the English Reuter 's Telegram Agency, and the Havas Agency in severing their connection with the Swedish Telegram Bureau

on account of its pro -German activities.44 A somewhat similar situation existed when the British and

the French governments refused mail and cable privileges to the International News Service because the Hearst papers that subscribed to this service had violated the censorship and had published exaggerated or false dispatches purporting to have been cabled to the United States from Europe. The ban was subsequently removed and mail and cable privileges restored on all lines controlled by Great Britain, its colonies, and its allies,

but the removal of the ban applied only to the International News Service as an agency, and not to the Hearst newspapers.45

The gravity of the responsibilities of news-collecting agencies in collecting, selecting, and distributing news can not be over

stated. The ramifications of these agencies extend to every part of the globe and it seems clear that the historian finds these responsibilities best understood and met by co -operative news paper agencies rather than by those controlled by private or governmental organization. Closely allied in object with the news- gathering associations

that furnish news to the city dailies are the news-distributing organizations that supply country weeklies with reading matter and illustrations. This service is of two kinds, “ boiler-plate "

and " ready -print.” Plate service is furnished in the form of 43 New York Evening Post, December 5, 1917. 4 R . C . Long, New York Evening Post, June 21, 1918 . - The Swedish press bureau was proprietary, in the hands of a single individual. A new independent agency wasreported as about to be founded . — Daily press , June 21, 1918.

45 New York Times, February 16, 1918.