The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-07-14

TRUTHFULNEss OF THE WAR BULLETINS is
worthy of remark that the dispatches of the
French Emperor from the seat of war have been,
tor 70 far, wonderfully reliable. Making allow
arce for the want of accuratefnformatoo as to the
llrtrnlis Of battle within an hour or two Of it,
occurrence, the bulletins despatched to Paris
have been generally marked with great truthful
ness. There must be always some exagQeratiou
expected in estimating the loss of the enemy.
and it is but natural that either party should
prefer to look at the bright rather than at the
dark side Of the picture, 90 far as their own side
is Represented in it. When, therefore, Napoleon
teleerapbs to the Empress that the Allies have
been victorious in battle, and have repulsed
the Ausrrians with loss of SO many thousand
killed wounded aud prisoners, the despatch is
hsid 10 be veracious, even though the Austrian
Losses are subsequently found to be one.fourih
less than was at first supposed, aud the French
loss greater in the same proportion. 1t is i'm.
possible at such time to make accurate esti-
mates, and these discrep ances are quite natu, al
The Austrians begin to initiate the French In
that respect. They had commenced by prac-
tising the old plan Of putting the best face on
everything, and had even carried out that plan
60 far as to claim Magenta in the first place as
q victory for their arms,l and then smake out
their defeat as o strategical movement; but they
&c sm to have recognized the folly of such q
course, and to abandon it as silly and ridiculous.
Aud SC we fad the Austrian commander franklv
admitting that be was defeated in the last great
battle Of Solferino, thoughlhe attributes that
result particularly to the terrific thunderstorm
that broke over the Geld. Tolsbe sure. the
Austciaus fall into the same error of oyer.
estimating the eneHay's loss, and under-esti-
mating their own; lbuts SO long as their
dispatches show such groundwork of truth
we caanot quarrel with these slight mac.
curacies In detail.
This truthfulness wasssa remarkable feature in
the Russian accounts Of the siege Of Sebas-
topol. WhenN Gortschakof made reports to
the Emperor of the. progress of the siege,
or Of the results of sally, he told the
simple truth, without disguise or palla-
ton. These bulletins, when they came to
be afterwards published in the Western papers,
were found to be remarkably accurate and re-
liable, even more SO than were the French or
English dispatches.
This righteousness On the part Of the govern
ments and their generals is quite a new feature
in warlike operations, and is a gratifying evi-
dence Of the progres 30 Of the world in the belief
that honesty is the best policy. Formerly no re-
lance whatever could be placed upon the bulle-
tins sent by the respective commanders from the
seat Of VA. Now they are almost as reliable
as If they were writtea by disinterested gpecta-
tor. We do not care to consider now lew far
this may be owing to the modern habit Of giving
facilities TO newspaper correspondents, and al
loving hem to accompany the armies Doubt
less this circumstance has a great effect in in
drsipg commanders to be truthful in their
dispatches Our object simply is to call atten-
ton to this gratifying fact. 1t is to be hoped
row that this truthfnlness in the .domain of war
will be carried also into the domain of diplo-
macy, and bring into disrepute and contempt the
Nachlavellian principles Of international policy
which have too long prevailed in the. Old World.
Magma est verisas.