It is not surprising that the pubication of the B.B.C.'s extraordinary article. on Shanghai should have evoked indignation. There seems to be good ground for urging that some, steps shaula be taken to obtain amends from the Corporation, Perhaps the British Chamber of Commerce or the British Residents Asso-dation could give the matter their attention, IL is, of. course, highly} probable that' Shanghailanders at home on leave have already made their voices heard on that point. Yet there is no reason why such representations, if made, should not be reinforced from Shanghai itself. It such abominable assertions had been made ina broadcast about, say, Paris, Tokyo or even Moscow it is almost certain that prompt ambassa~ donal demands would have been made through the Foreign Office for appropriate reparation. As this journal has already pointed out Shang-hho ig used to misrepresentation of its activities, and it may be urged that dignity would suggest silent contempt and no advertisement for Me. Richard Pyke. If nothing more than 'a magazine article were in question there would be good support for that view, but the point—admirably_ stressed by a correspondent to-day—is that the article carries the authority of the B.B.C.,, one of the foremost semi-oficial organs of publicity the world. Some effort surely should be made by those in whose hands Shanghai's reputation les to use the offeial channels open to them for redress of a grievous wrong. The whole tenour of the article was such that no-one zeeding it in London and having r@lations "in Shanghai could, without personal knowledge, arrive al any other conclusion than that their unfortunate Kinsmen were here engaged in some nefarious, dishonourable and altogether disrepute able employment, No-one would deny to the BBC. the right to give an accurate portrayal of Shanghai's complicated economic and political problems, of iis congested Industrial areas, of its insullllently-controlled factory life with the abuses inherent therein. The exposition, however, shawld take an objective form and should not be placed in the hands of a young man who spent about seven. weeks in China and, judging from his puerile bombast, has not yet reached the stage at which he' is qualified to express an opinion on serious sub-jeds, There are many people who really feel the need to stir public opinion on Shanghai's social and economic condition, Their efforts tare in danger of being utterly defeated if fantastic travesties progressive criticism are to be allowed in the organs of the B.B.C. The British Government owes a duty {o its own compatriots here and to other foreign nationals as well as Chinese citizens in giving due credit fotheachievements enshrined in the creation of Shanghai, A big clty—of Topsy-like qrowth—eannot be per-feel, cannot even pretend to be model, "but it is an outrage that it should be gratuitously insulted as by this vicious slander.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.