By Saturday noon the nominations for the Shanghai Municipal Council must be completed, So far only five names" have been definitely mentioned as received by the prescribed authorities. 'That does not imply lack' of interest" in the Council's affairs. "Indeed it may be doubted whether there has ever been a stronger desire in Shanghai that the men elected to serve on the Council should be representative in the best sense of the word. The hesitition is more apparent than real; those who have been contempt ing nomination are reluctant to lose any of the short time still available for reflection before permitting their names to: be submitted. They may be. said quite fairly to be alive to the tactical advantage of giving potential critics of their can datures as little scope for. a tivity as it is possible to dictate, It, seems that contests—will take place: although, naturally, authoritative expressions of opinion on that point cannot be given until more nominations fare reported. The prudent decision of the American community. to put forward two candidates with the backing of a preliminary selection is an important. factor, a8 also will be the ultimate revelation of the plans of the Japanese, Although tactical conside tions may, to some extent, plain the delay in the submission of nominations, they" are not the only controlling influences at work. It would probably be unwise to expect an abundance of candidates; if the figure of fourteen nominations recorded Inst year is equalled might almost be regarded as a matter of surprise, This may be regretted for it would bbe idle to deny that the ery for ie] new blood, plainly vocal last year, has been repeated with Some force in certain quarters. The fact, however, appears to be that when it comes to the test of putting names forward for. nomination, the vehement, protestations give way to a diffidence which is not altogether unjustified. This is due in some mea-ure to long-standing psychological elements which are common to every political community. Tt also is due to cer-special considerations which may be described as pecular to Shanghai and to this particular moment. The depression in trade is a portent which is playing unhappily only too great a part in the lives of, Shanghai people just now. It! is discouraging the engagement] of new staff, it is imposing on firms the paramount need of restricting their activities and, consequently, of reducing thei staffs to the bare minimum. these circumstances it is not. easy for the men, even those at! the. top, to justify devoting a ry large portion of their daily time to the affairs of the public. Several men whose candidatures would hate been most acceptable on personal. and public grounds have for these reasons had to refrain from standing. Incidentally. some who might be persuaded. to agree to nomination are likely to be absent from Shanghai for a good part of the present rear. With proper cit. cumspection, more than one as-having made careful examina-of the amount of time which Membership absorbs for the conduct of Municipal business, has come to the conclusion that duties which must stand first demand his abandonment of the idea.
The truth is that membership in these days has become a most exacting tie. There may. be ground for the argument. that this should be remedied by a more up-to-date revision of the procedure, by the scientific de-Mareation of the functions of directing policy and executive responsibility. This journal expressed that point, of view on more than one occasion. The potential member has, however, to think of things as they are." He knows that fourteen members—nine foreigners and five Chinese—have to be distributed over the vast field cove ed by various committees, subcomtnittees, to say nothing of special and ad hoc committees appointed from time to time. In addition to the regular meetings of the Council itself and Go to the routine consideration of files, the member has therefore to face ait inroad into his pri-vote time of something like four hours a day, on an average computed by good authority. It no wonder, therefore, that there is no particular rush for nomina ation. Moreover members of the Shanghai Council—as the existing body will ruefully agree—are not immune from criticism, It is right that they should not be; that does not, however, alter the fact that, owing in' some measure to the antiquated methods of publicity which, "it is believed, some effort will be made to improve, they are often the targets of attacks which, normally, would be avoided and which, "in the seem to them to limits of fairness.
Some arenas of public life The member of the Shanghai Municipal Council may sanction in his corporate capacity, the award to a Municipal employee of that coveted strip of ribbon, which denotes the endurance of a number of years of blameless official life; he cannot, however, expect to receive on' his own account any solatium for ser vices rendered, except the not! always satisfying one of jood-humoured surprise at his indefatigability, Thoughts something' like these have probably been active during these last few days of cogitation; they do not! necessarily imply' that halos have suddenly been discovered ming with startling brilliance in Kiangse Road or that from the shoulders of the Chairman and his colleagues snowy white Wings have been discerned to sprout. They suggest, however, very clearly that the' men who eventually may decide to stand for election—whether old members or newcomers—are pr: ed to take on duties whic volve much sacrifice "of comfort and leisure. short public spiritedness in its most ascetic form is commanded of them. Recognition of that fact! is due not only to the outgoing: Council but also to the magnitude of the services committed to their care.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.