ALIEN TONGUES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 288, 17 September 1941, Page 8

ALIEN TONGUES.

THE CENSORING OF LETTERS. POST- OFFICE SYSTEM OUTLINED. -An activity of the Post and Telegraph Department which has gradually extended ; is the censorship of letters in -foreign languages. This; is handled by l ' the Postal Division, of the censor-ship-br&rieh -of which Mr G. McNamara is controller. i Correspondence in as many as eighty languages may come under review,-'but only; English and four foreign tongues*—French, German, Span-ish-and Italian—are permitted as these are the only languages for which are retained by the Department. ■ The number of refugees in New Zealand has greatly increased since the clofids of war began to lower over Europe; in fact there is probably hardly any haixied country which has not representatives in the Dominion to-day. Great expense would be necessary to provide interpreters for all languages that have at, times passed into the hands of the Post Office, even if it wejfo possible to find interpreters sufficiently versed in English to carry out their task efficiently, while there is always'-the trouble that many who could do so are too old. jjpw' . ... .•.... , Suitable Linguists Scarce. ■jly.'i i: j. ■ . t . .Reading poor . manuscript is tiring it. is the rule, rather than the exception, for brilliant linguists to be elderly. (Then there is the all-im-portant question of bona fides. To obtain sUch work the linguist’s dossier must ygo-a , long way back and-.be impeccable, in case attempts to get subversive, matter, through might not be reported, and detection would not .result. , - ' . The interpreters must have a very thorough 1 knowledge of their foreign language; Those trained in New Zealand rarely’have the requisite familiardty with idiom and slang. A knowledge" of the in which the language is • used is necessary also. A correspondent might refer to so me idisreputable institution in a foreign (Country,- - and compare New Zealand hostelries to the equivalent of Sing Sing in the States, without an ingenious interpreter perceiving the unwarranted slur. Undesirable information of a more serious aspect, might slip nut as readily. ivhC'"'" : ;j Most Useful Languages. ;.-} One of the reasons for accepting only * the languages-mentioned is that there are few countries where one of them could not be readily translated into the -vernacular. English is understood ih ? . a vast proportion of the world, and where it is not, any of the others would serve; In- letters to English-speaking countries, only English is permitted. - Letters in Yiddish are therefore not ' accepted- for America or the Empire, nor Would Gaelic he accepted for Scotland, or a letter in Russian for Australia. It is considered that there are too -ieW-Russians - resident in -New. Zealand to justify the retention of a translator. The many languages of native India woidd present a problem were it not that*- education in English.. is so far advanced amongst Indians there, and this applies elsewhere, so far as the other four ..languages are concerned, so that few difficulties would be encountered in Greece, Arabia, Hungary, the Pacific Islands.or anywhere else. It.is no offence to post a letter in any language; either to or from New Zealand.; What happens to it, if it is not in one of the five recognised languages is that it goes to the censorship do- : ■parimeiit of the Post Office, where it is'examined, and if it can be done, is translated into one of fhe recognised '.tongues. There may bo something in the letter which is subject to a penalty, but its imposition is not a part of the postal duties..