To the Editor of the "Nortu-Cimwa Darty News"
Si—The spirit of enterprise which manifests itself in Shanghai's rapid transformation from a mud-flat into A modern city, Is most remarkable, Therefore it would be a pity if Shanzhal's future development "would be disturbed by accidents. In order to prevent all possible accidents, " all hose who have taken interest in Shanghai's progress and had a share in it, should exercise the utmost foresight.
Shanghai possesses the potential capacity of becoming the most. international city on earth. But Shenghal's international character hho, up to now, not been carefully cultivated, Shanghai is destined to full the! function of a pioneering centre in which young China could become familiar with the most advanced methods of modernization. But the relationship between foreigners and Chinese in Shanghai is, at present, still very superficial Shenghai should serve as an outlet for the in presentatives of all th Shanghai has been porting Western inventions ready-made from abroad: Shanghai's pro-sure of copying novelties Invented oad, was quick and easy, but it has been paid for with the loss. the opportunity for mental growth.
Altogether, this city of Shanghat thas failed to exploit conscientiously nearly all the unique possibilities with which it was endowed by nature and circumstances. Shanghai has got ich too quickly and is wasting itself still more rapidly, because it has never taken time to find out what to do with itself, In the whirl of Social life, of jazz music and of film Sensetions, serious thought was rendered impossible and imperceptible.
'Thus it has come about that none of the notions of which this international city is composed, possesses clear per: ceptions concerning the part it has to play in' Shanghai's concert of nations; that China has never. been considered as anything else except 2 dumping ground for international ha ports and that inventiveness, out! here, has become the synonym of absurdity, Even the Japanese guns were able to attract Shanghai's serious attention. As. soon as these guns were removed to more distant quarters, Shanghai nonchalantly ofered shop again, as if nothing hac happened.
What will become of Shanghai, it the Japanese are the only ones who are not afraid of taking things Tu the hope of protecting Shanghat ayainst the disastrous consequences which its carelessness Is bound to bring about in the very near future, We. suggest industrial mobilization, Commerce, without industry is like roof with no walls to rest on.
Shenghal's superficiality isa symptom of its one-sided commerical-Commerce lives on and industrial productive. ty. chant is a distributing agent of the labourer. Only by keeping as closely as possible in touch with agriculture and industry, can commerce maintain its health.
By how many miles is the Shangha merchant separated from the forelgy labourer and—Sit Venia Verbo—by how many more miles from the Chinese labourer? His separation from the foreign labourer is geographical His separation from the Chinese Tubourer is mental. No railways, no steamships and not even air-planes bring the foreign merchant wanghai close tothe point where the Chinese labourer is at home, because the gap existing between' for-feign and Chinese mentality is still of abysmal. depth, the making of money and the handling of money, unconnected with anything like an activity which produces the goods represented money, produce mentalities tending towards the attainment of results not derived from evident causes. Such mentalities are, of necessity, ensy-going and superficial.
Therefore, there is no road of salva tion for Shanghai except the one of industrial mobilization... Shanghai must made to produce, as far as possible, the goods which are put on. the markets here.
Industrial mobilization would not only save the Shanghai merchant} from perdition but also create new markets, Goods produced in Shanghha{ would, on the one hand, be cheap and, on the other hand, suffable for Chinese consumption, The market for foods. possessing this double qualifection, would obviously be much more extensive than that which is! oper. to goods manufactured abroad.
In fact, if Shanghai does not produce goods which are cheap and sultable for Chinese consumption, foreign merchants will very soon have to Pack up and to get out of China, abandoning the Chinese market the Japanese, 'We see that Shanghai's industrial mobilization not only saves the foreign merchant but also his commerce, 'The foreign merchant may, in the average, be unmoved by the suggestion to' deliver himself from the dium attached to superficiality. The necessity of preserving and widening his market In China, however, will probably at this time be easily sc-Knewledged by him Last not least, the industrial mobilization of Shanghai would enable the foreign merchant to compete suc: cessfully not only with the Japanese merchant but also with the native of China, if the goods made in Shanghai by foreign industrialists, were not only made by Chinese labour but invented for the purpose of supplying Chinese demands. If the foreigner would put his inventive capacity to work and invent new goods by transforming things already existing. in China, he could defeat the Japanese as well as the Chinese merchant through the superiority of his genius of technical invention.
Cheap and technically superior goods produced and invented by for-signers in China, would be unbeat-
It is evident that an industria! mobilization of Shanghai which would lead to the production of such foods, would automatically render the future of Shanghai secure and keep the door of the Chinese market forever open to the foreign merchant even without the assistance of the cheapness, unsupported by inventiveness, the Javanese would defect the foreigner on the Chinese nustket. Inventiveness only can give superiority to the foreigner. There fore, in the procedure of Shanghai Industrial Mobilization, the cultiva-{lon of inventiveness should occupy front rank.
Inventiveness is a gift from Heaven. Its cult_must begin in early chil hood. That means that the education provided for foreign children in Shanghai must cease to be bookish. fs it ig of present, and become mainly agricultural and industrial. Tt means also that a completely new type of agricultural and industrial kinderfoiten must be invented by foreign educators in Shanchal, Foreign education' in Shanghai would "begin earlier and enable children earlier to make their own The constitution of the new type of Kindergarten is described in another artiel 'The new kindergarten would be particularly valuable for Chinese children. "The Shanghai Municipal Council, in creating such kindergorlens' for Chinese children, would Win the gratitude of all nations because, particularly in China, the cultivation of the genius of invention hag to be started in very early childhood.
The reason for this statement need not be discussed here.
Chinese kindergartens, in which women would act as teachers, would provide very Important field of action. for Chinese womanhood. Therefore, in creating such kindergartens the Shanghai Municipal Council would give Useful stimulation to the Chinese Women's Movement, Whether foreign and Chinese! children should be educated together fu thie kindergarten, is a question which can be answered only when the experiment has once been made emphasizing inventiveness, also amongst the Chinese, in its industrial mobilization, Shanghai would not only Feduce the cost of production, but would render the labourer satisfied with his Jot. The National Institute of Industrial Psychology of London has just discovered that what. the Nabourer needs, more than money, is simulation. That_means that the work he has to perform. must appeal to him and provide him with the opportunity of self-expression! all those concerned with the industrial mobilization of Shanghai, from the {alpar: down to the gate-keeper, w fmbuee with a kind of creative imules, new Shanghai would rid itself forever of labour troubles. Tt is the restiveness and impulsiveness of its Tebouring population which has en-bled Japan to undersell the rest of the. world without arousing antagenism against the Captalists among the labourers.
Although in the higher grades of] education, only those Chinese who have gone through the kindergarten with "foreign children, should admitted to schools mainly frequented by foreign children, the experience and knowledge of China should be considered as the essential requirement in all schools established for the purpose of advancing the in-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.