The record-union., 1899-07-23
THE CORRESPONDENTS PROTEST

The Record Union has not rushed
with many of its contemporaries into
Judgment upon General Otis in the
philippines upon the indictment pre-
ferred by a group of newspaper CORE
spondents. 1t has seemed to it neither
wise nor just to do so. Now that the
hot blast of that fiery protest has pass
ed, let reason assert her sway and the
matter be examined with@the calmness
worthy Of good citizenship.
We are by no means to say that Gen.
.eral Otis may not have made mistakes
in the exercise of his office in the mat.
ter of censorship; neither are we to as
sumo out of hand that the protesting
correspondents are infallible, and are to
be taken at their own valuation, nor that
their estimate of the methods of prose-
cutting war is to be accepted over that
of the General in authority and upon
whose shoulders all the responsibility
rests
Not one of these correspondents know
anything about war or war methods ex-
cept what they have learned in the late
war with Spain, brief and certainly
insufficient school of experience, even
for men trained in the art of war.
The correspondents are accomplished
news gatherers; their prime object is
to gather what, from the newspaper
standpoint, is considered news, utterly
regardless of any military considera-
tions whatever. Their solicitude that
the whole truth should be told must be
accepted upon the basis of what they
assume to know to be the truth, upon
General Otis estimate of the truth,
and. lastly. upon his Judgment of what
military necessity and wisdom should
permit to be made public.
We have as the Tulare Register
we'll says, had quite enough yellow dis
patches from the Philippines already
Ito make the papers SELL" 1t is prob
ably the suppression of fancy which
hurts" the correspondents. There are
good s.sons why military operations
may MOI. be explained in detail to the
public" and. let us add. why even the
exact truth should not be at once di-
vulged..
The facts concerning losses and sick
ness%cannot be suppressed, even If Gen
eral Otis desired. and there is no evil
deno e whatever that he has wished
may have wished, and for the best OF
res sons, that they should not be SEN
saftionally heralded. These reasons are
obvious to every thinking man. In
war human trust must be reposed in
commanders upon the ground; battles
are never well fought upon paper, and
campaigns never well conducted at
arms length. Rongkong is but four
or five days travel from Manila. There
is semf-weekly mail communication and
imposed. It follows therefore that no
censorship has applied. save as to cable
dispatches from the islands.
General Otis we'll knows that Agui-
hopes buoyed by expectation of sym,
pathy and revulsion of sentiment in the
United States. Whatever therefore, will
create distrustaand harsh criticism here
is water for the Filipino wheel. He
knows that the Aguinaldoites in our
home country are more to be feared to
provoke trouble than the deceived and
misled natives of Luzon.
These things must be assumed in
General Otis behalf. because his ca
reer gives no warrant for the suspicion
that he is disloyal to his duty, untrue
to his obligations to his country, or that
he is engaged in deceiving his Govern
ment. There is no absolute right, it
may be stated right here, to have all
news Of a campaign published upon
the winds. Where martial law prevails
civil rights are of necessity suspended.
1t follows, therefore. that the General
and the correspondents must be judged
by the military standard and by its
code alone,
Naturally enough. as the stockton
..Independent'' remarks. the corre-