Apropos of the present agitation being conducted against the Shanghai Municipal Council on the alleged score of its inability to maintain Jaw and order in the International Settlement, the following extract. from an interview with Mr. Hu Han-min, president of the Legislative Yuan, by a special representative of the "Journal de Shanghai* is not uninteresting, Nor is. the note thereon appended by the editor of the French newspaper.
he passage from the interview ie "In order to delay the abolition (of extraterritoriality) the questions. of lack of security, civil war, ete, fare raised. But have you not niler things in Europe and America?" he continued in an one exgetic voice. "Why do you not demand extraterritoriality in the United States or in England when tone of your nationals have beer threatened or killed by bandits, for any cther reason?"
"And in the foreign concession in China, are you any better protected? In Shanghai, for example and I will only quote you th great cosmopolitan town" continued the president of the Legislative Yuan—"Not a day passes in which you do net hear of assassinations, thefts and kidnappings. The foreign concessions in China are veritable rendezvous for dangerous. criminal the focus of trade more or los honest, the paradise for the proprietors of roulette dens, dog racing, for trading in white and yellow women; the centre for contraband, of counter! degrading pleasures,'
"Ido not say that.a small number of foreigners do not profit from the privileges of extraterritoriality and the regime in the concessions, and do not enrich themselves, but if foreigners were far-seeing and compared the private gains of few merchants opium of "morphine and other stupefiants, of some proprietors of roulette houses, of gaming and other dubious trade with all the losses which the honest industry and commerce of the: foreigners suffer in China, they -would sincerely join with me in asking for immediate abolition, That portion of the editorial footnote referring to the above is follows:—
"As for the foreign concessions. which are represented to us as cities of perdition, we content ourselves by putting a fow questions to the eminent Chinese statesman:
"Why is it that Chinese men of politics, and, notably the most important members of the Chinese National government purchase houses in the foreign concessions and never in the Chinese city of Shanghai, which is larger and capable of indefinite extension, and where politicians would have' the advantage of enjoying a Chinese administrative and judicial regime as well as the protection of the Chinese police?
"Why are all the big Chinese banks, all the Chinese million ai all the big Chi stitutions installed and continue to be installed in the foreign Concessions?
"Why?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.