Antung, Feb. 4.
Residents in the Japanese railway' towns of Changchun, Mukden and 'Antung have of Iafe been suffering from what in Japan would undoubtedly be taken as "dangerous thoughts," and, ter alia, have been clamouring for' autonomous control of the municipal affairs of these towns. The affirm that, per se, the financial contribution of the South Manchuria Railway Company for the maintenance of the residential areas is a matter of course, but that as things are at present constituted, the company is having pretty well its own way in civic matters, with the residents having very little say at all. It is not often that the Japanese are in a hurry to display civie pride, and for this reason non-Japanese residents in the three Japanese residential areas mentioned are watching the movement with unbounded interest.
The Financial Difficulty Considering the financial aspect of the question of autonomous control, it is well to bear in mind the figures relating to. taxation and) upkeep. As Mukden is the largest, of the three towns, we shall take the available figures relating to its municipal matters as the basis for discussion. At the present time, the residents in the Japanese residential area in Mukden are paying some Yen 180,000, whereas the] South Manchuria 'Railway's contribution is Yen 230,000. 'The disbursements are ae follows:—Yon 170,000 for education, Yen 120,000 for road upkeep and Yen 100,000 for: sanitation. 'These estimates do' not, however, include wages_which are' at present paid by the S.MLR., the men engaged in running the affairs of the towns being on the pay-roll of the railway company.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.