Street Union have said some very nice things about the Municipal Council in a petition which they have drafted for presentation to the powers that be, on the subject of rice smuggling.
It may be remembered that in a case recently before the Mixed Court, in which a merchant was charged with attempting to smuggle rice away to Hongkong, the defence was raised that the Municipal] Council had no power to issue the proclamation against smuggling, on which the prosecution was based, and could not enforce it without authority from a Ratepayers' Meeting and the sanction of the Consular Body.
This defence has taken the Haining Road Street Union by surprise. How can it be argued, they say in their petition, that the Municipal Council t a legislative body? They insist that the Council's precaution against smuggling is an admirable one, and express their thanks for the kind interest thus taken in the welfare of Shanghai Chinese.
The Chinese, they say, are highly indignant at being victimized by smugglers, and "almost wish to eat their flesh." The—discov: of the alleged smuggler is described as a piece of Heavenly Justice, accomplished with the aid of the Municipal Council and a foreign and a Chinese detective.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.