Reflecting no discredit on the newspapers despite the anachronism suggested in these days of rapid and complete news transmission, symptomatic of the conditions in Europe created by war-time censorship is the public interest in letters from home. There has always been a personal and family link between people in these distant parts and their relations and friends at home who exchange domestic infor-motion, but never before has there been such a keen interest and interchange of these personal impressions and messages as is occurring in Shanghai today. With strict official control of information dictated by national considerations, the letters people are receiving from home are giving an intimate description oѓ conditions in Britain which amplify the ordinary news services and show how the country is reacting to the hostilities. Like the news letters which preceded newspapers and which were revived so successfully by Commander King-Hall, they carry their appeal and fit in the details so necessary for a comprehension Gf the national spirit and effort at home. Naturally, the censor has been busy, Local newspapers have been generally selected for his activities, and in the case of this journal messages from its correspondents in London are forwarded to the censor opened so that the task of examination is made much easier. Not that the censor's efforts are necessary, but it has been discovered that while many private letters pass unopened newspaper correspondence is given an especially vigilant examination. The result is in Shanghai that it is a common sight to see people reading over their letters to friends who listen to their contents with unusual interest. John has joined the Air Force. Jim is an A.R.P. warden, Mary is in a woman's auxiliary corps. What happened when there was an air raid alarm, or when the children were evacuated to the country is all told generally in a cheerful manner with no lack of those little anecdotes which characterize life as a, whole and show that the family circle continues in spite of dynamic political and military events. It is a pleasant sign and the newspapers, the purveyors of information, hold no grudge against it. Everybody and everything must play their part in a crisis of unparalleled magnitude and these home tidings, chronicled in the familiar language of personal letters, constitutes as much the sinews of imperial unity as do warships, armies and money.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.