3 JANUARY 1941, Page 17

RURAL SALVAGE SIR, —Mr. H. E. Bates seems to misunderstand the

basis of the criticism of his paragraph on rural salvage. It was not that he set down certain facts, but that he used them to discourage effort. Nobody suggested that his own area was the only area in which salvage was unsatisfactorily handled. There are probably many such areas. All the more necessary not to spread discouragement far and wide. At present there is no " problem of larger scrap to leave still un- touched." As I explained in my first letter, it is only necessary to leave the scrap-heap itself untouched—till it is wanted. But Mr. Bates speaks only of parishes and villages. He does not seem to know that collection of salvage is now a statutory duty of District Councils, and that his proper course, if his village's resources are not equal to the job, is to inform the Council; and, if the Council will not help, to inform the Ministry of Supply (Salvage Depart- ment).

I should perhaps explain that H. Irving Minter ana A. Irving Muntz are the same person, and that the printer is not to blame for failing to decipher my signature.—Yours faithfull%,

A. IRVING MUNTZ.