The editorials of _The Times_--the British call editorials "leaders" or "leading articles"--are, of course, one of the most important features in journalism. _The Times_ is independent politically, but it does its best to explain and expound the policies of the government of the day. Over the years since the war it has supported individual measures laid down by Conservative and Labor governments and it has assailed the policies of both the left and right when this has been conceived of as the duty of _The Times_. The editorial writing in _The Times_ often attains a peak of brilliance seldom achieved in any other newspaper. For a time, especially in the period before World War II, "The Thunderer," as it was once called, had become a whisperer. Recently _The Times_ has spoken on national and international issues with its old resonance and sharpness. The influence of _The Times_ among politicians, civil servants, and diplomats is extraordinary. It is, I suppose, the one newspaper read thoroughly by all the foreign diplomats in London. As recently as the spring of 1956 an editorial in _The Times_ discussing a reconsideration of Britain's defense needs sent the German Ambassador scurrying to the Foreign Office to inquire whether the editorial reflected government policy. It did. This influence is the result of _The Times_'s special position in British journalism. The editorial-writers and some of the reporters of _The Times_ often are told things that are hidden from other reporters. Also, they are members in good standing of that important, amorphous group, the Establishment, which exists at the center of British society; they know and are known by the politicians, the key civil servants, the ministers. Occasionally _The Times_ is used to test foreign or domestic reaction to a measure under consideration by the government. By discussing the measure in an editorial, _The Times_ will provoke in its letter columns a wider discussion into which various sections of public opinion, left, right, and center, will be drawn. No other newspaper in the free world has a letter column comparable to that of _The Times_. The first letter may be a sharp analysis of government policy in Persia and the last the report by a Prime Minister that he has seen a rare bird on a walk through St. James's park. Some of the letter column's discussions touch on matters of national interest. Others deal with the Christian names given to children or the last time British troops carried their colors into action.