In spite of the extensive building activities in Shanghai which is result fog in big apartment houses and blocks of flats rising before one's eyes almost daily the high standard of rents is being steadily maintained. Apparently, housing and flat accommodation as far as Shanghai is concerned is one of the few things not regulated by the ordinary law of supply and demand. In fact, there are. instances where, rent increase have been hung on the tenant on account of the silver situation though terms of tenancy have Apitely laid down a fixed dollar-tael rate which no form of mathematics ican legitimately change. Still, there fre a few rays of sunshine in a situation which seems to rest entirely on how much can be taken from the tenant's pocket. One reader took. over a recently-completed house at a very modest rental and signed a lease and advanced the first month's rent. 'A-month later, he was agreeably. surprised to receive a letter from the owners stating that having received the complete accounts from the contractors they had been able to. fx a definite cost for the houses and as 2 result his rent would be reduced by nine dollars a month to coincide with the rental which could be reasonably charged for the house.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.