Christmas night as a concession to the fact that it Is not everyone who celebrates the day at the timm hour, but the same consideration does, not apply with the same force to New 'Year's Day. Of the wisdom of maintaining the curfew rule there can be no question, Shanghai experiencing a crime wave, not so great as jin certain other years, but, nevertheless, of gulllcient proportions to give the officials' food for anxiety, and to throw a heavy burden upon forces which have done so splendidly during this crisis. It is impossible to ascertain how far these aelivities have been responsible for keeping crime within bounds, but it is safe to Delieve that the authorities by energetically fol-wing the policy they laid down contributed largely to the results obtained up to the pre~ sent, "If the lifting of curfew. for the holidays to throw any additional work upon the Police force, which deserves a rest Just as much 85, If not more than most other people, the oneession which has been granted should be Fogarded as ample. But i a slight further concession along the line suggested above can made. without throwing too much work upon the forces of the International Settlement and French Concession it would add to the ialoty of the season and be of great benefit to the providers of amusement, who for the last four' months have been having a somewhat thin time, HANGCHOW'S FATE, With the Japanese forees advancing on Hang chow from three directions the fate of that city amidst beautiful surroundings seems to be hanging in the balance. It {s to be hoped that it will survive the struggle with as comparatively little damage done to it as is reported to have been the case at Soochow. With regard to the popu tion there has been plenty of time for" the greater number of the residents to have fled Into the country to the south, but even then anxiety is felt concerning the fate of there left behind, One suggestion put forward was that tone of the islands in the West Lake might be used asa neutral zone, but whether that has. received the endorsement of the Chinese and Japanese commands has not been made clear Nevertheless, judging from the manner in which the refugees in Nanking's safety zone emerged comparatively unharmed from that aren which was unrecognized, there should be, with forbearance on either side, a minimum of harm done to those civilians who may be unable to escape from the threatened city. Military necessity is rarely considerate of th purely aesthetic, but again it is to be hoped that as mach care will be taken as possible to see that the beautiful temples and other buildings of rare charm shall remain uninjured. It would be a Seplorable thing if the historic beauties of Hangchow were reduced to ruins, and many. who have sri affection for Ching and these witnesses to her age-old culture wilt walt with considerable anxiety until the fate of the city fand its environs is decided one way or the other. That Hangchow is to be strongly defended Is indicated by the trench system which being constructed around the city, but it is slated "that General Hwang Hstao-hsun will employ a new kind of defence strategy. If he {does, itis to be hoped that it will be of a nature which will gave this heaven below.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.