To the Editor of the "Nowr-Cmxa Dany News Sim—At a time when there is so much unhappiness in the world one rather, hesitates to. inject a. ttle more local unpleasantness into your columns, but the writer believes he will have the sympathy of yourself and many others. and at the same time bring 9 ile comfort fo some, airing a vile practice which hi been going on for some time in thie city. T refer to the sending of white feathers to the younger Britons of the community.
tis the usual practice to ignore the anonymous loiter and the poison pen. but if one or two silly litre. girls care to send white feathers to their boy friends, or if there is some Solorous cise of cowardice, "then perhaps such a gesture might be for-Hiven although not praised. However the wholesale distribution of such tokens of late is despicable because it displays a complete ignorance of circumstances. There must be many. man more sensitive than T who believes he is the only recipient. it may. bbe causing him sleepless nights and. hours of unhappiness. but by' this letter may he rest assured that hundreds of men have received them, and ie his conscience is clear and his
1 good one. let bim ignore what T can ranson for remaining in. Shanghai assure him has become just a cheap, distribution of feathers in badly sd-Gressed envelopes, The writer has just received one and has anticipated it for some time. Dut. despite the insinuation, he has been in a good many dangerous situations. and has had a considerable number of years of service to hie country. which began long before the war. Moreover the writer has given ling the sender or senders of there tokens the recipients need have few sleepless nights. 'The fact tha great many of the recipients are_unfit for duty (in some cases even suffering {rom T. B. of diabetes), of are still essential to their Arms' in= Gicates that the sender is either fanatic or an uneducated "nonentity. and anyway a coward, If a person of any import whatsoever he oF she would have facilities for separating the sheep from the goats, also he oF she would know how to address an envelope. Moreover the anonymity of the sender is a greater indication of cowardice than is a feather, inasmuch as he or she is apparently, unprepared to come out into the open. perhaps fearing the question: "What are you doing for your Country in this war?"
1 thanke God that, I have in me the blood of a father who received two of the highest decorations of the last war. and now, nearing seventy. is commanding "a large area of the Home Guard. A sister' who at the ige of {wenty-two has gust Been men= tioned for extinguishing four' incen diary bombs in a. Government building. alone with another girl yet younger. "A mother over sixty who is running a large evacuee area. A younger brother fighting in the Near East, "As this saga covers pretty well every category of age and sex one Something better to do, It must be remembered however' that most branches of service call for a certain
[Such persons would attain, mental sarus which it is doubital it
already suggested to the author As B matter of fact the writer has that as our China war contribution. although praiseworthy, is a mere Grop in the bucket, certain sums Should be put aside to form en allowance or pension fund for the T therefore suggest that the sender get in touch with me through the "North-China Dally News." to whom 1 have given my name. T can pro-mike complete confidence and a chat which will settle quite 2 number of Questions. An apology is due to one or two people, and if there is a spark of decency' or bravery in the sender he or she will come forward. 1 advise this very strongly as a, freak Accident in the sending of the en-Yelope ives every reason to believe that. the sender will be. traced, in which case the name wilt be given to the authorities, The Tatler can be averted by a quick reply, in which case it will remain my secret, Meanwhile T hope this letter wilt be a comfort to those more sensitive than myself.
Pam Puay.
Sune 9
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.