Apr. ial minute on the Treasurer's Budget report to the Finance Committee affords 4 valuable guide to the policy which the Shanghai Municipal Council has pursued custodian of the ratepayers' money. There will be general agreement with the View that, faced with one of the most disastrous exchange years in its history, the Council come out of the ordeal well. feat of maintaining stability of taxation in spite of the heavily creased charges imposed by the decline in the value of the tael is indeed notable. Moreover "the Treasurer's report shows that stabilization is being continued for the preseat year, although, reasons into which it will be necessary briefly to enter, the process is likely to be checked by 1932, even if exchange tends to be more favourable. The Budget been balanced with "a ssu plus of Tls. 313,000. This figure indicates how rapidly the exchange slump has operated to the detriment of the finances for the surplus estimated for 1930 exceeded the actual figure hi Ts. 1,000,000 for which account may be made in the grant of exchange compensation to the Staff, Tis, 470,000, overexpenditure on General charges Tis, 390,000 Cincluding the sum of Tls. 100,000 in compensation for a theatre clos allowances, Tls. 7 reason -that the been able to meet the drain of depreciated silver so comfortably is to be found in the sound principles applied to the' handling of the money received from the sale of the Shanghai Power Company. This transaction has enabled the revenue account to benefit from the interest on the balances remail ing after the various loan gaunts have been redeemed. The process of loan redemption in the course of the current year wi rally hasten the me for review of the loan position, In the light of the probable commitments of the Council it is not likely that avoidance of borrowing can be sustained after two years have elapsed. 'The idea that the Council has unlimited means at' fts disposal cannot be support ed. Indeed the wonder is that the ratepayers have been able to enjoy the benefits of the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.