The following interesting article ie contributed to the anonym member of the Kyoto, Conference.
Of the many problems considered by the Kyoto conference on Pacific relations, none was quite so puzzling that of the status of Shanghai. The director-general of the Shanghai municipal council was present asia delegate, and took part round table discussions of the subject. In one of these he was asked two. questions which brought into relief the way the affairs of this strange city are involved.
The first question dealt with the incident of May 80, 1925, It will be recalled that the municipal police fired upon an unarmed crowd Chinese demonstrators, killing some 18 of them. It might'be added, by way of comment, that we found a government high' school in Nanking called "The May Thittieth School," and that we visited Hangchow at the close of a national exposition in which, as we were told, one of the exhibits was the bloody clothes of The reader may re-committee of foreign from Peking inves-and directed that. the chief of police, who ordered the firing, should be dismissed. The question asked at Kyoto was why was not that order obeyed. The director-general replied that the municipal council did not take orders from the foreign ministers, but had independent. administration authority under its established regulation:
The second question dealt with the regulation of labour in Shanghai factories, where one may see children of 10 attending machines on 12shour day or night shifts for 18 days out of 14, Here the spokesman for the municipal council diselnimed all responsibility and said that these factories could be regulated only by the governments whose nationals operate the factories.
When the inconsistency was pointed out of the authority completely disclaimed in the one case and completely claimed in the other, the director-general acknowledged "the inconsistency, but went on to sencesanesiterin een nncantnnannmnnorsN say that the whole government of the Shanghai international settle ment was anomalous, quite unlike that of any other city in the world.
'A brief explanation may help the reader to realize this anomaly.
Shanghai is about half as far} from the mouth of the Yangtze 25 Portland is from the mouth of the Columbia, It is on the Whangpo> near its junction with the great river, as Portland is on the Willametre, The central business section consists of the French concession, under the authority of the: French consul and the international] settlement, under control of th>: municipal council. Enclosing these two foreign-controlled areas, on the Jsame side of the river, are the Chinese district of Nantao, Chapei and Hongkew, while across' the river is the Chinese district of Pootung. The comprises close to three habitants. Not only is the foreign area complete surren the Chinese city; lation is overwhelmingly Chinese. In the whole city the proportion of Chinese is about 49 out of 50, and the international settlement itself about 29 out of 30.
The government of the International. Settlement, has grown by sufferance of the Chinese, and the powers it has exercised have been in part extra-legal. Here, as else-Where the organized and relatively efficient minority, for its own healt and safety, has felt itself compelled to dominate the unorganized and relatively inefficient majority. In recent years, however, the Chinese have been gaining, though slowly, la organization and efficiency, and the equilibrium of Shanghai threatens to become unstable, like that of a pyramid upon its apex.
There are three or four principal elements of danger. First there!
the growing sentiment of nationalism among the Chinese which trges them to demand the exercise of sovereign rights in their own country. Although 60 or 70 per ent. of the taxes of the. interna tional settlement is paid by Chinese, until recently they have had no representation on the municipal coun-Bi, Even now they choose only three of the nine members. They object to taxation without representation, and it. seems probable that they will not finally be satisfied until they have representation in portion to their stake in the community.
Second, there is a long tradition of racial diserimination—Chinese excluded from public parks, searcited without warrant in automobiles fand in buses and street care, fand smitten by foreign policemen, fand there are the men who were shot down on May 30 in Nanking Road. Our own revolutionary history should remind us of the effect of such things as these in rousing fand consolidating national feeling.
"Third, there is the continual presence of the machinery and the forces of war.
When I was in Shanghai there wore 13 foreign vessels of war in the harbour, and in the city there were troops of three foreign powers running up into the thousands. This takes no account of the volunteer corps maintained by the foreign municipality itself. Such show of force, if it continues, is bound to provoke an answering show of force, and no one can {ell when a clash may come. Finally, it appears. uncertain how long the taxpayers at home will continue to pay the bills for these naval and military forces in a situation where the home governments have s0 little effective i in shaping local policy. This uncertainty was clearly indicated by Britisn and American delegates at Kyoto.
'On the other hand, there are unmistakable signs of progress, toward a peaceful adjustment of the interests in conflict. One is the frank and outspoken' purpose of Chinese leaders to forestall possible conflict by ce-operative action in advance. Another is the sympathetie and conciliatory response made recently by the British Foreign' Office and the American Department of State. A third is the recognition i the Shanghai the Chinese must ultimately exercise sovereign rights in. the Chinese! territory now controlled by for-
'At Kyoto, the director-general -was unequivocal' in his recognition of this principle, and expressed his hope that the steps to be taken in the rendition of the foreign cou-cessions and settlements in China might be worked out, in the near; fature, by joint councils of Chinese
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.