22 MAY 1941, Page 13

A QUESTION ON HESS

SIR,—There is one curious aspect of the Hess affair on which, so far as we know, no comment has so far been made. We are told that Herr Hess wrote to the Duke of Hamilton and that these letters were, very properly, handed over to the authorities. But how did they reach the Duke without reaching the authorities first? Private citizens of Germany and Britain cannot write to each other in war-time through normal channels. What were the abnormal channels and to whom

are they available?—Yours faithfully, ROBERT JORDAN.