Nov. 17.
That remarkable nonagenarian, Shanghai, is 95 today, for on November 17, 1843, Sir Henry Pottinger on his way to Nanking, stopped over at Shanghai selected a site for the British Concession, and declared the port open to trade. The first British officials in Shanghai were Captain Balfour of the Madras_
Artillery, and Dr. W. H. Medhurst, interpreter, who had' landed here eight days previously from a small steamer which had b: ought them from the Chusan islands, which it ws at one time thought Britain would select a place for settlement, There was nothing but a mud flat to be seen, dotted here and there with villages, some of which still remain tucked away in the heart of this great city. There was a path along the Whangpoo used for towing junks and away to the south was the walled city in which as late as 1645, the British officials and a dozen foreign residents, merchants or Protestant missionaries, were still living. But the energy of the British was not to be denied, and one of the footnotes to. the' "Histoire de la Concession Francaise de Changhai" by Messrs. Eh. B.-Maybon and Jean Fredet, records that July 11, 1847 the Jesuit Father Roze wrote "The English town which has arisen as if by magic is a real prodigy. They do not} construct European houses here, but, sumptuous palaces of all kinds." Undoubtedly that was something of an exaggeration, but the passage does pay a tribute to the energy which was being displayed by the early pioneers, The offices of the British (Consulate were already established in the English Concession the Victoria Hotel was standing where there is now the Palace Hotel, and the "veritable palaces" of the English' merchants of Italian, Greek or Middle Age architecture, astonished the French missionary from the interior with the rapidity with which' they had arisen on the desolate flats. The Consulate itself was to be built later, in 1849, for in order to establish their right of free] movement the British insisted that the Consul should have his residence in the Chinese City.
One of these days someone will write a really fine history of the British endeavour in Shanghai, and how the foundations of this great city were well and truly laid in those' very early days, when the energy and vitality of the newcomers of all nationalities com menced a growth which was to make Shang-' hai one of the most important cities in the world. There were many mistakes made, chiefly owing to a lack of understanding the potentialities of the place, and that is best shown in the success of the old contention that roads wide enough to permit two bales of silk to pass each other were ample for the requirements of the place, Looking back, and realizing what has happened in Shanghai during the last quarter of a century, and the expensive efforts which are continually being made to deal with the city's growing traffic, the conclusion is inevitable that Shanghai, like Topsy, "just growed." There, is no evidence of any long term planning. but the city forefathers appear to have dealt with their troubles at all times with the un~ denying thought that they were not to be here for ever and consequently the future was none of their concern. The British had to have their race course—as a matter of fact, three different ones in the 95° years—their theatre—though that for some years was merely whatever godown was available for the purpose at the time—and their Church, and then, with a few roads with completely English names, like Rope Walk and Park Lane to give the place a homely atmosphere, Shanghai settled down to the task of becoming great. It has been a remarkable achievement. The formation of the International. Settlement by the amalgamation of the: English and the American Concessions was. but an incident in the story, but an important. tone. It gave the place certain benefits, but also manifest disadvantages. On the balance, however, it was a good move and much of the prosperity of the place is to be traced back to this act of wisdom, So five years hence Shanghai will be cele brating its centenary. a sturdy youth with a future before it rich with potentialities. It is impossible, looking back over the vicissitudes through which the port has passed and the manner it has emerged from them, to believe that the present setback from which it is suf, fering will have- anything more than a transient effect upon its fortunes. The manner in which it is braving its-present diffi culties is ample proof of the soundness of its constitution, and, though the period of recovery may prove somewhat long compared with the urgences of mortality, there is little room for doubt that Shanghai will recover' and march on to greater heights. There: is much to be said for the belief that the present constitution of the International Settlement has been largely responsible for the progress which has been made, and every reason to believe that, under a continuance that government, similar progress may be depended upon for the future. That Shanghai has been able to take such hard knocks the incidents of 1932 and 1937 clearly de~ monstrates the enormous vitality of the place. It is true that it is suffering more now than" it has ever done before, and that the country asa whole is passing through a catastrophe only to be compared with the Taiping rebellion. But the devastated areas will have to recover, there will be an enormous amount of rehabilitation work to be done, and Shang. hai may confidently expect to be called upon to do its part in that most important work. There may, it is true be some changes in Shanghai and its environs, but the people who made the International Settlement of today possible, may be depended to resort to the same community of effort which must prove successful. To accept as in any way Anal the gloomy outlook of the present is to encourage a spirit of defeatism completely foreign to the genius of the place, Upper tips will be stiffened by remembrance of Shanghai's past history, the best possible augury for the future which can best be described in the homely wish "Many happy returns of the day."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.