Evening star., 1902-08-02
Censorship During the War.


Censorship During the War.
1t would have been impossible to have
maintained any secrecy whatever as to
naval movements had not a rigid censor
ship been established. At every American
port from which dispatches could be sent
there was a censor and there was censor
at the end of every cable, who took care of
what was sent from foreign ports. No at
tempt to conceal operations from the news
paper men was made. but they were not
allowed to send what they knew to their
papers. In the present maneuvers more at
tention will be paid to preventing the news
paper men from obtaining information than
in preventing them from sending it after
they have it, though in some cases that
may be done, too.
Many were the eXpedientS to which the
men with the newspaper fleet resorted dur
ing the war with Spain in order to get the
best of the censor, but in most cases these
expedients, though ingenious, did not sue
ceed. 1t should be said that the mails and
the express service We're censored well
as the telegraph during the Spanish war,
and that rigidly. No one knew of the CEN
sorship of the express until a reporter at
Tampa, having had his dispatches held up
by telegraph and mail sent a package of
manuscript by express. When he thought
his package was well on it's way to New
York he boasted to some Of his fellow-cor
respondents of how he had outwitted the
censor. Just at that moment Lieut.. Brady
came up and courteously handed him back
his manuscript, which had been captured
by one of the lieutenants men before it got
to Savannah. One man at Key West. when
the fleet sailed to lombard San Juan, sent
a dispatch saying: Fleet sailed for Ha-
vana." Being bit of false news, he
thought the censor would pass it. Later he
came back and handed in a message,
Make Havana smoke" using a code word
which had been agreed upon between him
self and his telegraph editor.
\, pntI hA Jnnly ytrer ~ he ,hc-
sage, perhaps you would better make the
correction yourself" and he handed him
back his first dispatch, which had not been
put.,on the wires, nor was it.
All sorts of codes We're arranged but
none of them worked successfully, though
one man did get through from Key West
important piece of news by telegraph
Ing his wife, a purely imaginary person, to
kiss a purely imaginary baby for him.
Sometimes a man would file number of
seemingly harmless kilograms, which, how
ever, could be understood by his telegraph
editor. The censor would receive them
smilingly, and at night hand him back the
whole bunch. Meantime the newspaper
mans office might be abusing him violently
by cable at great expense and length for
not sending any news. One man got a
taboo piece of information to his paper by
going by train from Tampa to Savannah
and telegraphing from there to his editor,
personally, at his house address, that he
had shipped him one hundred boxes of
Havana cigars" with some detail of their
quality and price: all Of which was trans
lated by the use of a code by the editor into
exploit, however, for. somehow, his action
became known to the government, and
after that there was a censorship estab-
lished at Savannah, and for that and an
other successful operation of the sort the
correspondent was temporarily forbidden
entirely to use the telegraph.
One naval commander was enraged at
finding that a correspondent had sent
II. oh {LoS =,
passed a certain point in the West Indies
that he summoned the newspaper man on
board his ship, where he rated him sounily
before all hands, ordering him not to bring
his dispatch boat near the feet again on
| TIE penalty of being fired upon, and de-
clared, in a passion, that he had a good
mind to order up file of marines and shoot
the delinquent. Yet the man was only do
ing what his his paper had sent him out to
do and what the Secretary of the Navy had
allowed him to join the fleet to do the
dereliction, If there was any, was at the
New York end of the cable. where the gov
ernment should have confisca ted the dis
patch If 1t was Objectionable.
When the fleet Of transports was ready
to sail from Tampa all news from that
place was shut off Washington gave out
dispatch saying that the fleet had already
sailed. and the wires were kept hot with
the scornful words Of irate editors, berat-
ing their men for not having sent them
news of such an important event. The
fleet was still In the bay and did not sail
for two days afterward, but all that the
censor would allow to go out, in response
to the entreaties of the newspaper men to
be allowed to square themselves with
their Offices was only the single sentence;
Censor absolutely refuses to pass any
news pertaining to the fleet" But the CEN
sors and the newspaper men got along wei!
together and matched their wits against
each other with the utmost friendliness
SO, also. In all probability, the best of good
feeling will exist between the parties con-
cerned in the war on the newspapers and
the navy during this years maneuvers.