1903 to the Secretary of the French Council bristles with contentions open to severe criticism.
In that letter the Council express their objection to developing the locality of the Yangkingpang to the detriment of landowners and others in the International Settlement as it would attract traffic from the Bund and Central District to the French extension area. What part of Shanghai and what individual ratepayers are benefited mostly. is perfectly immaterial as long' as the congested state of our main thoroughfares is relieved, and that such relief is a matter of absolute necessity no ratepayer can deny. It is hardly necessary to point to the state of affairs, fresh in all minds, when traffic on the Nanking Road was almost blocked by steam-rollers and by the recent large conflagration. Have Shanghailanders really become narrow-minded as to follow a "dog in the manger" policy and to grudge the neighbouring Settlement a gain because it may possibly prove a but slightly smaller gain to the International Settlement, especially if the smaller Settlement offers to bear an equal share of the burden? Is there any other way of relieving the trafic at anything like the comparatively small cost of culverting the creek Is it possible to sufficiently widen the Canton, Foochow, Hankow, or Kiukiang Roads at so low a figure as the cost of the proposed Yangkingpang Avenue? As regards the sanitary question no doubt the ublic supports the opinion of our leading medical men that the present state of the creek is a danger and disgrace to our town and in this opinion the Council concurs, but there is sone objection on the Engineer's part to bottling up the noxious gases. This objection vequires some explanation to uninitiated minds. To most people's olfactory nerves gases well bottled up are quite welcome, but prove—well, unpleasant, when let loose.
It should also be borne in mind that putrid matters when well e protected from the sun do not develop half so much obnoxious gas as when exposed to the open air. In the Municipal Engineer's report on the subject, there appears a passage tending to frighten the public off the proposed culverting by hinting at the fact—it is not quite clearly stated—that the drains of the Settlement (they will become bye-drains through the culverting) will not empty themselves so effectively as they now do. 'This is certainly merely a question of size and depth of the proposed culvert, 80 simple a question as to offer no difficulties to any engineer working at it with a wil'. With further reference to the same report touching upon the importance of the present creek as a means of transport for night-soil, building material, etc, it may be contended that at low tides the creek now serves asa receptacle for boats carrying poisonous substances, while the tramway which will surely run along the avenue may easily be constructed in such a way as to carry building material, etc, especially' at night-time when there is no passenger traffic on the line.
At the coming Ratepayers' Meeting the Council should therefore be instructed to proceed with the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.