women's organisations—the Into On successive days two important national Y.W.C.A, and the Charity Organisation Branch of the Daughters Society—have indicated their support of this journal's view that there is urgent need for dueting an inquiry into the foreign unemployment problem here, on statistical and economic lines. More, over several messages have reached this office with valuable suggestions and offers of personal servi Yogard. The question is whence is the initiative for such an inquiry to come. The Associated Charities are tightly devoted to their vital func tions of assisting and investigating individual distress. Moveover they cannot possibly fulfil the requirements of the suggested inquiry although their ce-operation on the ines offered to-day by the Chairman of the Charity Organisaion Society will be welcomed and of the first importance. It, is necessary again to emphasise that one of the sential features of the inquiry. wil be the Information available' from various firms in Shanghai, This necessarily will be withheld unless can be safeguarded against roper use. Therefore the Shanghai general Chamber of Commerce clearly the pivotal instrament for auch an investigation, That Chamder should be approached by some of the lending representatives of the commercial community here with the object of defining. methods and devising machinery. Private letters conversations have fully endorse this Journal's view of the. probable accentuation of the distress heve when the New Year has opened. Radical changes in the whi mic struct merce are are intimately bound up wit problem of unemployment.
The function of a newspaper is to act a dei of ideas. can. indi action. Tt can support action when a decision to act has been taken, Tt can hardly' "do more. A respected Shanghailander whose own personal efforts in this relief of distress are considerable and untiring, in approv ing of the proposal to have an inquiry, says Very appositely:
No, amount of studying this probe find representa can be' brought and. efforts, well only. be playing welt rund the of any of any ix suggested therefore that a meeting: be called on ich lines and Bi including representatives from the various Chambers of Commerce in Shanghai "to approach the problem ea-operatively and realistically", to note again from the not the slight mnal's mind that a ud be forced upon Shanghai before many months. are out," The question is whether it ix of better to take time by the fore Tosi anal to ay down the tines of sclentihe inquiry before the dimensions of the problem tend to int duce am element of haste and hur into the investigation. Moreover it Intst be. Yemembered. that the unemployed themselves and those with yyment staring them in the face "are critically "observing the community's attitude, Ts it, not Worth while to. corn their confidence respect? That they appreciate efforts made by so many. enerxe and devoted Shanghailanders Tet of distress ie, well-known. It jg illustrated elsewhere to-day. And there is also the larger question of the future economic welfare of for-igners in this great City. Te may Gepond. a" good deal on the manner of handling this urgent problem.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.