It is easy to understand the foeling among' British -Shanghallanders. that they have a special interest in the Coronation Naval and Military Tattoo. The Consul-General's ap~ royal of the decision to refuse ac-[cepting applications through certain British organizations as a matter of privilege was expressly based on the Aesire to give all British subjects an equal chance of securing seats. The whole "question has been anxiously discussed by the Executive Commit tee and the arrangements—rightly or wrongly—have been conceived a3 the result of weighing all points of view. Whether there has been breach of the limitations on number of tickets sold to individ applicants is not clear, but it certain:
does not seem to have been noticed by those responsible. Indeed, it is believed that every effort was made to comply with the conditions. be added that there are lable tickets which can assure their holders of comfortable standing or seating accommodation. On that point further guidance is obtainable from the statement pub-shed elsewhere, There remains this Jquestion of British rights to privileged booking. Complaints on that score—however understandable—do not seem to have taken into account the fact that the Coronation Committee offering to the general public of an ternational community an entertain ment made possible inno. small degree by the courtesy of that community. "If, as suggested by some, the booking had been opened clusively for British nationals special reservations up to a certain Dreseribed limit had been permitted fon their account, the effect of such a decision, however hedged about by qualifications, would have been to show churlish discrimination against esteemed fellow-citizens who would practically have been invited to take what seats had been left after their British friends had had their choice. Such a result would have been deplorable. Residence in an international community carries its duties as well as its privileges, as every Shanghailander "knows, On all rounds, too, the presence of other hhationals at the Tattoo is highly appreciated by British opinion and it would be a thousand pities if that.
generous reciprocity were red. By arranging the special (dress rehearsal for children who are to be allowed to take their duly accredited parents, the Committee endeavoured to meet certain require-_ ments of the British community. is hoped that due reflection on' the: complexities of the organization set in train by a hardworking and con side rate Committee will produce a modification of the rancour discernible in some minds—rancour quite understandable, it will be agreed, but perhaps capable of dispersal in' the light of the considerations " now presented, Tt must be added thal, in all probability, "the necessity for abandoning the Silver Jubilee's scheme of Mat-rate prices has been responsible for much of the disappointment, Psychologically the graduated charge deters the attendance of those who, falled to obtain higher-pricec seats, are disinclined to "go lower" This altitude may be open to eriticisni but it exists, as the Amateur Dramatic Club has discovered in the success attendant on its recent polley of throwing open the Lyceum Theatre at fat rates,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.