It is not surprising to learn that official opinion in London is disinclined to think aloud on the subject which specially interests Shanghailanders just now. It would probably be most unwise for formal discussion to be attempted even by the apparently unassuming process of starting a departmental file. Until some accurate deduction on the eventual determination of the present crisis can be drawn on the basis of facts as they are or are likely to be, speculation might be a waste of time and energy. Those considerations do not apply to residents of Shanghai. Indeed they have special reason for disregarding them. When the time comes for some diplomatic notice to be taken of Shanghai's requirements in the future, it is possible that the rapidity of approach to that issue may take the people intimately concerned by surprise. They may therefore have reason to regret that they have not been able to fortify themselves with considered arguments reached as the result of examination of the situation in which their city now finds itself. It would be manifestly unfair if what is known as the status of Shanghai were looked upon as a purely political issue developed in a new guise as the result of the Si&o-Japanese conflict. No doubt it has its place in the various problems which any ultimate negotiations will handle. Yet, if only because the two out of the three municipal areas in Shanghai have no direct responsibility for the conflict and have interests which cannot be disposed of by the two principals without consultation with other parties, Shanghai must of necessity come under cover of a special treatment, That is what would naturally be regarded as the proper method of recognizing the vast amount of foreign effort and enterprise which has been largely instrumental in building up Shanghai to the proud position of the sixth port in the world.
Wig reference is made to this matter abroad there is frequently a tendency to) overlook the fact that Shanghai is not merely a city of China in which foreign commerce has found a vigorous footing but a strip of territory which has given rise to the development of a definite international polity. The Shanghailander may be Chinese, Japanese, British, American, French, German Italian, Scandinavian, Belgian, Portuguese or Russian, to name some of the principal constituents of its cosmopolitan population, but he has a distinct position as a citizen of this city, his citizenship being almost national in its significance, despite other allegiances. The interests thus created involve the livelihood and existence of a large number of families who look no further than Shanghai in defining their earthly careers. They are not the birds of passage who, however useful in their way, eventually look to some motherland as their final place of retreat or retirement. Often it has seemed as if the various Governments which have so strongly supported the international nexus of civilization, have paid insufficient attention to the possibility of obtaining inspiration from the cosmopolitanism of this city. The other day an American official publicly paid tribute to this spirit by showing how, in his special activities, he had found a firmer conception of inter-sectional ce-operation in Shanghai than in his own country. The Shanghailander, then, has the right to hold that his interests here deserve to be considered in the light of his own perception of their significance, as well as brought into perspective with the examination of the political problems arising from the unescapable realities of his city's location on Chinese soil and under Chinese sovereignty.
The practical question for Shanghailanders is how to prepare the ground so that, at the appropriate time, when the inhibitions mentioned by London ug longer apply, they may make a valid contribution to the determination of Shanghai's future status. This will demand consideration of all the varied national interests which have their part in Shanghai. Specifically the issue seems to rest on the position of the International Settlement as the pivotal factor in Shanghai's Trinity. This is said in no spirit of belittling the importance of the French Concession or the City Government of Shanghai's jurisdiction (now temporarily "under Japanese military control), but as the Settlement's international status presently involves problems common to all three areas and yet has its own peculiar significance it may well be found that solution of its difficulties will be the touchstone of a general provision for the integrity of Shanghai as a whole. That the question has to be taken into serious account will hardly be denied. Shanghai requires means for recovery of confidence in its economic, social and political existence. An essential factor in such an effort is the demonstration that effective measures can be taken to protect the life of this city from such upheavals as have visited it in 1932 and 1937, so far as human prevision can work to that end. It has often been said that these troubles have arisen partly from the anomalies of Shanghai's polity. Within the Settlement the archaic character of the Land Regulations Which form its constitution has been freely Cited as contributing to this confusion. The charge may or may not be justified to the point of making it a basic factor in the problem, especially as despite the defects alleged the municipal government of the Settlement has made a creditable attempt to fulfil the functions expected of it. It must be admitted, however, that the whole matter requires careful and detailed examination. Public discussion would be ineffective; nor, without depreciating the value of lay treatment in the press, is it likely to command authoritative support. The best method of approach is probably that whereby men of goodwill with standing among their respective communities can informally encourage attention to the problem. They must take time by the forelock for there is a real danger in remaining inactive.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.