New-York tribune., 1905-06-02
SECRECY IN WAR.

One element which has probably contributed
much to the success of the Japanese IN thls "ir
is that of secrecy. They have to an excepuohai
degree kept their own counsel, ana 10 ah eli
tirely unprecedented degree have imposed
silence upon the purveyors and publishers OF
news This has been eXaSperatlng TO the corre-
snondents who have seen or learned of great
doings without being able to send home line
of CODY" 1t has not been pleasing TO the news
papers which have desired to chronicle prompt
" every move in the great game IL mas hot
been satisfactory to the public, which mas peen
eager TO learn all about one of the greatest wars
of modern times. But it has probably Deen
highly effective in misleading the Russians ana
in promoting the strategy of japanese forces on
land and sea. How complete this secrecy mas
been NAV be seen from the fact that not until
now has the world known surely of the loss OF
the great battleship Yashima year ago. Ihere
were r1ImOrs of her loss, but they were not con-
firmed and were not generally created, anu
down to the present time the world has sup
posed japan to possess five big battleships in
stead of only four.
Both the completeness and the effectiveness
Of this secrecy are seen also in the manner III
which the Russian fleet was surprised and an
initiated in the battle of the Sea of Japan. Ad-
miral Rojestvensky seems to have had no idea
nobody outside Of Japan had any 1dea-that
the whole fighting navy Of Japan was massed
at the Strait of Corea. Yet there it was, and we
must believe that it's astoundiDgly easy and
complete victory was largely due to the eleueht
/ of surprise Since the Yashima was lost q year
ago the odds of battleship strength were over
whelmingly in Rojestyenskys faVor More
over, it is more and more clearly indicated that
tbe battle was won by the japanese not with
mines or submarine boats, nor, by any means,
exclusively with torpedo boats but very largely
through fierce and accurate firing Of the big
guns of the big batteships. The Russians were
/ thrown into panic and disorder by the unex-
pected onrush of the Japanese, and fired wildly
and took to futile fight. That was, probably as
/ much as anything else, the secret OF their dis
/ aster and of Togo's victory. 10 the same eI-
feet is striking bit of RUSSIAN testimony, gwen
bv Prince KhiIkoff, who has just returned from
the scene Of operations in Manchurla. we
know" he SAYS, mo more now than we did for
merly at what point the JapS may attack u.s."
The impenetrable secrecy of the Japanese move
ments has been as etfective-and as trying to
Russian nerves-on land AS on sea.
What the moral of this will be- applied to
future wars. IS interesting matter for specula-
ton 1t seems hardly likely that the lesson VIII
he 1lnlearned or neglected. We may recall that
Nelson and Wellington both earnestly urged the
silencing of the press upon military matters.
and complained that newspapers were greatly
aiding the enemy by disclosing plans of cam
paign and the strength and disposition of forces.
Tn orr own Civil War can remember that
federal officers more than once cleaned valuable
strategic information from Southern news
papers Grant testified to that fact in relation
to Sherman's march to the sea. In the Franco
German War the same thing repeatedly oc-
Cured: and there would have been danger of
disaster from the same source in our Spanish
war had Spain been strong enough to take ad
vantage of the information which she thus OBJ
tained But now, in one way and another, the
IJapanese have succeeded in conducting their
campaigns behind a screen impenetrable by even
the keenest sight and the most resourceful and
energetic enterprise. They have done so by
virtue partly of an inexorable censorship and
partly of the peculiarly selfsacrifcing devotion
of Japanese patriotism. Other nations, in the
unwelcome contingency of another war, vii
scarcely fail to seek the same advantage by the
same means 1t will remain TO be seen whether
the same means can he successfully EN-
ployed in other lands and among other peoples.