The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-05
CENSOR IN SOUTH AFRICA
ANNOYANCE AND HUMILIATION TO
THE CORRESPONDENTS OF
ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS
''BoBs" MADE A QUICK CHANGE
Some Instances of How Men Who
Meant Well, but That Was All
Acted Towards News
paper Men.
Han Ralph, in the london Man.

Julian Ralph, in the London Mail.
If you can imagine E. F. Knight gagged
for ten days to suit the whim of a COM
monp!ace man in gilt buttons-and snub-
bed IN the bargaln-then you can see to
what depth censorship had fallen In
the British army before Lord Roberts
took supreme command.
There is no ADLER or drawer man or
more experienced writer among the
purely technical correspondents than
the author of Where Three Empires
Meet" He is as great in his line as
any general under the field marshal. and
greater than most, for he has been in
the glare Of the searchlight of public
scrutiny during thirteen wars, and no
nav has been found in him To him Lord
Methuen said, Il am proud to have YOU
with my army" For the average arnnv
oIIlc9r to pass judgment on what Mr.
Knight sends home is grotesqueIy ridicu-
lous; and If such an officer needIessIV
hampers Mr.. Knight in his work. if 10
an tmpudent and brutal misuse Of power
Inc day on which Intelligence and talent
" 1850 SNNAONS ne prosecuted DY meQlQs
Gritty In uniform has passed. We are
lighting to teach the Beers that same
truth in another form; that swelling
ignorance shall not block the path Of
progress.
II was at De Aar that our first censor
nectored and gnubbed some of us untt,
], for one, began to imagine 1t hopeless
10 attempt to do my duty to nv news.
paper and the public. 1t was at De Aar
that q correspondent was encouraged TO
write dispatches in order that q censor
might amuse himself by tossing them
lilto MS waste paper basket every dav
Tor fortnight without ever warnin9
the writer of their fate 1t was there
ehat When L asked this censor If there
was any news which he would pass. he
sald' es; you may describe this sS:1d
storm. Inc people at home will like to
read about it." And when Mr.. Knight
VINO had been unable to send off a single
line OF the news that had transpired
around us for ten days. asked the same
question ne was told, You may describe
the new Union Jack that Gen Wood has
hoiSted"
You will get this outrage in better per
speclVe when you know that accord II
q the text books of the army, a ccns;r :.
duty is to advise and assist the war cor
respondents-not Ia bait them as men
used to bait bears.
CENSOR DID NOT RELIEVE
1t was at lie Aar that Mr.. Kinear.s
report OF the story of a runner from KIM
peiley was DESTROYED by the censor be,
cause he did not believe it, though II dia
not crlt1cise or betray our military move,
ments-the only ground UPON which
message can be justly refused under mil
itary rulings. And when l happened
along with a personal, private wire 10
me Daily Maii' representative at Cane
Iown. the censor installing me for a
ooormat on which he could wipe the
contempt he felt for a journalist said
Here, haven't I told you this rubbish
cannot go To him 1 replied, with a
confession of enforced iolercss which
carried his utter condemnation with it,
NO, m hanged if you have You never
saw my handwriting before"
II was at Orange river that a cenaor
Kept Tor tWenty-four hours an unseaIed
letter written to the little general in com
maud of my camp at home. oh. how T
boil when think of that humiliation.
l was new to your army, and took for
granted the Uselessness of resentin,,
Whatever might befalI me In the hands
OF these carelessiy appointed, wholly un-
fit censors Thank goodness! tho time
was soon to come when 1 was to see thar
this petty tyranny could not stand
against the slightest assertion of the
greater power Of a well behaved ipfeIii
gent correspondent who knew, and meant
to insist upon, his rights AnG there lies
the kernel in the nut. The press must
send TO future wars men whose aS.ertioo
OF intelligence anu self-respect is a nat.
ural outcome of their personal character.
who, when they say, IT have the public
behind me-" must be seen to be fit reD.
resentatives Of the best that the public
comprises.
The Daily Mail" correspondent. Mr.
Nissen, while with the army on the south
ern frontier of the Free State, had to do
with a censor who used to decline to
pass news Of anything he had not himself
seen.
But saw the fight I was there.
have just come away Mr.. Nissen would
say.
THAT may be-" the censor replied. ''but
I did not see it; therefore it cannot go -
That is what 1 call a censor of rudi
mentary brain. And there was a deal of
MIN, here or there, with the army
DO not think there was any examina-
ton or process for discovering this eIe-
mentary mentality. 1t came to the TOP
because, too often, men were appointed
censors simply because they were in the
e~A MY 'l<iu " DS pEOVIQSQ WIN places.
and were not fit for other duties. In the
military mind. in 1899, man would make
a good ceBsor if he was not competent
for anything else. But few months has
worked the changes Of half century at
the front. Ammo Domini 1899 now seems
long while age.
''BoBS" MAKES A CHANGE
Lord Roberts came In 1900 and said to
the correspondents: Gentlemen" (marI
the word, go where you like ard write
what you please. Your letters will rot
be censored. Criticise whatever demands
1t, for in that way I can learn what mis-
takes are being made" After that the
year 1889 looked as silly and old fashioned.
in our eyes, as a lady in crinoline.
Before Lord Roberts came correspond
ents were not exactly regarded as 1.-The
curse of modern armies but as neces-
sary evils, which good men had to recog
nize but must not encourage-unIess they
wanted a puff or the Fighting of mis-
take. The result was that some censors
kept neither an office nor office hours.
and self-respecting, able Journalists,
ranking as officers by military law, were