Of the ten candidates who are standing for the nine seats on the Shanghai Municipal Council in next week's annual election, five are members of the present Council: Mr. HE, Arnhold, Mr. ES. Franklin, Mr, Harold Porter, Mr. Urabe and Mr. T. Yamamoto; one, Brigadier-General E, B, Macnaghten, is a member of former Councils; and four are new-comers: Mr. A.D: Calhoun, Mr, 'T. Go, Mr. W. J. Keswick, and Mr. G. E, Mitchell, The present members who, for various reasons, are not seeking re-election are: Mr. J. W. Carney, Mr.
St. J. Killery, Mr. W. P. Lambe, and Mx, J, H, Liddell, Atl candidates "have, in some' form or another, obtained the previous endorsement of their respective com~ munities to their nominations. Hitherto that precaution has been observed only by the American and Japanese candidates. This year the five British candidates have already submitted themselves to the suf frages of their own compatriots among the ratepayers and have been chosen, on a 78 per cent. poll, In preference to five other nominees. 'The Japanese community for the first time puts forward three candidates, the newcomer, Mr. T. Go, being mammated by the same pro posers and seconders as have signed the forms for Mr.. Urabe and Mr. T. Yamamoto, in' token of the solidarity of the Japanese bid for additional representation. The elec tion will either favour this Jap-nese desire at the expense of one of the non-Japanese candidates or it will result in the defeat of one Japanese aspirant as the "odd man out." At the last Election the numder of registered voters was 8,850, of whom 1,284 were British, 803 Japanese, 400 American and 1,273 other nationalities, The total num~ ber of votes cast was 1,687 or 41 per cent. of the total electorate; of this total, 775 wore Japanese, (87 per cent.) 865 British (44 per cent.) and 247 American and all other nationalities (15 per cent.)
The defects in the electoral system have been frequently dis~ cussed. They cannot be removed without amendment of the Land Regulations, The electors can best enforce the need for reform by showing their readiness to exercise the franchise as It stands. "Indeed the very anomalies created by the Influence of changed conditions on the hitherto unchanged constitution provide a strong argument for instituting a higher standard of electoral performance than might be considered necessary elsewhere, A poll of 41 per cent. is poor. At the last General Election in Great Britain 74 per cent. of the electors cast their votes, In: spite of the existence of elaborate porty organization to keep the voters up to the mark, it is always expected that a good proportion of the electors will be unable or unwilling to vote. In the International Settlement elections, there are, no doubt, certain conditions which militate against voting by some ratepayers—conditions of employment mainly—but it is generally agreed that, a larger percentage of votes cast should be attained. From the Agures quoted it will be seen that the international composition of the Council can be best safeguarded by the exercise of full electoral influence." It Is to be hoped that these considerations will find stronger support than has always been ac~ corded to them in the past.
Issues which the Council has to determine in the name of the ratepayers of the Settlement embrace political and economic, as well as purely munfeipal, affairs.
The members of the Council are not professional politicians, such as might be found elsewhere. They! give their services fo the community. at the expense of their business or. leisure hours. In so doing they deserve to receive the fullest possible indication that their acceptance of responsibility has the approval and confidence of the electorate as Shanghai, in common with other cities, cannot expect all its electors) to axercisg the privilege of voting on strictly judicial lines. Some sort. of human nature Is more susceptible than others to the whim of emotion, the influence of portents or the Idiosynerasies of taste. There are still in Great Britain voters who will prefer Mr. Stanley Baldwin to Mr. Lloyd George because their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers voted Tory. At the last election it was stated that Mr. Attlee commanded the support of one of the: fiercest opponents of Labour merely because they two had been at Halleybury together. Thus did Mr. Baldwin's "old school tie" philosophy inflict a minor injury on teacher. Electors there are who vote against their own man merely' because the morning of election day. has brought unhappy disturbance to their livers. With the type of free and independent' voter who succumbed at the eleventh hour to the: convincing arguments of Mr. Perker Shanghai has happily no concern. No provision is made here against lection malpractices because Shang-hal haz never known such evils Yet it is reasonable to assume that, In approaching this Issue of the municipal elections, the Shanghai-Lander can claim to be business~ like and relevant. He will therefore appreciate the fact that, having] been endowed: with the power of voting, he should take steps to exercise it sanely and with duc yegurd to the interests of the Settlement.
He is not backward in expressing his views either on paper or in the modified privacy of institu-Hons to which his lawful occasions take him, The municipal voting paper gives him the opportunity of ensuring that, whatever may be done by the Muntefpal Council dur. Ing the year, he has had his word. thereon and can claim the right to be critical or laudatory accordingly. It does not require much energy to} slip across to the Administration Building Kiangse Road and engage in that brief but exciting adventure In the polling booth. Tt has often taken more time to extrienle the waiting car from the maze of after-theatre traffic er to) receive from across the bar the refreshing mixture which Is Intended to promote long life and prosperity.
So it will be hoped that the poll next week will be heavy and leave that miserable 41 per' cent. far behind as a tattered relic' of past diffidence.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.