To the Editor of the "Nommi-Cinwa Darty News"
Sm—As a visitor to this city and an interested observer of its problems, may T be allowed to enquire. if Mr. Room L. "Sreware "and "Conte are fair specimens of the famous Shanghai Mine? it they are then Erie Linklaler's next book 'Shanghai might justifiably be entitled "Sounding Brass" Personally, 1 can Well understand why Mr.' RL. Stuart hastened to dissociate—himself from Monday's letter. As for Come 70 Earmit, it might be relevant to remark that earth in Shanghai is synonymous with mud, and it is in this latter clement thai your correspondent has really fanded, The chief error these two amateur: educationists have committed 1s to find fault with local schools and then: deny them the "means of making themselves more efficient. A. community gets the education it deserves, and your correspondents, judging by the account they have given of themselves, do not deserve very much, Come ro Eanmn's conception of what a modern school should be: seems to have been inspired by a visit v9 a sausage factory—or plant, as Mr. Srewanr would say. Six oF seven hundred children are to be herded together into an institution which is nothing but a honey-comb of class-rooms. On arrival, they are: immediately to be informed' that twenty shillings make one pound, When this tit-bit of financial information has been stamped on. their minds, they are swiftly shunted along' the revolving belt of promotion, the idea being to graduate them, "(not educate them, mark you) in the: shortest possible time.
Am I to understand that Shanghai folk are too busy. scraping what wealth they can out of the muck-heap to take a more elevated view fof education than this?
2 Sercraron. Shanghai, April 13.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.