New-York tribune., 1900-07-29
THE CENSOR IN AFRICA.
ANNOYANCE AND HUMILIATION TO ENG
LISH CORRESPONDENTS - "BOBS
MAKES A CHANGE.

Julian Ralph. in The London Mail
If YOU can imagine E. F. Knight gagged for
ten days to suit the whim or a conholiPidOc
in gilt buttOns-and snubbed IN the par
gain-then YOU can to what a depth censor
ship had fallen in the British army before LOru
Roberts took supreme command
There is abler or braver man or more eN,
perienced writer among the purely technlcai
correspondents than the author OF where Ihree
Empires Meet" He is as great IN MS me as
any general under the Field Marshal anu
greater than most for ne has been IN the glare
of the searchight of public scrutiny during
thirteen wars, and no flaw has been iouhd IN
him To him Lord Methuen said, I am proud
to have you with my army For the average
army officer To pass Judgment on WnaL M
Knight sends home is groteSquely rli!culpuSt
and if such officer needlessiy hampers Mt.
Knight in his work, it IS an impudent and bruIai
misuse of power. The day on which intelilSence
and talent can with SdIeF be PTI9eCu - .,. ~
MediOcrity in Uniform has passed We are fight
ing TO teach the Beers that same truth IN an
other form; that swelling ignorance shaH not
block the path of progress.
1t was al De Aar that our first censor hectored
and snUbbed some Of Us until i, for one began
to imagine it hopeless to attempt 20 DO my duty
to my newspaper and the public 1t was at De
Nar that a CORRESPONDENT was encouraged 10
write dispatches in order that censor might
amuse himself by tossing them into his waste
paper basket every day for a fortnight without
ever warning the writer Of 'heir fate. 1t was
there that when I asked this censor if there
was any which ne would pass, he said,
Yes; you may describe this Sandstorm- The
people at home will like to read about It Ana
when Mr.. Knight, who had been unable TO Send
off a single line Of the news that had transpired
around US for ten days asked the same question,
he was told, You may describe the Union
Jack that General Wood has hcsted."
You will get this outrage in better perspective
when you know that, according 10 the text
books Of the army, a censor's duty is to ad-
wise and assist the war cOrrespondentS-nOt 10
bait them as men used to bait bears
/. WHAT THE CENSOR DID NOT BELIEVE
1t was at De Aar that Mr.. Kinear's report of
the story of a runner from Kimberley was de
/ strOyed by the censor because he did not believe
/ it, though it did not criticise or betray our
military movements-the only ground upon
which message be justly refused under
military rulings And when l happened along
with a personal. private wire 10 The Daily
Mail" representative at Cape Town. the censor.
miStaking for a dOOTmat which he could
wipe the contempt he felt for journalist said,
Here, haven't l told you this rubbish cannot
gO?" To him l replied, with a confession of
enforced idleness which carried his utter con-
/ demnation with it, No, I'm hanged if you
have. You never saw my handwriting before.
1t was at Orange River that censor kept for
twenty-fOuT hours an unsealed letter written to
the little general in command of my camp at
home. Oh, how boil when l think of that hu-
| initiation! l was new to your army, and took
for granted the useIessness of resenting what
ever might befaI me in the hands of these
careessly appointed. wholly unfit cenSOTs.
Thank goodness, the time soon TO come
when l to that this petty tyranny could
not stand against the slightest assertion of the
greater power of a we'll behaved intelligent
/ correspondent who knew, and meant to insist
upon his rights. And there lies the kernel in
the nut. The press must send TO future
whose assertion of intelligence and self
respect is natural outcome of their personal
character; who when they say 4 have the
public behind me-" must be seen to be fit rep
resentatives of the best that the public com
pTiSeS.
The Daily Mail" correspondent, Mr. Nissen,
while with the army on the southern frontier of
the Free State. had to do with censor who
used to decline to pass news of anything he
had not himself seen
But l the fight l there 1 have
just come away Mr.. Nissen would say.
THAT may be- the censor replied. but did
not it; therefore it cannot GO That is
what l call censor Of rudimentdry brain And
there a deal of him, here or there. with the
army
l do not think there any examination
process for discovering this elementary mental
ity. 1t came to the top because. too often
were appointed censorS simply because they We're
not fit for other duties In the military
mind in 1899, man would make a good censor
if he not competent for anything else But
a few months has worked the changes of half a
century at the front Ammo DOmini 1899 now
seems a long while ago
'BOBS' MAKES A CHANGE
Lord Roberts came in 1900 and said to the
correspondents: "Gcntlemen' (mark the wOrd)
go where you like and write what YOU please
Your letters will he censored. CriticiSe
whatever demands it, for in that way / can
learn what mistakes being made After
that the year 1899 looked silly and old fash
iOned, in our eyes, as lady in Crinoline.
Before Lord Roberts came correspondents were
not exactly regarded the curse of modern
armies but necessary evils, which good men
had to recognize but must not euCourage-un-
less they wanted puff the righting OF a
mistake. The result was that some cenSOrS kept