August 14.
Nor the least interesting portion of last week's Municipal Minutes is that containing a summary of the proposals put forward by the Manager of the Tramway Company for a reorganization of its service. While many ratepayers must have been disappointed that the matter was deferred for further consideration at a later date, it must not be forgotten that the trams have not yet been running for six months, and it cannot be doubted that any: serious consideration of the proposals now put forward should be based on at least half a year's working. Many, difficulties are involved, and many abstruse calculations will have to be sifted before a definite revision of the terms of the original concession can be undertaken. We fully concur with the view that some modifications of the original agreement will have to be made. The time that has elapsed since the initiation of the service has been sufficient to make apparent the principal drawbacks of the present system, andas the Tramway Company has shown that itis really endeavouring to provide the Shanghai public with an up-to-date and efficient service, we have no doubt that any proposals they put forward be received sympathetically. It is hardly to be wondered at that the inauguration of 4 tramway service in the Settlement, where there are so many conditions non-existent elsewhere, should bring to light unforeseen difficalt ties, which even a carefully drafted agreement fails to meet when put to the test of actual experience, And now that the management of the Company has been transferred from an engineering to an adminis. trative expert, it is time that these deficiencies should be tabulated, and an honest attempt made to grapple with them. In so doing it must not, however, be forgotten that the Chinese must always form the bulk of the Tramway's clientele, and no proposals which entail hardship on the poorer classes should be adopted without careful consideration.
The proposals of the Tramway Company as embodied in a memo-random' published in the Municipal Minutes last week are simple, yet comprehensive, and with a exceptions, they may well be adopted ultimately. They comprise: rearrangement of sections, by reducing them from 1-14 miles mile: cheap long distance fares in both classes; a reduction of first class fares; first-class season tickets at $8 per month; and the abolition of the present clumsy system of second-class coupons. With these suggestions we propose deal seriatim. First, in regard to fare sections, it must be noted that the proposal of the Company is to reduce the present sections by about one half, charging three cents and two cents per section for first and second-class respectively. Thus, if the present section from the Yangkingpang to Defence Creek were split up into two sections, the—second-<lass passenger would have to pay four cents, instead of three (or two by coupons) as at present, and the first-class passenger would pay six cents instead of five. This increase, however, disappears when any distance beyond two sections is travelled, as the long distance faret of six and nine cents then "come into operation. If the advantage of this proposal is considered to outweigh the increase over first two sections, it might be possible to render the sections more elastic, as on the French system. where the sections are mach shorter anda fare of three cents (second class) or five cents (first-class) entitles a passenger to travel over any three sections on the line. Anomalies such as charging the same fare from the Yangkisspisd to the Astor House, and either point to Defence Creek,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.