The Municipal year ends with the gratifying surplus of Tls. 11,812; the Receipts having been Tls. 242,781 anc the disbursements, Tls. 230,969. And, whatis more, the surplus is entirely due to the elasticity of of the Revenue. Notwithstanding their unexpected access of wealth, the Council have carefully regarded the limit of expenditure authorised by the Ratepayers the sum voted having been Tls. 230,132, and the actual outlay Tls. 230,969. The chief contributors to the surplus have been—Native House tax, which yielded Tls. 2,106; Wharfage Dues, Ts: 2,131; Wheelbarrows, Tls. 1,870, and Jinrikshas, Tls. 2,668 more than the estimate; We cannot, however, do better than refer those who care to follow the variations both of Revenue and Expenditure to pages 108 and 109 of the Report, where these are clearly and concisely exhibited in the usual comparative columns.
The detailed Reports from the different departments give a variety of information from which we may summarise a few of the principal items.
The Report of the Defence Committee records the disbandment of No. 3 Company of the Rifle Volunteers. Most of the members were either unable or failed to attend the battalion parades, and did not take sufficient interest in drill or target practice to make it worth while retaining them on the roll. The strength of the other Companies has not, we believe, materially varied; and the result of the Prize meetings shows that those members who "go in" for rifle shooting are steadily improving as marksmen, The only regret is that these form a minority of the Corps.—tThe old Snider Rifles have been sold for Tls. 2,558, and 205 additional Martini-Henry's purchased in their stead; the cross-operation costing the community only Tls. 609, while the improvement in the weapon is a very decided gain.
No less than 223,299 letters and parcels passed through the Local Post Office, as between Shanghai and the ports, besides 251,014 posted in Shanghai for town delivery. Wo have thus a total of nearly half a million, which sufficiently shows the need of the institution; and we believe we express the feeling of the community in saying that the office has done its work exceedingly well. Occasional mistakes there must be in such a large business, but we believe these are very few. And notwithstanding the reduction from Tls. 50 tax was undoubtedly considered vexatious, and yielded but a small sum.
Turning to the Watch Report, we note that debentures will have shortly to be issued to cover the cost of the new Hongkew Police Station, for which a piece of land was bought not long ago. The present Station has long been condemned as inconvenient, and we are surprised that the Council, having authority, has not already invited the loan and commenced operations.—The inconvenience of the Market held in the Maloo has been the subject of repeated complaints. It is not, however, easy to find another spot. The Council suggest the Hupeh road.
We have always warmly approved the Council's endeavour to introduce the Lock Hospital system, and are glad to learn from the Health Officer's Report that their perseverance is at last meeting with deserved success, the number of women who present themselves for examination steadily increasing. Dr. Henderson, indeed, is able to say that "so far as the prejudices of the women against the system are con-cored, there are now satisfactorily overcome, if, indeed, they ever constituted a real difficulty." And the contrast between the health of the sailors on the Juno during the last period of her stay in Shanghai, and the experience of the same ship in 1872, is a strong testimony to the good effected, Dr. Hendorson's Report contains some interesting statistics regarding the visitation of cholera which we experienced last autumn, The death rate among foreigners, we observe, was higher than in the two previous years, owing no doubt to this cause.
The subject which first attracts our attention in the Works Report is the Foreshore. Itis recorded that "permission was given to build a dyke from Garden Bridge to Howard's Wharf (to serve the purpose of a timber yard), on condition that the Bund line be adhered to, and the requirements of the Surveyor in all respects complied with." Now, itis precisely this dyke which is referred to in the letter we print elsewhere; and its effect, if we are not misinformed, has been to cause a further silting out of the foreshore, at this point, of 150 ft. The result exactly illustrates what we have constantly urged, that bunding out the Hwangpoo is like bunding out a pond. You can create new land with ease, but there is no corresponding scour on the opposite side; you simply narrow the expanse of water. We find on another page (46), a recommendation from the Garden Committee to extend the Recreation Ground by enclosing another stretch of mud bank. We sincerely hope the Ratepayers will refuse to entertain the ides, until there is.a dredger actually working at the removal of Pootung point. When means are at hand to remove the mud from one spot and put it on the other, we shall say, by all means! but to extend the one bank without cutting away the other, is
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.