Jan. 13.
Ir a celestial visitor could descend upon Shanghai to-day to inquire into the present conflict between Chinese and foreigners, would not his first exclamation be: 'But what is all the fighting about?' On the one hand the Chinese ask for the appointment of an Advisory Committee ''as soon as possible' pending amendment of the Land Regulations to admit Chinese on the Council itself. And on the other hand the Council replies that it has already decided to propose at the next Ratepayers' Meeting—only a matter of two months or so distant—the appointment of such an Advisory Committee: which is in point of fact tas soon as possible,"' because the Council cannot grant the Chinese request without a mandate from the ratepayers. In passing, we are assured by Chinese that they quite well understand this. There is a difference of opinion over the functions of the Committee. The Chinese tell us that they wish it to have a say, not only in matters of finance, but in all questions affecting Chinese. Well, so long as they do not want, with their preponderating numbers, to swamp the foreign vote on matters concerning foreigners, this objection ought to be easily settled. The Chinese also object to the Consular veto on their appointees to the Advisory Committee. They appear to be afraid that that veto would be used to fill the Committee with mere lay figures who would do exactly what the Council told them. Well, again, so long as the Council is assured that candidates for the Advisory Committee will be so nominated as to avoid any mere agitator foisting himself on the community, this ought also to prove manageable enough. In any case we have all gone so far along the road to the appointment of an Advisory Committee, and the greater question of Chinese Municipal Councillors, already being debated between the Chinese Government and the Powers, has so many influential advocates among responsible foreigners, that the Chinese objections noted above are surely proper subjects for negotiation—for which there is plenty of time before the Ratepayers' Meeting—without any necessity for strikes, refusal to pay taxes and so forth.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.