Looking at the settlement, and cing the throngs of Chinese workimg. and hying there and paying taxes, it is not unnatural that cortein Chinese students, sore at heart, studying modern history, should ery, "Give us back our settlements. They are Chinese soil; and it is a shame -and an injustice that foreigners should have complete rule over so many of our people -and The foreign been' almost driven out' of his own settlement by the flood of Chinese coming in, either for protection from their own soldiers or to trade in peace between themselves and with him, becomes annoyed. He lias to live on the edges of the settlement, in much smaller houses, for the most part, than the rich Chinese, and bear the brunt of very greatly enhanced prices. He naturally replies: "We made the settlement what it is out of a scrap of waste ground you could not use. What is to become of us if you take it over? We made it desirable If you had it, how long would you keep it so? How long would it be before it was as full of corruption, literally and spiritually, as your own Shanghai city, which ly next.door to us. Go and govern that decently, and. then. come and talk to us!" 4
The Chinese Demand That has, in effect, been the situation for some time. And re-grottable incidents arise from the friction. Sine last year, after actual shooting took place in' May, city governance has plea. corrected by putting one man, an English-. man, in charge of the settlement as commissioner, and he has the responsibility for preserving peace therein, at least amongst the mob. Moreover, the municipal council decided that three Chinese members:
put on their committee, Instead, however, of -accepting this ass grace, the Chinese association dealing with the matter, urged by wirepullers of the revolutionary type, replied that they would only be satisfied with representation equal to their taxation! Now the Chinese,. being 90 enormously in. the! majority, pay by far the greater' part of the taxes, - So if Shanghai wishes to uphold the democratic doctrine of "no taxation without representation," the foreigner, for whom. and' by' whom the settlement Was created, would be swamped entirely out of its government. Alas, ik is too obvious that, in that case, Shanghai settlement would soon be in the same deplorable condition Shanghai native city. Democracy would have defeated its own ends.
You have only to look at a riesha coolie in Shanghai and com-re his cleanliness, his clothing, aspect of general well-being, despite the ever-pressing financial cares of the poor, with the crowds of unfortunates coming in from the country-side, full of sores and vermin, despair in their eyes. You know that, if for his sake only, the foreigner must still take the lead in the settlement, and keep the banners of justice, incorraption, and social service flying.
The Rich Chinese Indeed, the difficulty of the settlements is the rich Chinese; and these the foreigner would willingly offer up on the altar, if he knew how. Sometmes they' are political vampires escaping with their ill-gotten gains, military satraps who have robbed a province, contractors who have built up the Yellow River dykes with mud instead of concrete. Of course, not all the money of the wealthy Chinese is tainted. But the fact remains that outside the very reasonable municipal demands they pay not a cent, not a cash, to anyone! They have neither income-tex, nor poor law nor education tax. Being outside the reach their own: Government, they contribute neither to the army nor the navy. The Government says, if these were no concessions they could catch them and mulct them. They are optimistic in this, for T ima; they would repair to Manila, yr Singapore, or Japan. But with their own country in such a hapless: plight they are content to live on their riches in Shanghai or Tientain,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.