To the Editor of the "Norta-Cumya Dany News"
Sm,—Please allow one of the so much despised tribe "Old China hands" space for a few remarks anent the many accusations and counter accusations of atrocities daily appearing in the correspondence columns of your esteemed journal.
As a preface I would state that 1 have nothing ^but liking and admiration for the hard working—kind. ly—patient and often suffering popula: tion of China and Japan and a good deal of dislike and contempt for their governments, be such party or family kovernmept or dictatorship ai the military caste. Also I feel like every other normal being, nothing but horror and distaste for warlike measures "their property. whafher such civilians but actual errata of civilians and with result in not alone danger to
of "enemy" nationality or neutrals lut—and to my mind it is a big but—it does not, I think, behave us neutrals out of sympathy with one party to take part in propaganda for One and vilification and/or belittling of the other of the warring parties whether such comes from journals and their official broadcasters—from Churches (either from pulpits or by broadcast messages) or from individuals. Let the parties themselves do their own. propaganda.
The other day an eminent Chinese (who of course is perfectly justified in carrying out propaganda for his own side) mentioned in a broadcast— if I understood right—that rules re bombing had some time ago been tentatively agreed upon, although not yet made binding international law and that the second paragraph of these rules was to the effect that if a civil population lives near a place Of military importance and bombing therefore would endanger their lives. such object of military importance must not be bombed and that—the speaker continued—therefore, even if the Japanese honestly believed that there Were soldiers at the South Station in Nantao and/or the Station was used for military purpose, they bad no excuse for the bombing.
Excellent, if such a rule has in fact teen although only tentatively—agreed on, but if that is the case what price the repeated air raids and the bombings—commencing August 14—and continued ever since when there is a chance—by the Chinese on the Japanese ships and other military objects in Shanghai's narrow harbour or at its water front the sphere of possibility, but let us get them stopped by both sides and let us neutrals whatever our personal sympathies, stop lauding the one party of this unhappy strife to the skies and condemning the other to the nethermost Hades—They are both tarred with the same brush—abd so is for that matter the rest of the world—did the Government of one of the great powers indignantly protesting think as much as 130 years back? (and that is not a very great space of time in the history of mankind) when its own military forces without declaration of war bombarded, set fire to—and killed a number of the inhabitants oí—a populous City, Human nature changes very slowly if at all Shanghai's special misery would not have taken place at all if the Chinese Government had not elected to attack the Japanese Garrison here. Although this decision may, as you said in one of your leading articles, be perfectly justified "by politics or military reasons," the fact remains that they took such a decision well knowing that it would spell misery and make death and destruction for the civil population and their property likely in this vast city—to my mind they took here—even if the war as a whole is of course defensive on their part—a very gave responsibility which it will take a lot to justify, But first, last and finally let us non-Chinese and non-Japanese all stop propaganda for or against- the warring parties—let us as individuals quietly attend to our business whatever it may be—let the journals give us the news but leave us to form our own opinions—we are quite capable to do so—and let the Churches keep out of politics—let us quietly give what help we may to those in distress and—I think—lei us first consider the foreigners lore, many of whom are destitute, that 1s cur first duty. (There is no lack of native capital to take care of native distress), After we have helped our own people we can always, if such is, possible for us, help others and finally let us all hope and pray that sanity may soon return to the leaders of both warring parties and give this great and unhappy country what its Population so bitterly needs—Poace, R. K.
Shanghai, Oct. 2.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.