While no definite statement has been made as to when the Japanese authorities intend to establish a censorship of mails in Shanghai, it is plain from the sayings of the Japanese spokesman on the matter that it is only a question of time before this is done. With the Japanese in de facto control of the Chinese Post Office in Shanghai it is clear that they have the power to establish such a system whenever they choose, and if they decide to do so as a result, of "well-grounded suspicions" that the services of the post office are being abused to impede the operations of the Japanese forces as well as to jeopardize their safety, it has to be admitted that they are merely following the counsels of military prudence. In this connection it should be pointed out that there is no infringement of the rights of the International Settlement in the matter, for the buildings of the Post Office have always been held to be without the jurisdiction of the Settlement authorities, and in fact the Japanese are operating upon Chinese territory when they establish censors there. For this. reason, while the establishment of a censorship of the mails cannot be looked upon with any great degree of favour, it has to be conceded that the Japanese are well within their rights if they do make the decision which is adumbrated by the Japanese spokesman. That concession, however, only covers the domestic mail of China and the Chinese, and when the question of the interests of foreign neutrals in China is involved somewhat different considerations arise. In the first place it is inconceivable that any letters despatched to either Europe or the United States could ever—by reason of the time taken for them to reach their destination—contain information likely to be of any great danger to the Japanese Armies in the field. The time factor alone would vitiate most if not all information that could be sent out of Shanghai to such places, and from this point of view it is argued that censorship of this type of mail would be entirely superfluous, The way in which foreign public opinion will regard this possible new development depends to a very great deal on the manner in which the Japanese officials perform their functions. If it is conclusively shown that every endeavour is being made to keep inevitable inconveniences down to a minimum, if the censorship involves no delay in correspondence reaching its destination, if no mail connections are missed and the censorship exercised solely for the military and propagandist reasons enunciated up to the present. there need be little cause for criticism. In this connection it should be borne in mind by the Japanese authorities that, so far as the foreign neutrals resident in China are concerned, this is in effect a peace-time censorship which is apparently going to be imposed upon them. It is an entirely novel procedure and one, which nationals having somewhat different ideas regarding personal freedom from those held by the Japanese, naturally feel must cause some irritation, In this connection it may not be inapropos to remark that while there have been some complaints regarding the operation of the cable censorship, they have up to the present been gratifyingly small, and, in the main, the work has been carried out with considerable courtesy. There have, however, been occasions when press telegrams have been held up longer than would appear necessary, but it is believed, once the attention of the Japanese authorities is drawn to this matter, that an improvement will be effected. Censorship of the mails is naturally a work of greater magnitude. It' is not known how many letters have to be handled daily in Shanghai, but for a port of this size, even with business at its present low ebb, the total must be considerable, and it is eminently desirable that if and when the, censors are put to work there will be sufficient of them to deal with the mails as swiftly as possible.
On the question 9f in-coming mails there must be very considerable difference of opinion as to the desirability of any form of censorship. It is by no means easy to understand how such correspondence could contain any information calculated to be of any service to the Chinese governnient against the Japanese forces. If it is levelled against the possibility of the mails being used for Communist propaganda it is difficult to believe, if there were any such propaganda, how, when intended for foreign neutral reading, it could have any effect upon the fortunes of the Japanese armies in the field. It is apparent, therefore, that sọ long as the Japanese maintain censorship of the mails for the protection of their own military interests, there is very little of which complaint can reasonably be made. Should it, however, be extended for political purposes, or even for the purpose of commercial surveillance then it will have about it all the qualities which will lay it open to the severest criticism. From the statements of the Japanese spokesman it is-clear that this is not intended, for he is reported to have said "However in the event that it should be established, it would deal almost exclusively with mails sent and received by Chinese." There is also the assurance that the censorship would not in any way inconvenience bona fide private and commercial communications, If those promises are adhered to it should be possible for the Japanese to carry out their censorship without interference with foreign interests, and its conduct will be watched with the closest scrutiny. Foreigners do not like the idea of a censorship such as that which it is suggested is possible, but since the pass was sold at the time, the Chinese were allowed to establish the cable censorship, there is little that can be done but make the best of an unhappy business, though it may be emphasized that the Japanese are affording themselves an excellent opportunity of combining performance with the assurances given, which if done successfully would have a considerably favourable effect upon local foreign opinion. et
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.