Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-11-10

front to the friendly and sympathetic
nation, and might be resented by the
government as well as by the people
Of the United States.
| AL one time IL was proposed that
representatives Of the several press
associations only should be allowed TO
accompany each OF the three armies.
and that the remainder OF the cor
respondents should be definitely ad-
vised that their applications were ir-
revocably rejected 1t also was pro-
posed that the correspondents choose
ten or twelve OF their own number,
who might he divided among the sew
eral armies and permitted to tele-
graph TO Toxic such news as the cen
sor would permit for the common use
Of all the papers represented there. but
a member of the ministry who is IA
miiiar with newspaper management
in the United States soon convinced
his colleagues that such a plan was
impracticable.
| This division of counsels and the
inability of the ministers TO agree up
on solution of the problem permitted
matters TO drift along until it became
necessary for somebody to act, when
| General Baron Kodama, assistant
| chief of the general staff assumed the
responsibility. which other members
of the government were perfectly
willing he should do. He asked the
correspondents to appoint commit
tee TO represent them in their rela-
lions with the war Office. in order to
save time and confusion. Frty-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 com
nanding general could take care of.
| rhirty-eight Of these represented Jap
anese papers. sixteen were foreigners
and six were Americans. AS the gov
ernment would not make the selection
and the foreign legations declined to
do so, the correspondents were asked
to designate those of their own mum
Der to whom permission should be
granted This was done by ballot and
with considerable fairness and de-
corum.
| The war Office promised that 20 for
eigners should go with the second ar
my, and that number of correspond
ents was selected in the same manner.
but they have not been allowed to
leave; and third attachment has al
so been selected for the third army
although their prospects for getting
TO the front have never been encour-
aging
Several of those who went out with
the first army have returned, and have
declared that restrictions and con
ditions imposed by the Japanese au-
thorities are intolerable and that the
| regulations deprive them of all their
usefulness to their employers They
are threated practically as prisoners
Of war They are not allowed to leave
he camp or to communicate with I'M
tnown persons. and whatever they
write, even private letters to their
wives and families are read by the
| censors before they can be sent The
combined news dispatches of the en-
ire sixteen foreign correspondents are
limited to $50 words day. which pre-
'enls them conveying any details OF
events. In order to promote their mu-
ual interest an agreement has been
made by which the correspondents
still al headquarters are divided into
three detachments of five each and
each detachment has a chance at the
wire on alternate days. thus giving
each of its members fifty words every
| three days. This works much better
than the original individual arrange
ment, but as "A consequence on some
)f the most eventful days five of the
correspondents enjoy monopoly OF
the news. while the papers represented
by the other ten get nothing what
ever
There has been n great deal of com
olaint Of the censor. and it is undoubt-
edly well founded Censors are never
satisfactory of ever reasonable. They
are invariably eccentric, irregular and
irrational and their treatment of dis
patches is often governed by the
moods and lenses to which human be-
ngs are always subject The other
day one OF the correspondents filed a
very important piece of news--nothing
less than a change of commanders of
;he Japanese army The censor sup
pressed it without explanation The
next day another correspondent got
the same facts and was allowed to
telegraph them to his paper These
things occurring continually and al
ways will occur.
But. on the other hand. the Japan
ese make serious complaints of the
behavior of some Of the correspond
ents, whose zeal and enterprise in the
interest of their employers have tempt
ed them TO violate the agreements in
10 which they have entered. They have
repeatedly deceived and outwitted the
censors They have been shrewd
enough to get contraband information
through to their papers, notwithstand-
ing the restrictions by which they are
surrounded. and in doing so have not
always behaved in an honorable man
ner OF that the Japanese have right
to complain, and It is pretty certain
that there has been quite as much
| ion nd s,tt