To the Editor of the "NowritCiina Dany News"
Sin—Judging from my experience the present Sino-Japanese struggle behind the Chinese fronts T am. of the opinion that. most reports about the "deliberate" bombing of civilians are untrue, and that might apply, with the exception of a few instances, to other declared oF undeclared wars. To give an example how these reports often come into being I might mention one particular ease 1 wite essed sometime ago. With an American and another correspondent of British nationality 1 was staying at an Important Chinese headquarters ina town of about 100,000 inhabitants not" more than thirty miles behind the front. Japanese planes almost every day bombed the railway sta Alter having done this one morning they did not fly away but Instead took their course right over the city and dropped a number of bombs which killed some civilian When we were investigating the damage done we noticed that all th Bombs had been dropped into the close vicinity of big official build. ings. Apparently. the planes were looking for the military headquarters, which incidentally had also been hit withen much damage. The news papermen of British nationality remarked to us'that he hoped we would not let there be any doubt in our dispatches as to the wilful murder of civilians by the Japanese, whereupon the American fairly answered that he would not, as the bombs apparently had been aimed at military establish ments, The dropping of bombs from aero planes has not yet come to the perfection that every bomb invariably hits its aim, much to the delight of the soldiers at the front who are exposed to the danger of being torn into pieces much more than the civi-Hans. who still enjoy a comparative safety except the danger from parahs almed at military establishments, or in few cases—Which Tam far from denying—where the enemy tries to terrorize the civilians so that they might induce their government to sue for peace. But 1 think that idea has si ready been done away with by modern strategists because it does not work. And a militarist. might even say that it is too expensive to waste bombs on civilians, Besides I agree with Maxao Sax that ina modern war there are no civilians at all. If any bombing of big towns is necessary T would like to see. the planes bomb first the otices of the various Rewspapers which up to now could help to prolong the war by instigate ing hate into the civilian population from a safe distance while the soldiers were facing each other in the trenches. view of the present, world-wide hypocritical propaganda it might be recalled that not long ago a British Cabinet Minister had yo state how dimeult it was for him to uphold the principle of "police bombing" at the Aisarmament conference in Geneva a few years ago where bombing from the alr was to be abolished -altogether. What about the idea. if the critics of General Franco would advise him instead of aeroplane bombing to adopt the much more humane measure of a hunger blockade by which the Allies have starved German children the world war and which they, to make sure of success, even carried through after the armistice had ale Feady been concluded?
Audiatur et altera pars Onsenven, Shanghai, Jon, 10, French Trams:
Inconvenient Vehicle To the Editor of the "Nowmi-Cuika Danny New your pap which gestions to. the French May T point out to them that, those curs which have the only entrance:
the middle are most ineonve for their passengers. Those who travel in the frst class often have: their clothes soiled by the market baskets and sundry parcels of the third class passengers, and during rush hours it is a feat of strength und agility to enter or descend from one of these mousetraps. Furthermore, In some of the larger trams, who: there should be standing room for twelve passengers, only two rows of three straps. per.'side are provided. Does the French Tramway Ca, expect thay the other passengers who have no straps to cling to should hang on to each other's necks?
Dany Passexcn Shanghai, Join. 12.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.