The other propaganda with which Negro officers and soldiers had to contend was inaugurated to discredit them in French opinion to the extent that they would not be accorded social recognition or accepted as equals. There was organized effort on the part of the American military authorities to influence French public opinion in this regard. In its issue for May, 1919, the _Crisis_ published a document on “Secret information concerning black American troops,” sent out on August 7, 1918, by the French military mission stationed with the American Army. The object of this document was to give French officers commanding black American troops “an exact idea of the position occupied by Negroes in the United States.” Conclusions were reached as follows: “We must prevent the rise of any pronounced degree of intimacy between French officers and black officers”; “We must not commend too highly the black Americans”; and “Make a point of keeping the native cantonment population from ‘spoiling’ the Negroes.” This document did not represent French but American opinion, and when the French ministry heard of its distribution, copies were collected and burned. Meanwhile individuals exerted great effort to influence the French population in the treatment of Negro soldiers. At times when Negro troops went to a city which had been occupied by white soldiers, the people stood off and were afraid, partly because they had not seen so many Negroes before, but also because of the statements that had been made. At Bourbonne-les-Bains the people were told that they must remain indoors, carry guns, and not allow Negroes in their homes. Among the statements that the French people themselves afterwards informed the Negroes were made were the following: “Negroes cannot be treated with common civility”; “They are no good”; “They are rapists”; “Americans lynch and burn Negroes to keep them in their places”; and “They are uncivilized and have tails like monkeys.” The spirit which prompted some men to make the statements given here prompted others to use their authority to carry out their ideas. There were “campaigns of ruthlessness,” and many unkind deeds occurred in the effort to perpetuate “American ideals.” Certainly two-thirds of the difficulties experienced by the colored soldiers in France were due to American resentment of the attitude of the French people in receiving them on equal terms, and especially of the kindly disposition of the French women. Much of the denial of privileges to Negro soldiers to visit parts of France was due, directly or indirectly, to the effort to prevent them from associating with the French people. Thousands of men within a few hours of Paris were not able to get more than a twelve-hour pass.