Evening star., 1935-11-17
Continued From Third Page.)


censored, although one Of them may
apologize profusely for the stupidity
of a cable operator. 1t Is said that
there are no Eyes men" in Japan
only no men" when it comes to
making direct admission of any
sort.
Hard to Get Facts.
The principal worry of foreign cor
respondents in Japan seems to be
the verification of news printed in
japanese newspapers, which do not
enjoy a great reputation for ac-
curacy. The japanese, for instance,
have bewildering idea of the sig
nificance of quotation marks and are
inclined to treat their own conclu-
sions as fact by inclosing them in
quotes. And, as japanese officials
never like to deny anything out
right or affirm anything outright
especially when it has been accorded
the dignity of reproduction in print
getting the facts is no easy matter.
In these troubled days press CEN
sorship Is not peculiar to Japan, nor
Is Japan the only so-called enlight-
ened and civilized country where free
dom of the press is more of dream
than reality. Suppression of free
speech and the free press is un-
doubtedly worse in Germany. Russia
and Italy. But censorship and rigid
suppression of the news are somehow
in marked contrast with the up-to-
date modernity of japanese newspa.
pers and in still greater contrast to
the educated. refined and cultivated
gentlemen who edit the Japanese
newspapers. One does not associate
battery of Hoe presses a block long,
turning out their millions of papers
morning and afternoon, with sup
preston of the news any more than
one associates the fear of offending
the government or the army or the
navy with the intelligent and pro
gresSive men who edit the papers.
Official suppression of the news is a
sign of weakness, of uncertainty or
OF fear, and in vigorous, busy Japan
seems out of place.
Yet freedom of the press is probably
the last Western innovation that will
come to japanese journalism, which
in relatively few years has made
amazing advances. In other respects
the japanese newspapers are wide
awake, energetic and enterprising.
They delight in sensational stunts
that will increase their circulation and
fhpU -,
expedition across Africa or a base ball
team to America or in importing Babe
Ruth for a short season of demon
strating the home run as she should
be ran. The Toxic ASahi owns 20
airplanes which are used to bring pic
lures and send reporters on assign
mentS for its more than million
daily readers; publishes its own news
reel for the movies and has built
newspaper plants in Toxic and in
Osaka. where its sister paper is pub
liShed, that would be credit to any
newspaper anywhere in the world.
Nichi-Nichi employees some 3,503 per.
sons in Toxic and its sister paper in
Osaka some $500 and its basement in
Toxic rumbles to the tune of 18
super-speed presses. Their readers
are keenly interested in foreign news
and the man on the street in Toxic
is probably more interested in world
events and knows more about them
than his counterpart in Washington.
There is intense rivalry between the
papers and they strive to give the pub
lie what it wants, which, in the case
of Huey Longs assassination was about
three paragraphs. and, in the case of
the base ball player recently killed In
an airplane when he tried to- murder
the pilot while flying across the United
States-Canadian line, about two col.
umns, with a big headline.
Use Carrier Pigeons.
The papers use carrier pigeons to
bring their undeveloped film and news
stories from the incoming liners at
Yokohama-about 20 miles-in Is
minutes, unless the pigeon gets tired
like a reporter and decides to sit on
the ship mast before starting to work.
In that case the photographer throws
things or shouts at the pigeon. 1t Is a
ioiC oASAI al Vic ldlcl dIUtIIlOOIl III
Toxic when the papers exercise their
pigeons, which maneuver above the
buildings in formations that would
make a startling jealous. Along with
the pigeons are leased wires which
bind Japan and Korea together by
telegraph and telephone. radio, wired
photo transmitting devices and the
most modern plants for photo en-
craving. The editors will pick up a
telephone and call London or New
York, Rome or Berlin to get story
they can tell their readers was OBJ
tained, hot off the griddle, over the
telephone.
But if the editor of a one-sheet
mosquito paper"-or the blackmail
press-walks into the plant of one of
these great papers and suggests to
the publisher that he is planning to
print a little story to the effect that