To the Editor of the Nortu-Carxa Dairy News.
Sin,—As I have the honour at present to be Acting C.0. of the S.V.C., I take the liberty, with the authority' of the Council, to make an appeal through your columns to the young and able-bodied men of Shanghai to join the corps at once, and so have a Battalion worthy of Shanghai, Lam not in any way an alarmist, but I feel sure that every one of us who takes any interest in our Settlement must see that we live in critical times, and that every man between the age of 18 xnd 45 who can bear ar \ividually responsible, not only for the welfare of what is to the greater number of us our only home, but is also morally responsible for the safety of the women and children who make Shanghai to-day such " much more homelike plice to live in than it was thirty years ago, when the Volunteer force was very much larger, and the number of women and children to be protected very much less.
Te is useless for men to say they h if we have trouble here whi nted or anyhow minimised by a Battalion of sty 800 men, I have "no hesitation in saying that if they do not join and trouble should overtake us, they will find that they have then plenty of time to consider the situation, and probably with a regret that will be a financial one.
It is, I think, the duty of every employer of labour to make it imperative at the present time, that his employees should join one of the units of the corps, and so be able at any moment to show a front that would give a wholesome lesson to anyone who attempted to disturb the peace and good order of our settlement.
To conclusion, £ have one special favour to ask of those from whom we receive man blessings, namely the Ladies, and that is that they assist here, as they have done in all time and in all places, to fill our ranks, and make it a sine que non that their smiles will become frowns unless their cavaliers_ become such good soldiers that they will have a place on the list of Efficients, Apologising for taking up so much of your space, which I only do as I feel that the cause is a good one and the necessity a real one, Tam, ete, B.A. CrarKe, Major in Command, 18th June.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.