The question of opium, whether Shanghai is to have a tematic control over the drug or is to continue haphazard its present policy, occupies much' space in the newspapers. and. much attention in political circles, because from a political standpoint it is the most vital problem of the day. But opium' aside, there are many other problems which face Tupan Sun Pao-chi "and Mr. Vu Ya-ching and to which they might devote themselves and the solution any one of which would entitle them to a niche in their nation's hall of fame.
Shanghai has recently been described ax a third class port from the standpoint of health. This is indeed a serious accusation against the metropolis of ithe East, for with all the wealth of this city and the advantages of foreign Settlements, there is no excuse for such a report except in the sloth of Chinese officials and the complete absence of effective government in the Chinese cities of Chapei and Nantao. One need only walk along the Avenue des Deux Republiques or across Boundary Road into Chapei to realize how different is a city managed by Chinese officials from one managed by foreigners, A motorcar bumping its way along North Soochow Road after the Settle ment limits have been passed tells a tale of revenue wasted, of official incompetence, of an utter disregard for the welfare of the public. In cleaning up the territory under their control, the new officials can do an excellent service. If they do not care for foreign assistance, they might employ Chinese sanitary engineers who have studied abroad and who could do much to end the invidious comparison between their Shanghai. and ours.
The new officials might turn their attention to taxation and revenue. They have an opportunity there to end for ever the mulcting of the populace by militarists. If they budgetize their government and raise ample revenue to cover the expenses of their administration, if they eliminate "squeeze" and corruption and utilize the funds collected for public improvements, the Chinese adjacent to Shanghai might be turned into clean, healthful, decent territories instead of disease-ridden,—germ-breeding, areas, a constant menace to the entire population of Shanghai Chinese as well as foreign, Such a budget might provide for the reorganization of the police force of these areas, so that the police might ' be adequately and regularly paid, that they might be effectively armed und trained to assist the police of the foreign Settlements in the detection and punishment of crime.
They might organize adequate, judicially managed courts in these places, that justice might be meted out imtially and honestly, thus eliminating the danger to life and property in the whole of Greater Shanghai that comes from.the weakness and incom-potence of so great a part of it.
Such a budget might, include the development of a° modern fire department in the Chinese. area, so that Shanghai need not be constantly worried by the. outbreak of fires in the Chinese city with no organization to cope with them.—Shanghai has grown into one of the large cities of the world and a con-flag ration in one of its' parts may sweep through the whole it: The Shanghai Municipal Council has organized to meet such emergencies and is. constantly improving its fire-fighting personnel and equipment. The Chinese cities have done very little beyond a volunteer force of doubtful efficiency and adequacy. Herein lies cellent opportunity for the new politi non-military govern-governors to show what a non-
ment can accomplish.
They might turn Lunghua into a public park and use the buildings for schools or orphan asylums. They might turn the Arsenal into an industrial institution to employ the beggars who infest all parts of the city with their filthy clothes and filthier bodies, their running sores and other horrors. They might turn the Chapei barracks into a great playground for the boys and girls of that slum region, bringing sunshine into their lives and strength to their loins. They might clean up the frightful Soochow Creek and jother_mosquito-breeding creeks and canals which run through their districts and police the canals that goods might move relative speed. They might build & few roads and maintain those already built. They might plant a few trees along these roads and instruct their police to see that the trees were not turned into firewood.
There is work to do for the; and his ce-director, There is an opportunity for them to prove to the foreigners living in China and those outside that there is ability left in China and that all have in error. Who would be ready to admit such error, after proof, than the "North: China Daily News?"
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.