The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-08-01
War Correspondents Banished.

That the day OF the war correspondent
has passed Dir. DILLON IL nournfully
persuaded One gentleman who had set
up his coming tower ut Semlln TO OBJ
serve the operations on the Servian
frontier soon got his walking papers.
The combatants prefer to do their war
reporting in their own way. which is
calculated to be indirect and mislead-
ing. At any rate they cannot afford
to have an unattached and irresponsi-
bile note taker among them telling the
truth to curious world. for never may
than in great war upon which the
fate Of nations hangs. Even the censor
will sometimes let the wrong story
through.
The japanese and Russians in Man
churia censored everything, hut chiefly
they kept the correspondents away
from the front: so did Sir RrDvERs
BUTLER In the Boer war. and Lord Ron
ERTs politely drew their sting. In the
great Balkan struggle the allies were
extremely nice to correspondents, de-
string the good opinion of the world
that was not Moslcm: hut cfrcctually
the host of writer's were cooped up or
held in least except one Austrian army
officer who was used "a dccoy to de-
celve the enemy. The Turks were too
busy running from stricken fields to
| bother with the war correspondents
and some of them in the rout and wei
ter saw something Of the fighting and
by using automobiles and scorching 20
towns outside the zone of opera tons
sometimes going by sea to n telegraph
Office, managed to send graphic reports
of the "debncle' to their papers, but II
was n haza rdous and hit and miss
business
| In the irrepressible war now begun
there IS so much at stake that neither
side will have a word about its opera
tons printed by outsiders Mt any haz-
ard. Noncombatants are evidently not
10 be toerat ted at all unless they belong
to the hospital corps. Even the air
now has ears, for no one knows where
II wireless plant may be set up. War
bulletins will be publishes OF course,
hut sparlngly and often mendaciously.
For the rest. the outsiders may invent
and speculate, which cannot be helped.
II the war becomes general on the
Continent the responsibility of sup.
pressing all but official news will he all
the greater.
Journalistic enterprise viii Of course
struggle against the embargo, for the
world will want to know what Is going
on behind the curtain Of war. and legt-
imately so, and good deal Of the truth
will be cleaned IN spite of general STATS
and anxious governments. But 1t may
az well be understood that the day OF
the energetic war correspondent and
his personal trlumphs in reporting the
issue of battles and anticipating the
strategy of campaigns is over. We
fancy that he may try to overcome un
toward conditions by new methods as
by surveying n battlefield from tn,
eyrle of an aeroplane, hut he can have
no intimate touch ns of Old with the
rank and file of an army and roam tn,
terrain in search Of copy.
The greah International Peace Con
terence OF l2i4 is now transferred from
Vienna to Chautauqua. and Premier
BRYAN, not Privy Councillor BERcIi
TOLD. will preside.
|
> American army officers who took par
in the China campaign viii remember
Admiral Sir GEORGE CAl.LAGhAN, the com
mander of the great battleship fleet tina