“The troops composing the Army of France have been subjected to as severe a trial as it is possible to impose upon any body of men.  The desperate fighting described in my last dispatch had hardly been brought to a conclusion when they were called upon to face the rigours and hardships of a winter campaign.  Frost and snow have alternated with periods of continuous rain.”

    “The men have been called upon to stand for many hours together
    almost up to their waists in bitterly cold water, separated by only
    one or two hundred yards from a most vigilant enemy.”

    “Although every measure which science and medical knowledge could
    suggest to mitigate these hardships was employed, the sufferings of
    the men have been very great.”

“In spite of all this they present a most soldier like, splendid, though somewhat war-worn appearance.  Their spirit remains high and confident; their general health is excellent, and their condition most satisfactory.”

“I regard it as most unfortunate that circumstances have prevented any account of many splendid instances of courage and endurance, in the face of almost unparalleled hardship and fatigue in war, coming regularly to the knowledge of the public.”

So it is clearly not the fault of Sir John French that England does not know the names of her heroes, or that their families are denied the comfort of knowing that their sons fought bravely and died nobly.  It is not the fault of the British people, waiting eagerly for news that does not come.  Surely, in these inhuman times, some concession should be made to the humanities.  War is not moving pawns in a game; it is a struggle of quivering flesh and agonised nerves, of men fighting and dying for ideals.  Heroism is much more than duty.  It is idealism.  No leader is truly great who discounts this quality.

America has known more of the great human interest of this war than England.  English people get the news from great American dailies.  It is an unprecedented situation, and so far the English people have borne it almost in silence.  But as the months go on and only bare official dispatches reach them, there is a growing tendency to protest.  They want the truth, a picture of conditions.  They want to know what their army is doing; what their sons are doing.  And they have a right to know.  They are making tremendous sacrifices, and they have a right to know to what end.

The greatest agent in the world for moulding public opinion is the press.  The Germans know this, and have used their journals skilfully.  To underestimate the power of the press, to fail to trust to its good will and discretion, is to refuse to wield the mightiest instrument in the world for influencing national thought and national action.  At times of great crisis the press has always shown itself sane, conservative, safe, eminently to be trusted.