Sep. 11.
The decision taken by the Municipal Council in respect of the Publicity Bureau in Jinkee Road puts the whole question on a perfectly clear footing. If the Bureau Is a Government office, of which the Council have no official information, an application must be made for permission for it to operate in the prescribed way through the usual diplomatic channels. If no such application is made, it must go, Clearly the Council cannot permit so-called publicity bureaux to establish themselves unchecked all over the Settlement.
Liberties claimed for one that is favourable to the Kuomintang, could not be withheld from one opposed to it. The Settlement would rapidly degenerate into what the Council has always strenuously tried to prevent its becoming, a mere nest of intrigues, "In any case, there is the custom established by treaty and there is no reason why it should be infringed. From the agitation made over the Council's action in stopping the Jinkee Road Bureau, it would seem probable that the Chinese officials will now consider that too much loss of face would be involved in applying for permission for it to carry on. But whether application is made or not, we sincerely hope the Bureau will be told to move out of the Settlement. There are Government offices which might function here without harm, but this assuredly is not one of them. What is to be the nature of the publicity in which it will deal?) How can the police keep watch on all that it publishes? Will they put a censor in the office? How else can the publications of the Bureau be prevented from degenerating into propaganda of an obnoxious type? And if this should happen, Tet it be remembered that, once established through form-diplomatic negotiation, the Bureau would be practicably immovable thenceforward. To stop it at the beginning, is the only safe course.
The whole question of Chinese Government employees functioning in the Settlement calls for early revision. As regards the tax-collectors, we are told that these are limited to employees of the tobacco and kerosine tax bureau; the establishment of which is actually a convenience to the tobacco and oil firms, who are thereby saved the trouble of sending to Chapei for the necessary. stamps which show that their goods have paid the tax. But the convenience of the companies should not be allowed to outweigh the importance of the great principle involved,—Already, we understand, employees of the Tax Bureau operate inside the tobacco, factories, to stamp bales as they leave the premise: Where is this to end? If be allowed for one class of goods, why not for another? And to what abuses may not the practice give rise? Already we have had the case of a tobacco-tax collector who held up a lorry in Chekiang Road because the driver refused to accompany him to the Bureau: for further taxation in detail of what apparently had already been taxed in gross.
Very unfortunately, we think, the Council had the man charged only with causing an obstruction to traffic, because they knew well enough that the Provisional Court would not have convicted him on the real charge. Had the latter been brought—when the result would no doubt have been as anticipated—an issue vould
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.