This journal is in receipt of a document describing a reclamation relief plan for the improvement of the lot of some quarter of a million refugees which the authors declare are being cared for by charity organizations of one sort or another in Shanghai. The plan has been prepared by a number of energetic Chinese gentlemen one of whom has forwarded a copy of the scheme for this organ's consideration. It is most praiseworthy that there are members of the Chinese community willing to seek means for redressing the evil lot of their countrymen in these areas, and if there is any criticism of the scheme to be found in this column it is to be taken as a compliment in that the plan has been found worthy of such attention. Briefly the plan is to form a company For the settlement of the refugees, or some of them in other provinces, to establish them on the land, to finance their endeavours, administer social, educational, medical and recreational activities for the well-being of the refugees and to devise and carry out recla~ motion and business projects of the company. Capital for the company shall come from relief organizations, cooperative societies, government and private banks and public subscriptions. The profits of the enterprise shall go as to 40 per cent. to the subscribers of the capital, and as to 68 per cent. to the betterment of the lot of the refugees. The former may be used for the extension of the work or returned to investors as divi-dands if so desired. The settlement of the refugees on suitable land shall be by units of 200 families, or approximately 1,000 souls, including men and women under thirty years of age and children, and they shall cultivate 20,000 mow of land. The scheme provides for the furnishing of agricultural implements to the settlers on credit, the building of initial temporary quarters, for them, their administrators, schools and hospitals. It is estimated that it would cost $100,000 to settle such a unit, and if $10,000,000 could be raised, the compilers say, 100,000 persons could be relieved, 20,000 homes built and Shanghai's refugee problem would in a large part be reduced, if not entirely solved.
It was proposed to purchase land in Kwangsi, priced as low as $200 for 20,000 mow, described as suitable for dealing with products ranging from rice to tung oil trees. That from the local point of view is the principal objection to the scheme. Any proposal which now contemplates the removal of. substantial proportion of the Chinese formerly resident around this port to districts as far distant as the province suggested may operate against the future prosperity of this crea. The refugee problem with which Shanghai is faced is a temporary one. That its solution may be somewhat delayed is unfortunately true, but any such scheme as that suggested would only be in the test interests of this locality and the people themselves if the present dislocation were likely to be a permanent one, something which cannot for one moment be believed. It is as much in the interests of the Japanese as the Chinese themselves that these people seeking shelter in the foreign areas should Eo back as soon as possible to their farms in the neighbourhood, and though there will always be some criticism of the slowness with which the Japanese are taking steps to improve conditions, the transfer to other districts of workers whose homes are around Shanghai would be to render this port a definite disservice, without necessarily doing the refugees themselves any particular good. Sight should not be lost of the fact that there is no guarantee at present that the removal of these people to the province of Kwangsi would secure them permanently peaceful surroundings, and it is not without the bounds of probability that they would ultimately find themselves removed from the comparatively temperate heat of the frying pan, to the greater blaze of the fire. There is also some criticism to be expressed concerning the quarters from which it is designed to draw capital, and it is extremely doubtful whether relief organizations would be legally entitled to make the capital investments which the scheme envisages and the promoters will if they go further in the matter, have to decide whether it shall be on a purely charitable or a business basis, That, however, is a minor point. The real question exercising the minds of those caring for the large number of peasant refugees in Shanghai is to the best means of putting these people back on the land which they have worked for generations, under conditions with which they are perfectly acquainted. That, judging from authoritative statements, is by no means as expensive a procedure as that contemplated by the originators of the plan under review. It is said that to fit a peasant so that he would be able to return to his land and carry on, would necessitate the provision of seed and the rough implements which he uses, together with some. sustenance for the few months which have to pass before th in, and would require a very siall @rffount apparently sought to assist. Not only that, it is apparent that to make the scheme capable of providing any real solution of Shanghai's present difficulties the huge sum of something in the neighbourhood of $10,- 000,000 would be necessary to settle under half of Shanghai's enforced guests. That would require a great deal of raising. Indeed it may be safely said that it would be impossible to secure any such sum. In the meantime funds are urgently needed for the pressing requirements of local refugees, and, though an immense amount has already been secured and laid out in excellent manner, much more is still needed. The immediate question is—where is it coming from?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.