The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-11-20
Special correspondence from Armies I'm
Active Service.

BY the rules for the government OF news
paper correspondents in the British armies
in India which are just promulgated, and
which are given in the HERALD to-day, u
will be observed that respect for an un-
trammelled transmission OF early inteiii-
gence is subordinated entirely to what
seems an exaggerated apprehension OF
publicity. Indeed, the system OF rules
given might fairly be entitled short plan
for stamping out military correspondence.
Regarded from the strictly military stand
point such a system is doubtless less OBJ
| iectionable than from any other, though
there are probably some men, even IN the
British army who would like the people at
home to be informed of their achievements
Viewed from other sides, however-from
the side of the nation eager to be told
from day to day of the progress OF its
armies, and from the side of the newspapers
prepared to furnish this record honestly
the plan disclosed in these rules seems
gratuitous exercise of tyrannical caprice.
How it is regarded in the British press will
be seen by the article from the London
Times which we give, in which it comments
on these rules. The Times declares them
roundly to be unnecessary for the good OF
the army and insulting to the press
merely offensive reminders of the existence
of an authority in the hands of every gen.
eral in the field, which has always existed,
to deal with correspondents or any others
within the lines of the army almost as he
may choose. Certainly there is no limit to
the commanders power in this respect un-
less he recognizes that of public opinion;
but it can scarcely be thought that the re-
straint of public opinion would count for
| much with the administration that pub
| fishes these rules.
| Army correspondence has become one of
the great features, we might almost say one
| of the great agencies, of modern warfare. In
the Crimean war. in the war that France
waged with Austria which was closed by
the battle of Solferino, in our own great
conflict, in the Sadowa campaign, in the
Franco-Prussian war, and in the recent war
between Russia and Turkey, the practice of
writing on the very scene of combat literal
and graphic descriptions of great battles
grew to the proportions of an institution.
These were dispatches TO the people-to
the great public whose sons and brothers
had laid down their lives for the honor and
glory of the country, or whose mangled
bodies were in the tumbrils on the way to
the rear, or who, more fortunate, gloried in
the victory. 1t was natural expression of
the modern spirit. In the old times there
was no public, as there was no free press.
Nobody had right to know what had hap
pened but the sovereign, and nobody dared
to tell the story if it was unfavorable.
after battle the little they knew about it
and wrote it home, and the true story of
the battle was lett to be gathered up by in
dustrious students in the next generation.
Through all the wars of the French revolu-
tions the people only knew OF what had hap
pened through official bulletins, and even
private letters were so watched to prevent
the disclosure of unpleasant news that men
| like Stendhal wrote home under fictitious
names But the growth of the press as
machinery for keeping the people informed
of the progress of current events and the
advance of the democratic spirit in virtue
of which the people demanded intelligence
of their armies changed all that. and the
system which the Indian government now
strikes came into existence in defiance of
much official objection.
Has it done any harm that civilized and
free people can for a moment count as
weighing against its very evident good ?
One theory of objection is that by this sys-
tenn information is given to the enemy, but
the truth is that one good cavalry regiment
and half dozen pairs of keen and educated
eyes on the skirmish line can give any gen.
eral more information of the position OF the
force opposed to him than he will ever gain
from the study of all the correspondence
that may be crowded into any one cam
paign. We defy anybody to name battle
that was ever lost or in which the result
was in any degree whatever affected by in
telligence which the enemy had obtained
from the publication of special correspond
ence. Not only was no battle ever lost or
gained in that way, but the general scope
of operations was not touched by such
Intelligence. In the Franco-German war
correspondents within the French lines
wrote daily to London papers and those in the
German lines wrote daily to the same sheets,
and the correspondence was published
side by side and these papers were sold in
all the French and German cities, and were
in both armies But the truth is that what
good correspondent tells his public is
what happened yesterday, and that is not
what the enemy wants to know. But if the
correspondence does not help the enemy it
does help the army from which it is writ
ten. Would the abuses of the administra-
ton of the British force in the Orimea have
been ever corrected but for the correspond
enco in the London Times Would any