The French and other European nations, and the Americans. supplemented the master and main work of Great Britain at, Shanghai and this brought the one city of China to highest consummation, to foremost place and to the rank of the fourth of fifth port of the world.
"That much for Shanghat's internal set-up which was ideal, and Tu. place of the globe so well mixed. Geographically, in her natural situ tion, the port' is the gateway of a 3,000-mile-long artery running midway across the whole width, from west to east, dividing a continental terrain into north and south halves. Mts basin and drainage—the area served—contains half of China's Population. It is, as it were, a downward moving escalator supplied with inherent and perennial motive force and never in need of repairs, providing thus the most economical means of transportation.
With the above-described internal human equipment and the natural physical endowments, Shanghai can have no peer, Now the natural environment will remain all-enduring, but the internal Aisposition of forces is subject to variation and much change. Here, one comes to that "moment" referred to above, which is before us and which Is undoubtedly the most ser-Jous development in its entire 90- years-old history. reve Wk ale Before touching upon this vital expect, it is of essential value to understand the why and.the wherefore of Shanghol's surviving potency and ever-spreading foliation, "To get at a clear conception of the primal element—the can vital—of its success-giving quality, let the reader but envisage, with full realization, the high import of the following fact:
the history of the world, of comparatively modern times, there is tone new nation that has shown phenomenal growth and developed prodigious power, That nation, despite some serious shortcoming, has not ceased to rise in its colossal stature, It is the United States of America. This association of peoples has achieved one thing more amazing than its glamorously material magnificance, in that, 48 different geographical groupings or States were able fo keep the peace as between themselves for some seven decades, and, fas now welded and constituted, there but remote. possibility of their waging internecine war, They have had in the past, and still have in the present, serious internal unrest, but, however grave, this fs not' permitted to-be brought to the breaking point of open hostility and armed conflict, Unilke the-Continent of Europe, {rom where the American people is ethnic ally" derived, these 48 political entities, manage to get along with one another and at no pitch of disagreement flare-up into violent clash, See ce one judged and which is of paramount foreigner alike. The forming of a a it Ske tule ate & cates 5 apees cee one a Sees pret sao eres era ike can Much Capital Required The development of China, it is plain for anyone to see, cannot be effected without stupendous sums of capital, which only the world as whole possesses. It is not in japan's ken to attempt handling the work with her now much-depleted 3nd fast-attenuating. resources.
Now, capital cannot be got. with-cout implicit confidence, which means imply:—"We trust you and we can work together,"—the utmost security first exist, The policy military leadership must "suffer a sea-change" before it can command such unquestioning faith and trust. 2t must retamorphons principles of military Japan to the ethics and morals of mankind.
The great empires of the past, and the British in particular, did conform in this regard before "they could make their conquests permanent. It dimeult to get and harder. still to keep. In this connection, Japan not so hopelessly weak as some authorities think her to be, as the undermining forces of decadence wndant corruption has until the present, in. its grip. China's own moral weakness has been the obverse to Japan's strength.
'Then there is the overshadowing factor of the Powers' own shortcomings—thelr disunity and incapacity to keep lasting peace abroad. All these together—China's failings and those of the Powers—plus Japan's own undeniable virtues and merits, account for the Island-Empire's ascendancy now.
Open hostilities, waged for the main. purpose of economic welfare, deriving ultimately no economic bounty, must needs, by inexorable logic, collapse of itself.
The leadership of Japan, however fanatical it may seem at this phase things to be, cannot but recognize the utter need for ce-operation with the Powers, if she would successfully deal with China, and achieve her real goal in her relationship With the great people of this land. The leadership of Japan knows It, however much her military pow seems to aberrate and get out of hand for the present.
No capltal- fund in all sanity is going to be forthcoming where there ig mental, moral and physical chaos, og here, at the moment.
"And the largest reservoirs of this cepital—the three great democracies of America, Britain, and France, with the second-named still in the Jead in this part of the world—will have yet much to say and do for that region of which Shanghai is entrepot.
must work out nally to a state of equilibrium in the relationship of Japan vis-d-vis Britain frst, with America, France and the others, iter.
Now, as to the time-element before the dynamic forces can become static, itis not one—at least for Central China and Shanghai in particular—which can be protracted over several years, because the economic strength of the belligerents must peter out for lack of outside monetery support. Japan has to depend upon herself entirely and China can get nothing of much adequacy.
So, finally and in the not-so-distent' future, Shanghai stands over-hitherto, with a variation preponderating towards Japan but not in degree detrimental to this city's eepacity for world usefulness.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.