May 22.
Criticism of the Shanghai Municipal Council's salary list has now covered so much ground that the Council might do well to ponder on the possibility of issuing some general statement of its views on the subject. It has the means of removing many misapprehensions which have been disclosed in the course of the discussion. It could authoritatively reaffirm the prin ciples which have governed recruit ment to its service and indicate the standards which it considers to be necessary. The mere process of tabulating a list of the salaries paid to high officials and then calling it an "eye-opener" may be magnificent but it is not commonsense.
This journal is not prepared to deny. that a revision of the Council's commitments is justified. It is, however, convinced that the charge of extravagance cannot be as easily supported as some critics appear to think. Not a single critic has attempted to adduce comparative figures from other municipal administrations. Mr. P. H. Prevot's views may not be entirely: acceptable in every point of detail RR
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.