Mar. 26.
Tue question Mr. Lockwoot! raised in our correspondence column yesterday has never yet, we think, been put so directly. But it was bound to demand an; answer some day and the sooner ratepayers make up their mind about it the better. To the extent that we all desire the Chinese to be educated, overybody will sympathize with Mr. Lockwood's ideals. But _the usual discrepancy between ideals and realities applies at least as much in this as in other quostions. In his enthusiasm Mr. Lockwood hias overlooked several facts and has not been fair to the Educational Commission.
Among other facts which he ignores is that Shanghai is not a colony nor a domain, but an international settlement, a reformation for foreigners,' whose] Municipal Council has no! sovereign powers but only al strictly limited authority, New York and Chicago are no analogy for Shanghai. 'They—_can compel people to pay an edi tion rate, can force parents' to} send their children to school) (neither of which could—the! Shanghai Council do) and are, moreover, concerned to educate] the children of their own cou try. In respect of the Fdueational Commission, anyone' would think from reading Mr. Lockwood's letter that they had "turned down"? flat the whole proposal to have municipal schools for Chinese. This is emphatically not the case and Mr. Lockwood might well have spared some space in his long letter' to save it from giving 60 misleading an impression.
At the outset of its report the Commission emphatically dissents from the stated assumption that "it is the duty of the Council to see' that primary education is within the reach of the children of all ratepayers.' Nothing can be found in the Land Regulations to support this view, nor would they enable the Council (as said above) to force parents to send children to school. All this, be it observed, applies equally to foreiga and Chinese children, What the Council has done in providing education to a limited extent has been purely an act of grace, though with the ready ac-[quiescence of all ratepayers Then, turning to the question Chinese alone, the Commission wineil would be justified in making some experiments with regard to assisting in the educa tion of the very poor, provided that they rees ive assistance and ce-operation from the Chinese ratepayers.
Tt is suggested to, the Council that, their nim should be to make 00d citizens of the Chinese, that by s0 doing they would not only be helping towards the gonoral good government and order and prosperity of Shanghai but would is be conferring: a, benefit on the Chinese nation by showing a. good example and assisting the Chingso educational authorities who. have the education of their nationals at heart in their difficult task, Later on, after the report has noted that at present only Chinese boys are educated by the Council, we find this also The Commission sure strongly in favour of the institution school for Chinese Girls, a school of Higher Primary and Middle Grade. The object being that schools for Chineto Boys have bbeon "instituted and. stand a models for future schools that may be instituted. by the Chinese themeclves, 5b ix desirable that a Chinese Girls? School should also be established as a model, provid-
porate with the Municipality ae thatthe Chiness thamlves ea: they have already" dong in" the various schools for ud that they als nig and maintaining such school for girls.
The apparent assumption of Mr. Lockwood's letter that the Commission have not taken! thought for the Chinese is in no way justified by the report.
Furthermore, the Commission think it safe to say that the number of Chinese children not receiving education in Shanghai is 150,000; it may well be double that. We admit that that is no very welcome thought. But wa would also emphasize that it puts the question of their education by Municipal means wholly out of court, unless there is to be a very considerable in-ere ago in the rates; and we shrewdly suspect that Chinese would be the first to kick against that. 'The important fact whicn must be kept in view is that the Municipal Council is not as its confreres in other lands. Tts powers are in many ways jess than theirs, while its responsibilitioe are' much greater—in the matter of defence for mple, and the protection which has atte thousands of Chi within ily sphere umber of "model" we do not know why Mr. Toe wood ancors at this quratification,, of their-functions, for as models,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.