Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-17
lily the correspondents, and explain with
great detail the ressonsI why.
Pretense az the War Office.

inquiry tnere ne ls' informed that the second
detachment Of correspondents will be sent
to the front next nweel. or certainly the
week after WhsneveH a correspondent
to Nikko or to Miyanoshfta for few days
the japanese ofifeiaIsttwill shake their
heads gravely and advise him not to do so
Tor rear the exposition smay start without
him. Hence thlrtye or forty estimable men
of education. wides experience and influence
have been detained month after month,
sitting around the Imperial Hotel at Tokyo.
n WIN ene'r ugsage packed and tne'r KITS
ises that have been reiterated every time
they visit the war office.
The most humble of us dislikes to be
tri1ed with; hence you may appreciate the
feeling of these eminent gentlemen of the
press, some of whom have national and
some universal regulations. and whose in
dfgnation is not to be allayed by dinners
and geisha dances. The more eminent OF
the correspondents and the more self-re-
spectfng have long since declined to par
ticipate in such functions, and for several
months have refused to accept further hos
p1tality from the Japanese government or
people. This independence of spirit and
assertion OF self-reSpect has not restored
harmony or promoted good feeling, and
nothing can ever redeem Japan In the
eyes of many of those who came here to
exalt this remarkable nation. But 1t
should be said that the military and naval
attaches sent here by the United States
anu lHe European powers 10 oDSeINe Tic
war have been treated in a similar manner.
As Viewed by the japanese.
The Japanese officials contemplate the sit
uation from a very different point Of view.
Nobody in the war Office is willing to dis
cuss the subject or admit that there Is the
slightest doubt that every foreign news
paper man will be sent to the front sooner
or later but others, who are not directly
nlnix iyr,ynn
crafty the correspondents, and how pre-
posterous their demands have been. For
example, one prominent official told me that
more than 2Oo newspaper men had applied
for permission to go to the front, including
eighty-nine foreigners. OF the latter num-
Der thirty-four were Americans, thrty-slx
were English. including English papers In
Hong Kong, Shanghai and other Chinese
cities, and the remainder were from Ger
many, France, Belgium, Italy and Austria,
in order. OF that number he was confident
that 10 per cent were impostors' or IRE
sponsible and untrustworthy adventureTs,
which is undoubtedly true. Every man mel {
who is well acquainted with his PROFESSION
can pick out the black sheep, who usually
appear early at scenes of excitement. Anu,
undoubtedly, the government mas taken
pains to ascertain the character and ante
cedents of every man who has applied TO go
to the front, especially those who are MOI
personally vouched for at the legation OF
their government.
addition to about III representatives OF the
Japanese press, made formidable batal-
lion, especially as each OF the loreisneis aP
piled for permission to take an interpreter
and a servant / was told that one OF the
English correspondents had also a private
secretary and cook. One newspaper SEM
seven men, another sent four, ana se'eiai
have three men on the japanese sine, Will
war from China. One of the steamers that
arrived here in February landed twenty
nine war correspondents from the Uhileu
States alone. If the war department mao
acted favorably upon every apphcatlon inc
commander of the Japanese troops IN Man,
churia would now have not less than @oo
critical gentlemen, of the press to take care
of. and every reasonable correspondent az.
mits promptly that suef .hing ~oui tha,r
impossible. And their impedlmenta, tneiI
luggage and kits and stypewriters, Woulu
hll a ship. to say nothing OF their norses
and the forage that must be carried LOT
them.
From the beginning there has been de-
cided difference of opinion among the 'apa-
nose ministry as to the treatment OF the
CORRESPONDENTS Every one realized that IL
was impossible to take them all 10 the
front, and various solutions OF the oiiiieui'S
have been proposed some Oh me aal,ii -,
ters have been in favor of sending them all
home of telling them frankly that they are
not wanted and that the government Wouio
be relieved at their departure, but others
have argued that TINS wou1o pe consiuel 81
an affront to friendly and sympathetic
alton and might be resented by the gov
eminent as we'll as the people of the United
States.
At one time it was proposed that repre-
sentatives of the several press associations
ONLY should be allowed to accompany each
of the three armies and that the remain
der of the correspondents should be def
initely advised that their applications were
irreyocably rejected. 1t also was proposed
that the correspondents choose ten or
twelve of their own number, who might be
divided among the several armies and per-
mitted to telegraph to Tokyo such news as
the censor would permit for the common
use of all the papers represented here, but
a member of the ministry who Is familiar
with newspaper management in the United
States soon convinced his colleagues that
such a plan was impra cticahle.
This division of counS and the inabil
ity of the ministers to agree upon a solu-
ton of the problem permitted matters to
drift along until it became necessary for
somebody to act, when General Baron Ko-
DANA assistant chief of the general staff
assumed the responsibility, which other
members of the government were perfectly
willing he should do He asked the CORE
spondents to appoint committee to rep
resent them in their relations with the war
Office, in order to save time and con-
fusion, and each side speaks with great
respect Of the other.
Correspondents Sent to the Front.
Flfty-four correspondents were allowed to
go to the front with the first army and
have been in Manchuria all this time
which, as you must admit, were about as
many as the most intelligent commanding
general could take care of. Thirty-eight
of these represented Japanese papers, six
teen were foreigners and six were Ameri-
cans. AS the government would not make
the selection and the foreign legations de-
clined to do So the correspondents were
asked to designate those of their own num-
Der to whom permission should be granted.
This was done by ballot and with COM
mendable fairness and decorum
The war Office promised that twenty for
eigners should go with the second army
and that number of correspondents was
selected in the same manner, but they have
not been allowed to leave; and third de-
tao hment has also been selected for the
third army, although their prospects of get
ting to the front have never been encour-
aging.
Several Of those who went out with the
first army have returned and have declared
that the restrictions and conditions i'm
posed by the Japanese authorities are
intolerable and that the regulations de-
prive them of all their usefulness to their
employers They are treated practically as
prisoners of war They are not allowed
to leave the camp or to communicate with