Mar. 18.
One of the features of the Imany letters from correspondents Jof the "North-China Daily New: in the outports has been the constant reference to the dissemination of nows by radio. It would appear from their reports that an enormous amount of incorrect information relating to the recent troubles around Shanghai has been spread abroad by this means; disturbances have resulted in some localities from the improper appreciation] lof the situation resulting from the abuse of broadcasting, though in the main the chief characteristic has been the depression that has been the natural reaction to the discovery that, may of the fantastic stories were incorrect. China has always suffered from rumour. Before the days of the telegraph, wireless or otherwise, it was a matter of surprise to foreign observers how news travelled. Very often the news was incorrect in the main, but with a grain of truth around which fantasy had been woven. It has. travelled at a speed which made some people believe that the old Chinese had some means of rapid communication the nature of which it was not easy to determine. It is not improbable that they. had. Races with infinitely less culture than the Chinese have for ages practised some form of long distance communica tion, by smoke signals or the heat of drams, and it is not surprising that' some methods; should have existed in China Tong before the discoveries in tion, electric transmission of informa,
Those methods were, however, comparatively slow. The advent broadcast has brought places, legislative protection against such things can ultimately be promulgated. The example quoted would seem to indicate that one of the matters which should receive the attention of. the Nanking Government when other subjects are less pressing is the establishment of some form of control over a means of communication which properly used can he of inestimable benefit, and, improperly availed of, fof such great harm.
It is, further, something which foreign authorities representing nationalities spread throughout the whole of this land will need to watch with considerable care. Unfortunate movements in the spread with compara-there has been, generally, sufficient time to make adequate' dispositions for the maximum protection of their! nationals—not always, it is true, but with few exceptions. Wire-Hess broadcasting improperly controlled is a danger, the potentialities of which cannot be ove! estimated. Inflammatory repo tean be spread throughout. the: country on a second's notice, and the feelings of the people affect-led, not by a wave of public opinion, but by a sudden and overwhelming tumescence. It is not to be thought that such things are probable, but that they are possible, and that being so the former methods of protecting foreign nationals in the interior will have to take upon themselves a characteristic of swiftness which was not called for, say by the troubles of 192 The matter of controlling injudi lcious use of the broadcast is a matter purely for the Chinese government. It is obvious that] without some control the Chine authorities may find themsel considerably embarrassed by the actions of a certain section of the populace, probably, when they east desire it, and while this is not the time to suggest what form that control should take, it seems fairly clear that the first step should be the effective licens~ ing of broadcasting stations and the institution of a strict supervision.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.