Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1863-05-21
THE MILITARY CENSORSHIP.


In the absence of any authentic or official news
from the Army of the Potomac, our contemporaries
at the North are very soundly berating the Score
tary of War because of the military censorship"
he established over the transmission of intelligence
relating to the advance, progress, and retreat Of
Gen. Hooker en- the occasion of his recent brief
campaign. And from the uniformity as well as
the number of the complaints uttered on this
score we are left to infer that the in which
the embargo upon dispatches as to military affairs
was carried out during the late operations has met
with very general censure, even from those who
are most liberal in their views as to the supervision
that may be judiciously exercised by the Govern
ment
The inutility, or, if not the inutility, the par
TALLY Of this restrictive system strikingly dis
closed by the fact that while other journals were
not allowed to receive through the teegraphic wires
the intelligence possessed by their correspondents
In this city respecting the retreat Of Gen Hooker
on the night of Tuesday the 9Th instant, the New
York Tribune succeeded in obtaining information
of the retrograde movement by despatch transmit
ted Gin cipher" which, it seems, euded the vigi-
lance of the military censor. If there he'd been
any thing harmful in the transmission of such in
telligence, the underhand way in which the con-
traband news was "smuggled through" would
have doubtless led to the arrest and punishment Of
the correspondent but as no notice, SO far as we
are aware, has been taken of his stratagem, it only
remains to suppose that no offence was committed
in the premises. But, then, the question neces-
sariy recurs, why were other correspondents,
equally well informed but less ingenious, debarred
the privilege Of communicating with their journals
in plain English It would seem that censor
set to prevent the transmission of all military news
by the telegraph should not have had his suspicious
lulled by the sight of a message an cipher.
The Philadelphia Bulletin, in abiding to the
fact that the intelligence Of Gen. Hookers retreat
and of the recrossing of the Rappahannock was
published in New York and Washington on Thurs
day morning, the 7th instant, while it was not
generally known in that city remarks as follows in
its number of Thursday evening" of that same date:
This in New York last night, and must have
been in Washington in the afternoon But the teegaphc
censorship did not allow it to be communicated to the
press. Stockholders had It, and Rambled it. But the
Ieatv snd friends of the soldiers fighting in Hookers
army allowed to believe that every thing going
prospe,ousy snch conduct Is either cruelty. madness,
dishonesty. We trust the Government will reform the
tslegraphic censorship without delay
But the indignation Of our contemporaries seems
to have been especially reused by the fabrioations
palmed off upon them some days ago in the shape
Of what seemed we'll authenticated as they certain
~ circumstantial representations to the effect
that Gen. Hooker had resumed the offensive and
was holly pursuing Gen. Lee. Commenting on
these mysterious fabrioations, the Springfield Mas-
saehusetts) Republican says
There is something requiring explanation in the very
positive and detailed accounts cent forward from Wash
Dgton Sunday to another advance Of Gen. Hooker
the Rappahannock They seemed Incredible at the
time and yet they got up in such EXPLICIT and mat
teoact style to deceive the most sagacOus sers of
Where did they come FROM Who was the inge.
Nous originator and Hhat was his objecti We advise
Mr. Stanton to set bis at work to ferret out
these coners of false information OF they will
have little difficulty in tracing the dispatches to their
SOURCE since they allowed to pass when known TO be
fase, the principle, suppose that false would
not help the enemy if it shodN reach them The
most full and particular sent to the Philadelphia
Press Mr. Forneys paper, which often has army in
dcatng close relations with the War Ofcea fact that
may may not be relevant in this The correspon
dent undertook to give the news as brought back from
Gen. Hookers army by the President and Gen. Haeck,
and tod that after sending several regiments
Wednesday and Thursday who found that the enemy had
the other Zen. Hooker the
fret and fh corps under Sedgwck and afterwards
cd bic VIII e army who depoyed In different directions in
search of the enemy"
To like purport the New York Evening Post
remarks as follows:
The Philadelphia editors end correspondents surpass
al others in what has been termed magnificent lying
Who but they told Of Keyess capture of Richmond
Who but they Rockers ecrossing Of the Rappahan
mock Of the former wonderful exploit they gave
details, but Of Hookrs they told every thing how
two columns under Sedgwck crossed fret without oppo
sition how Hooker himself followed with other columns
how they searched the wh1e country round about for the
rebel army and could not find it and how they we're ad
vsnciDg gsllanty towards Gordonsvle or Richmond or
some other stronghold. Now, were the editors imposed
upon, did they invent all this They certainly owe the
public explanation Of the stories they many
to believe.
cat the same time let us hint TO the authorities at Wash
ington that if they would be somewhat communca
tive IL they would regard the people of the United States
pc pie having great and lively interest in the pro-
grees Of military operations and if they would satisfy that
interest by clear and promptly made communications
the public these however brief would render systematic
lying not impossible but nef Give. When the telegraph
open 10 every body false reports become useess be-
cause the truth can overake it at But when the
telegraph s In Government hands, the rgues get twelve
hours or more the start of the coustabes."
The New York Independent, which, as an anti
slavery Administration print, has inherently the
right OF casting the grossest imputations on the
Government for its alleged conduct in this as in
oil other matters charges that the telegraph
at Washington was forbidden to let correspondents