Mar. 8.
Tue able, dispassionate and illuminating report by Major Hilton-Johnson in this week's Municipal Gazette must not pass without comment, notwith standing that distaste for dis cussing an unsavoury subject in! print is increased. by the hope-Tessness of finding any remedy, by. legislation. Major Hilton-Tohinson finds that from a purely police point of view the elimination of brothels has meant less street rowdyism, but the Joss of what were once valuable news-centres for the police. The last consideration is, of course, quite unconnected with—the moral aspects of the question. Tu respect of these, it is con felusively shown that, the policy forced on the Council by the Moral Welfare Lenguo is a fail so far as elimination of loose, women and improve. ment of public. morality. is concerned; nor, we think, can it at all be contended that' suppression of houses has, to use favourite M, W. TI. phrase, driven view underground made it less accessible, On the contrary, solicitation as cor tainly "increased; "hotels and lodging-houses make a regular income out of a business. they once never used; the number of girls ingeho trade are thought to have increased, because they make moo money when working for themselves than for house-mistress; and their acti= ities have spread all over the Settlement instead of being com-fined to two ot'threo areas, respect of publi¢ health, the report' of' the" Shanghai ' Medical Society pablisliéa in January shows that there is certainly no improvement, if"indeet matters are not actually worse.
Most, if not all, of those consequences were anticipated when the Council was commit ted to the policy of 1920; and: the concluding statement in the Acting Seoretary's letter, pub" lished' with Major Hilton-Johnson's report, that the Council cannot carry out the doctors' recommendations, "unless as. result of a further resolution by: the ratepayers", reads uncommonly like a hint for the next annual meeting. But can we go back? And if s0 to what? Before any ratepayer brings forward a resolution, he will have Soorea, Fort po and would wish to do. The them to think carefully what we coat
Sereda iting mass gq Public feeling i, we think, op, the Yiklis, lo ywlane:-ab,'Con, Cos te system" of Momnsest his and supervised stantinople, and issued literature such as is practised in of a propagandist chnractar some countries; and there ape hich he circulated in Indi pear to be strong arguments for with the intention of stirring up the contention that even in res. trouble against Great Britain, pect of public health this system Hearing of this the British Am-s ineffective. Yet by no other bassador informed the Sultan means that we can see can the that this could only be regarded girls, once scuttered over the as an unfriendly act and. that} town, be trapped and brought ho must discontinue the practice back to special areas, for take the consequences. The Sultan agreed to stop the work, There is a further point on which we would touch. Bott but immediately afterwards devoted his energies in the same doctors and M.W.D, plead for way to Afghanistan. Tt appear-abundant publicity. So far a ed, however, that the Turkish contagious disease is concerned Caliph tind made little, impres-and if the publication is directed sion on the Indian Moslems, to quarters where it is heeded, and so the British Government we agree. But much of the did not interfere further with publicity that has been used, his pastime. the appalling plain-spokenness: which is.a "modern commons Noting these facts we need place of books, plays and news not mourn the disappearance of Papers, we are convinced does: Abdul Hamid, but we must have more harm than good. One: grave misgivings concerning the of our correspondents kindly disappearance of the Caliphate, necused us-the other day of which is apparently what the editing letters to suit our cwt assembly' at Angora to-day aims v '3. "We confess to having. cut-out the grosser nastinesses
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.