To the Editor of the News"
Sin,—Your leading article to-day entitled "Domestic Interlude" will probably be welcomed by your British readers, not only because it provides a clear explanation of th entirely reasonable attitude you have adopted in dealing with a' difficult political situation, but also because it helps to dispose of some of those unfortunate misconceptions "in Chinese minds which seem at times to threaten ement—_ between Shanghai residents of Chinese and British nationality. 1 for one hope that many of your Chinese(rpaders will read your leader and five its arguments the consideration they deserve.
Like many of my countrymen in Shanghai to-day I am completely in sympathy with China in the efforts she is now forced to make to resist Japanese sincerity friends not to allow indignation to be so easily div into the wrong channels. 1 would ask them, for instance, to consider the following propositions.
1, In times of peace not only privately-owned newspapers but also governments, through their official spokesmen and other means of pubplicity, issue statements which vary in degree of truth from mere' bias to complete falsehood. When war breaks out, and that in fact is othe situation with which we in hai have to deal to-day, 3 at adherence te the truth may be abandoned if this is Gonsidered necessary for military r n order to n the morale of the people, the truth then] becomes all the more difficult surely it is not reasonable but all publications, nationality,—blin propagandist "ne' value which dis pass' nate exa tion shows clearly it do: serve. As applied to the situation in China this is e whether the source of the 3
Chinese or Japanese. If your Chinese critics wish to be fair to you they should ascertain how much uncorroborated "news" from Japanese sources you have seen fit to withhold from publication.
2. it is not to be 2. In time of war expected that all the news repor will be favourable to one's own lo, and, if they there is good reason to exercise a critical judgment and ask oneself-if the news is all true. General Chiang Kai-shek has done his country service in emphasizing the difficulties and dangers with which China is now beset, and no good purpose would now be scored by attempts to mislead the people by unduly optimistic news reports. Never, indeed, was there a time when it was more necessary for the. leaders of Chin opinion to be stark realists. thi understood -there will di position to quarrel with the nder pendent views and repo of newspaper that has already made its position abundantly clear—and that not on the side of Japanese aggression, Shanghai, Aug. 31.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.