While only eight films were definite ty banned by the Hongkong censors last year. according to a late news despatch, 21 films were proscribed by the Shanghai Police during the same period. Four others were not shown here because of special cit~ cumstances.
The Hongkong Censor decided against ten films in 1983, but two of these were subsequently allowed to be screened after appeals had been taken to the Censor Board. The total number of feature films submitted for censorship purposes was 4903. The grounds on which cinemas fare rejected in Hongkong, besides indgceney, are mainly political, and in this. connection great care is exercised in the consideration of Sino-Japanese themes and of subjects relating to civil conflict in China. The so-called "gangster" films also are keenly scrutinized and frequently Tejected or at Toast cut, Diting 1933 the Shanghai Muntcipat Police censored 590 feature films, 850 "shorts" ber of reviews, representing 4,866,- 856 feet of film. "In 109 cases the pictures were only approved after parts to which the police objected had been cut out. The censors failed to approve of 34 films, and in eighteen of these eases no appeal was made. Of the remaining pictures three were finally rejected by the Board of Film" Censors and thirteen were passed after objectionable parts had Been delated. Permission to exhibit four of the latter, however, was withheld owing to extraordinary elrcumstances.
In the present system the lack of continuity and ce-ordination between the various railed and trolley bus services was a defect. If the scheme to remove nearer the river the tram~ way tracks on The Bund were carried out, then the Commissioner advocated the replacement of the Garden Bridge by a structure 80 ft. in width. He was not in favour of the operation of double deck tramcars on the existing rail system owing to the narrow auge of the tracks. Reverting to the Suggestion to replace the rail system double-deck' trolley buses, the Commissioner stated that whilst the trolley buses would assist traifie conditions on account of being able to pull up at the side ofthe road, in Practice it would be found that rickshaw traffic prevented the buses from keeping to the side of the road while in motion. A weakness of any trolley car system operated by overhead wires was that, unlike omnibuses, these vehicles were unable to overtake one another.
Members of the Commitee were unanimous as to the desirability of the general question of improvements in public transportation facilities being taken up with the Chinese and French Municipal authorities as a preliminary step. The Committee also agreed that it should be ascertained from the Tramway Ca. what steps it is prepared to take to effect improvements in equipment.
The Committee also thought that extension of existing routes was quite as important as improvement in equipment, but it was recognized that the "former question was largely dependent upon agreement being reached with the neighbouring Municipal authorities.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.