With countries hovering on the brink of financial disaster, which they try to avoid by clinging tightly to a gold standard or courageously jumping off it, it st of Shanghai the calm, is refreshing to perceive in the
philosophic figure which takes no thought of these things. Not that he does not feel the effects of these titanesque rumblings in. the world's finances—on him the burden falls just as heavily as on those who are by no means of, a philosophical bent. He finds, for example, that he has trudge more steps before he can find 4 passenger, He finds there is not that gay insouciance about the question of that little matter of change that there used to be when times were different. He does not complain, but he adjusts himself as well as he can to the curious shortage of copper: silver and paper coming into hi hands, The charitably inclined have naturally had a heavy toll levied on their generosity in the I The columns of this journal have only to be searched to press this point home. Impenitently, however, the "North-China Daily News" to-day urges og a first charge on its reader attention the prompt and generous response which has always been made to the appeal for the Ricsha Men's Christmas, Fund. The preliminary d of envelopes inti Monday last has already evoked fa clear indication that Shanghai considers this fund to. be sacrosanct from the operations of the busy axe of "personal retrenchment."
There is Royal support for; this attitude. The other day in London the Prince of Wales remarked that he hoped that the last item to be cut out of the personal budget would be the sorely the present economic stringency may be felt by the general public, it is safe to say that the riesha man feels it most. 'The Fund, as is well known, is under the' direetion of x Board of Trustees whose names carry the assurance that the subscribers' wishes will be fulfilled to the last letter, The ricsha man has his critics, but he also commands the admira: tion of the community at large. In Shanghai he comes as " god out of the machine in times of sudden climatic change, on those occasions—when mechanical p contrivances have failed to fulfil their contract, and even in those dead hours when all other kinds of traffic have been stilled and the belated wayfarer, either from choice or from mischance, is without the means of reaching his or her appointed place of rest. But there is no need to tell Shanghai how deserving th riesha man is. Everyone kno it and everyone, it may confidently be assumed, will contribute to the Fund now formally opened to-day to the best of his or her ability, A connsspoNDENT asks whether the use of tear gas would be effeetive in dealing with the students' Intest form of frightfulness. No prize is given for the answer.
A caMpatcN against the distribution of Rew Year cards has been inaugurated by several "leading Chinese who, ina declaration, state that the exchange of New. Year greeting cards. between relative and friends ig not only a practice which should' be abolished "by: the people in the present national distress, but is also a Waste of money in favour of the foreign Imperi sts on account of the fact that practically all such" cards are of paper imported from Continuing, the declaration States that, if only one per cent. of. China's population continu his practice and if each of them spends only $2 on New Year. cards, the amount 6f money spent will be $8,000,000. year. This sum, if used in productive ways, will produce "far greater "benefits than otherwise, the writers say.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.