Since the dawn of history 4o the present day, the part played by highways of transport and communications has been of great importance in the commercial and political history of nations. It has therefore been the policy of every progressive nation of the world to improve and develop the systems of transport and communications not only within national boundaries but also with other countries of the world In recent years, probably, no other highway in Asia was so much in the limelight as the all-weather road from Lashio to Yunnan which was opened to traffic on November 10. The unusual interest in this highway has been particularly due to the present hostilities between China and Japan and the fall of eastern and southern Chinese ports into Japanese hands paralyzing China's foreign trade carried through these ports.
The majority of the vernacular press in Burma have been greatly averse to the opening of this highway. This antagonistic attitude of the Burmese press is nothing strange in view of the fact that for the last few years there has been a grówing tendency on their pert to carry on a pro-Japanese propaganda. The arguments against this new road, from the standpoint of the Burmese press, can be mainly summed up into two. First of all, they fear that a large number of immigrants from China will rush into Burma the moment this road provides facilities for regular traffic and would seriously compete with the nationals here. The Government of Burma has met this argument by stating unequivocally that, if ever such a tendency for immigration were to arise, necessary steps would be immediately taken to put a stop to it. The second argument against this road is the fear that Burma would unnecessarily involve herself in the Sino-Japanese conflict and that she would expose herself to aerial attack if large quantities of arms and ammunition were to pass through her territories.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.