Sept. 1
The Commissioner of Police has given an effective answer {9 the arguments against the application of the new parking regulations brought forward by the Automobile Club of China and others. Obsectors to the new regulations have been given ample time and opportunity to state their case; that coze has: been carefully considered and weighed by the Council; and the decision has been reached that it is nct strong enough to upset the case in favour of the new regulations, which will go into effect on October 15. The impartiality of the Council's handling of the matier and the chance of any motorist ex= cussing himself by stating that he does not know of the areas has been met by the publication of a map which shows them unmistakeably. To rect the demands of business and shopping, there are extensive areas in which "waiting" for a Umited time will be permitted. This privilege wil! not, of course, appreciably case the flow of traffte in the main roads, which is at present hindered by cars parked both sides which cause a motor rist to regulate his speed to that of the tram or bus which is immediately in front of him, and results ina direct slowing down of the traffic stream; but it does point to a step in the right direction, Streets have been defined by Mr. Here-Belisha, the Minister of Transport in Great Britain, as "through ways," and obstructions that make them anything else should be done away with. And, in Shanghai least, it is ironical that one of the chief obstructions is the parked more: car, for it is to the motorist's convenience that the streets should be kept most clear. This point can~ not be denied, as every motorist who uses Nanking Road between the usual rush hours, when people are in their offices and their cars have been left outside in the streets, can testify.
The Commissioner of Police hai pointed out, in connection with the upkeep of the roads in the Settlement for which the motorist largely ays, that many of the ears occupy~ ing valuable parking space in the Central District pay their taxes to the French Concession municipality and, therefore, there is no injustice in the new banditry has been rife for genera~ tions and the task of its suppress sion is admittedly so diMeult that {oo much could not have been, pected from a larger force than Japan has been able to station in the country up fo the present, even were not for the fact that the majority of the Japanese troops there—oMelally claimed to be in the neighbourhood of sixty thousand—have to be posted at various strategic points, owing to the in~ ternational situation and the possibility of friction from over the northern frontier. If it had been possible for strong and mobile parties of troops to be scattered in all the regions where banditry -was Worst, then swift retribution would have had its effect and no doubt the stories of attacks would, after years' occupation, be few and far between, But the circumstances have been otherwise and the new state, even with the assistance of lis abies from over the water, has had to suffer from one of the worst and most persistent maladies: that can aMlict a country which has already had its lifeblood sapped by misrule and corruption.
If the communications system in 'Manchuria can be improved, it will be easier to cope with the' bandit problem, Even now the Japanese have sucecedod in almost eradieat~ fatalities and 39,874 casualties, and in the latter ere were 698 fatalities and 54,706 casualties. On the basis of the official Japanese statement that there are sixty thousand Japanese troops in the country, these figures are appalling. these totals are considerably less: than estimates arrived at independently by other observers. One of these latter estimates puts the oral of Japanese military fatalities last year at 946, not including deaths among the police, Japanese White Russian, A" similar! reckoning puts the number of deaths during the previous year at about 150 fewer than last year. Those charged with the duly of suppression must by this time have come to realise the handicaps which have faced the Chinese Government ior years in their efforts to clear up the Reds in this country. As the case of the Reds, the bandits have the advantage of being able to move swiftly and with light equipment over territory unblessed by regular roads, accomplishing their purpose and' vanishing into inaccessible fastnesses. The auithori~ fies have had experience of! unreliable native assistance and perhaps treachery, in the same way the Chinese Government. And! their better trained soldiers and superior weapons of war have tone observer as "a ferocious lot, Moroccan detachment, described by Vause, n° choice But to accept its regulations on the grounds of cost. It ig a point well bent upon plunder and worse." course, there is adequate precedent for the employment of coloured trope on the European continent but It is not dim cult to imagine the repugnance of the populace to any effort for constitutional and political reform by the use of such an expedient. Where the insurgents have experienced their greatest. rebuff, which must have a tremendous psychological effect, is in their failure to capture Madrid, the focal point of initial efforts in the revolt. Had the capital fallen in the first attack, on which the insurgents had based their greatest hopes, there might have been another story to tell, but the Government appears to be well in control of the capital and a large part of Central Spain in spite of insurgent claims of bombardments by artillery and bombs. Considerable press tire continues to be exerted on Madrid but there is nothing to indicate that, the Government is unable to maintain its position.
In other parts of the country, there are isolated situations Where -losses and gains appear to be about evenly divided. Toledo, with the senseless and almost inhuman situation hostages in the Aleaear doonied to: slaughter, makes a sad picture but lly since the Council has expressed its willingness to make changes in the present regulations as experience proves: they become necessary. Ca-operation from the motoring public is needed to make the new regulations a success; obstruction, such as the proposed game of "musical chairs," might seriously hamper the success of the new scheme, but could not nullity it, as the Council has the power to legislate against' actions such as these and the obstructors would very quickly find that their game was not worth the candle, That ce-operation will be forthcoming is, undoubted, the good sense of the, Automobile Club and others who have attempted to postpone the correction of an error by carlier, Shanghai municipal councillors being more than enough to overcome their very natural desire to per-Petuste for their members the privileges they have heretofore en-Joyed.
Shanghai, it is admitted, lacks' several important facilities Possessed by other large cities) where similar regulations have been taken, but can be answered by the fact that many Settlement-licensed cars parking in the Settlement during business hours, are, parked: in the French Concession during the hours of relaxation. 'The Com~ missioner's figures as to compar: tive taxation of cars in Shanghai and Great Britain ean be modified to a certain extent by considering average of the exchange over'a long period of years. The Shanghai' motorist, even on these figures, does not have to pay unduly high: rates; the sum he is called upon to pay to the Council at the present is the'one that counts, not the one he might have had to pay had the dollar been at 7s. 6d. instead of Is. 244d. 'The doubt has been express sed whether Shanghai's automobile trae has increased sufficiently during the last five years to make the new parking' regulations an urgent necessity. In the light of the depression there has been a distinct decline in the formerly rising graph of owners - of automobiles. This, however, docs not furnish a reason why a step should not now be taken which should enforced, such as underground or have been over-head railways which can bear' restore the the motorist to the region in which function, taken years ago, to eels to their proper is the flow of he has been forced to park his car.|and is not the ravaging But taken all round, Shanehai— ing of vehicles for long periods on ing banditry along two of the main lines of railway—those between, Port Arthur and Harbin and be-far proved unavailing against] the course of the revolt has been @%d_the International Settlement, end." If private enterprise has been deeply rooted and widespread marked by such excesses which Which is the only area uffected by hampered hitherto in providing international endeavours have been the new regulations, is specially parking space in the Central District tween Harbin and Manchouli, In other areas, however, the story of unable to relieve that it can only' he classed, unfortunately, as an success reads not so well. Bandit
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.