[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—There are many among
your readers who, like myself, will welcome your article on the average Englishman's ignor- ance of American affairs, and the paucity of good news from the U.S.A. With some honourable exceptions, the news we see on the U.S.A. is scanty, incomplete, and often tending to show America in a bad or sensational light. This is in complete contrast to the excellence of the full American Press reports on affairs in Great Britain. The same applies to history teaching, too. America's virile and fascinating history is a closed book to the average Englishman. Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, Jackson and the rest are to him just names : they mean nothing. Steps should be taken to remedy this, and to give English people a wide and full view of American life and labour. The American Press, to my mind, gives the best informed, fullest, freest and most comprehensive news service in the world. Its foreign news, especially, is un- rivalled—so much so that many of us have now to read the United States Press to find out what is happening here ! It has long been my aim to get the best American dailies and weeklies into our Public Libraries, but so far I have not succeeded. Meanwhile—my pocket being weak—I should be very glad to exchange a British for an American weekly paper with any American reader who sees this letter.—Yours
truly, KENNETH BRADSHAW. 24 Heliers Road, Liverpool, r3.
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