Mar, 7, 'THE annual reports and meetings of the International Committee of Chefoo are always worth following for the story: they tell of what a governing body can do, though supported purely by voluntary' contributions, when backed by public opinion. This year the report made the more interesting by a new example of the "local autonomy, which is just now. the prevailing political fad." Originally, it would seem, the Committee ran its own police, When the revolution came in 1911 it was induced to hand them over to be managed: by: the provincial capital, Tsinanfu. Now, for want of money we may suppose, the latter has given them back to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Chefoo.
This led to a little unpleasant: bess at the last annual of ratepayers, on a repr tive of the Chamber suggesting that the Committee ought to increase its contribution of twenty-five per cent. of the riesha licences for the upkeep of the police, The Committee strongly objected not only to this but to being called names for refusing, as without going too deeply into Jocal politics it appears to have had good grounds for doing. The motion was as they say, "talked out" with a recommendation to the incoming Committee to consider the matter. However, the police in Chefoo certainly seem to have their uses, for in the annual report we read:—
Contrary to our expectations and to our great surprise, the Police have materially assisted in stopping the removal of sand from the base of the Bund front, and the introduc tion of "Bamboo Chow" in the sand coolies menu appears to have had a salutary effect. We heartily thank the Chief of Police in this Section for thus helping our work and hope that, he will continue his good offices on behalf of the safety of the Bund which is more and more proving a oon to both Chinese and Foreigners, There are suggestions about that Paragraph, quite apart from the condition of the Bund which provide new arguments for local autonomy as a means of rising superior to inconvenient national.laws, for example against corporal punishment.
The reconstruction of the Bund has been a great feature of Chefoo's life and a feather in its cap. Three years ago a special rate was agreed to for the necessary expenses, The agreement has run out and cannot be renewed, owing to the Chinese plea of bad trade; and there is an outstanding debt on the work of nearly $10,000. Towards this the Committee pro-Pose to put $5,000 out of their surplus on the past year's working, which will practically wips out its balance. But certainly Chefoo is to be congratulated on having so much in hand, It brought forward $2,462 from total budget for the only $85,777 and out of that there was a credit balance of $5,606. And still it undoubtedly does a great deal of work. Roads, as always, are a constant preoccupation. Asphalt is what Chefoo would like but cannot afford, So it is trying rubble coated with desiceated tar, which appears fairly satisfactory. We have no idea what sort of traffic. the roads have to stand, but one may imagine that the rocky of the district is a great ance. There is also in Chefoo a fee brigade of fifteen foreign officers and eighty-four Chinese men, who attended twenty-two fires ip 1924. At the beginning 'Gf the' year the brigade was éfeanized and formed into -presgiit constitution: a quantity "of. new gear Was. bought but more is, needed: and-the, Gommittee was none too pleased to be called on for $3,000 for past, and future requirements, which sum, however, was passed by the ratepayers. Considering—this vital importance of fire brigade work and how much purely voluntary effort goes into it, it is di {tressing to read the following Lits relation to local Chinese Brigades:—Chefoo being only a Treaty port and having neither a Concession or Municipal vighta, it lonly in Section 1 and Temple Hil area, that the Fire Brigade can Jexercise any sort of control, when in tion, and such authority as it exercises then is more a question of moral than. actual control. Cooperation with the Chinese police jand local Chinese Fire Brigades rendered impossible, due tothe at-[titude of the Chinese officials. The [Chinese Chamber of Commerce has refused to support the Brigade in Jany way nor have any replies been received-to requests for financial aid, Is it unreasonable to say that the contrast between the West-jem sense of civie responsibility and the Oriental, which this par-graph illustrates, is the root of most of the misfortunes which China is suffering to-day?
distinctly hard luck, apart from other considerations that Chefoo has to suffer from "moral welfare" problem as larger cities do. Such is presumably due to the summer advent of the sailors, which couple of years ago gave rise to not a few disagreeable incidents. /Since then, we believe, the Navy "Y" has done splendid work in providing recreation room: cinemas and so forth for the men, but the native harpies have naturally gathered for the prey and there is no means of driving them away. The chairman, in speech at the ratepayers' meeting, said that five years ago Chefoo had rid itself of thirty-five houses of ill-fame and could jhe regarded as clean; but last informed that near-that number had been allowed to open. Whether this figure also includes bars is not clear, but probably in most cases there is no distinction be tween them. A strong petition backed by the International Committee has been sent to the Taoyin and one may wish it all success, There is a sentence in ithe chairman's speech with which this brief notice of Chefoo's work may appropriately Ik is not true that the Committee Jof the past year can boast that they {found Chefoo a city of brick and left city of marble, but they can feel considerable pride in carrying on Jand adding to the work of former committees. in changing Chefoo from x dirty, ill-smelling, notorious ly unhealthy spot to a port where life is comparatively healthy and really worth living. 'The details of this tremendous task are not all complete: in some things we go backward, in others we go forward. It is for' successive Committees to pick up dropped stitches They never will need to complain, as did the youthful Alexander, that there fare no worlds left to conquer. The Joutgoing Committee can justly feel that this is a report of work well done.
It may conceivably be for the very reason that the Committee has no powers of the "big stick" the behind it and that its own work and every penny it spends it a matter of voluntary contribution, that has made it so sueees ful.' For thereby every resident is brought to feel, as he does not elsewhere, that the comfort of life depends on his own goodwill and exertions. This is the ideal state of democracy, a further illustration of its unworkability except among ideal people and surroundings.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.