Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1904-08-25
THE DOOM OF
WAR REPORTERS
FAILURE OF CORRESPONDENTS
IN FAR EASTERN FIGHT.
HAS BEEN CONSPICUOUS
Dearth of News and Big Elk
penses in Present Con.
flict-The Public Cured of Its
Morbid Curiosity for the Elk
citing Details.

London Tatler.-One of the most
striking features of the present war
is that it seems to herald the fall of
an empire older than the sway OF
Russia at Vladivostok and wider in
its range than all the Russias, all the
Siberias and all the other places
that are not properly watched. The
Japanese may or may not have over
| thrown the Russian colossus, but one
/ thing they have done with the cor
iial, though undersigned, coopera-
| ton of their enemies-they have end
| ed the picturesque supremacy of the
war correspondent.
Inaugurated with the Crimean war;
the rule of the reporter has lasted
for half century, thrilling the hearts
of millions of peaceful newspaper
readers all over the civilized world
and vexing the minds of dozens of
commanders in chief and hundreds of
other generals.
The war correspondent is the repre-
sentative of the curiosity of demo-
cratic countries and especially does
| he represent the Anglo-Saxon inquisi-
tiveness. To the newspaper reader
and hence to the correspondent who
is to supply him with news nothing is
sacred. He wants to know every
thing about everything as soon as
possible. His highest qualification is
to receive bulletins of a battle while
it is in progress, just as he gets the
score of cricket match, the evidence
Of a divorce case or the tape prices
of stocks.
When war was declared as immi
nent in the far east great preparations
were made for keeping the neutra
rived, picked men, sturdy of body
sharp of mind, graphic of pen. The!
were lavishly supplied with resources
one even chartered vessel with {
wireless installation, thereby draw
ing down on himself a curious circu
I lar from the Russian government
threatening to treat such proceeding!
: with the rigor of martial law If the
correspondent in question had beer
arrested he would only have needed
to give the text of his messages Ic
show his complete innocence of spy
ing.
Attitude of Japanese.
But the bland, inscrutable japanese
have marked themselves out for a
ruling race not less by their rejec'
ton of parts of western civilization
than by their acceptance of other
parts. They were not fierce or fussy;
they simply, with exquisite polite
ness ingrained in their character
and language, abjectly requested the
august correspondent to confine his
honorable activity to the magnificent
billiard table of his magnanimous no
tel. Meanwhile all the facinating first
stages of the war, the tentative move
ments, rapid marches, cautious recon
noiterings, picturesque landings ant
skirmishes were going on, as we know
they must have done, in full activity
Then, when the armies, or some o.
them were in touch with the enemy
the correspondents we're let loose
They could do no harm, for the Rus
slams already knew all that the neu
trail observer could find out. Accord
ingly, some excellent particulars o
the fighting on the Yalu came
through, belated, no doubt, giving US
taste, for the Russian and japanese
official accounts, both remarkably
truthful and modest for official &C
counts, had told us all the essentia
| details over week ago. Then the
curtain shut down again on the armies
of Japan because they were once
more doing things that they did no
want the Russians to know.
Russian Traditional Censorship.
The Russians. as BELTS their ira
/ ly accommodating. The correspondent
they permit seem to live in railway
stations and hitherto have hardly Civ
en- any sign of existence. The Rus
sian commanders have been fairly
frank In their own statements, bul
even there there was nothing that the
japanese did not know or could not be
practically certain to find out.
AS for the unhappy newspaper men
their communications have related
chiefly to the arrivals of mestimatef
numbers of soldiers and the detail Of
reviews and proclamations, which are
the same for all armies in all wars
The other correspondents who could
not get to the seat of war, though
more free to report, have had nothint
but canards. Rumors are pretty wilt
| at all times and Chinese rlrmor is o
, the most erratic description.
/ A few more such disappointment
: and our newspapers win give up re
porting the war altogether. 1t j
: probable that many of them are sorr.
: they sent out any correspondents a
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