The four distinguished experts [who have been invited to perform 3 Telephone Tango in Shanghai will be forgiven if they confess to a certain bewilderment as they note the reactions of the audience. The combined influence of American, British, Chinese and Japanese telephone philosophies will no doubt keep them technically sane as they tread the measure assigned to them. The story. of their coming is simple, 'The Shanghai 'Telephone (Company, under the terms of its franchise, put forward early in the year to' the Shanghai Municipal Council and to the Municipal Council of the French Concession what was called an application for "Adjustment in Telephone Tariffs Provided in the Franchise Agreements." The two Councils feame to certain decisions which in the main met the Company's re~ quirements, but the pressure of Public opinion, notably in the Annual Meeting of the Ratepayers fof the International Settlement, led to the adoption of a temporary revision as from April 1 and the appointment of special technical investigation of the Company's pro-{Dosals.. 'The French Municipality' decided to Teave this investigation' to its own expert. The Sangha! 'Municipal Council, taking the sense fof the Settlement' Ratepayers' An-huai Meeting, arranged for the apointment of' a committee of four Outside experts from America, Great. Britain, China and Japan respectively. "At the end of July, {twas announced that the Committee would begin work in. the second week of August and that the four experts were: Mr. J. G. Wray, formerly Chief Engineer of the Mlinois Bell Telephone Company USA. Major H. Brown, the retire ing Deputy Chief Engineer of the British Post OMice; Mr. Z. H. Hu, Chief Engineer of long distance telephones at Nanking; and Professor S. Inada of Waseda University and formerly Chief of the! Bureau of Engineering and Works, Japanese Ministzy of Communica ions. The full committee met for the first time on August 20 and thereupon settled down to its labours.
The terms of reference had been duly determined. Briefly the experts were called upon to report Whether the Telephone Company! was entitled to an increase in tants from April 1, 1935 under its franchise, whether its expenditure was economical and justified, Whether it was desirable to adopt The message rate basis of charges for business or residential subseri bers, and what increase, if any, should be made in respect of (a) business telephones, (b) residential telephones and (c) other items in the tariff of charges. It will be seen that the experts have been appropriately asked to give expert opinion. They are concerned with telephone costs, telephone practice, telephone achievement and telephone service in the light of the contractual relations existing tween the Shanghai Telephone! Company and the Council, as expressed in the telephone franchise.
has been announced that they have made substantial progress! with the inquiry and hope soon to submit their report. They have! received from the Council and the!
[Company the necessary relevant formation. They have also been presented by various organs of opinion. with a wealth of argument—ranging from the statistical to the rhetorical [for the due examination of the problem as seen from that peculiar point of vantage popularly describe as "in the street" Impressed doubt by the keen interest thus dis \closed, they intimated toward the end of September that they were also willing to receive suggestions from" "any properly accredited group of telephone users.
The experts, in applying ther expert knowledge, have been at Vsome pains to acquire whatever {data may be conceivably germane to their inquiry. They have given no hint of their conclusions. "Yet, already they are being invited to regard themselves as defaulters. The Feasons are varied and divert-jing. The investigation of telephone franchise is made to cover an amazingly wide field of psychology, ethics and philosophy. From the Telephone Tango the quartette are expected to develop proficiency in the Nationalist Nautch, the Cure
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.