Arizona republican., 1905-06-07
Secrecy In War.


 One elemen, which has probably contributed much to the success Of the Japanese in this war is that of secrecy They have to an exceptional degree kent their own counsel, and to an en- tirely unprecedented degree have inn nosed silence upon the purveyors and publishers of news. This has been eX- asperating to the correspondents who have seen or learned of great dolngs without being able to send home hhe of "copy." It has not been pleasing to the newspapers, which have desired to chronicle promptly every move in the great game It has not been satsfac- tory to the public, which has been eager to learn all about one of the greatest wars of modern times But IL hes probably been highly effective Tn misleading the Russians and in pro- noting the strategy of Japanese fore es on land and sea- How complete this secrecy has been may be seen from the fact that not until now has the world known surely of the loss of the great battIeship Yashima year ago. There were rumors of her loss, but they were not confirmed and were not generally credited. and down to the present time the world has supposed Japan to pos sess five big battleships instead of only four.
 Both the completeness and the effec- tiveness of this secrecy are seen also in the manner in which the Russian fleet was surprised and annihilated in the battle of the Sea of Japan. Ad- miral Rojestvensxy seems to have had no idea-nobody outside of Japan had any idea-that the whole fighting navy of Japan was massed at the Strait or Korea Yet there it was, and we must believe that its astoundingly easy and complete victory was largely due to the element of surprise. Since the Yashf- ma was lost a year ago the odds of battleship strength were overwhelm- ingly in Rojestvensky's favor. Moreover it is more and more clearly indicated that the battle was won by the Jap anese 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 battleships. The Russians were thrown into panic and disorder by the unexpected onrush of the Japanese, and fired wildly and took to futile flight. That was, prob ably as much as anything else, the secret of their disaster and Togo's vic
 oK f- friL ing bit of Russian testimony, given bv Prince Khilkoff, who has just return ed from the scene of operations in Manchuria. We know" he says, mo more now than we did formerly at what point the Japs may attack us" The impenetrable secrecy of the Jap anese movements has been as effective and as trying to Russian nerves on land as on sea.
 What the moral of this will be- as applied to future wars. is interesting matter for speculation. It seems hard ly likely that the lesson will be un- learned or neglected. It is recalled by the New York Tribune that Nelson and Wellington both earnestly urged the si- fencing of the press upon military mat ters, and complained that newspapers were greatly aiding the enemy by dis closing plans of campaign and the strength and disposition of forces. In our own civil war we can remember that federal officers more than once gleaned valuable strategic information from southern newspapers. Grant tes- tified to that fact in relation to Sher- co-German war the same thing repeat edly occurred: and there would have been danger of disaster from the same source in our Spanish war lad Spain been strong enough to take ai- vantage of the information which she thus obtained. But now. in one way and another, the Japanese have sue ceeded in conducting their campaigns behind screen impenetrable by even the keenest sight and the most re- sourceful and energetic enterprise. They have done so by virtue partly of an memorable censorship and partly of the peculiarly self sacrificing devotion of Japanese patriotism. Other nations other war, will scarcely fail to seek the same advantage by the same means It will remain to be seen whether the same means can be as successfully em- ployed in other lands and among other peoples.