The chairman. of the Western (Extra-Settlement) Association was severely critical of the conditions which now prevail in the area represented by the body over which; he presides, and it is impossible to deny that his strictures are in every way justified. Describing the area bounded by the limits of the Infornational Settlement to the railway, and from, Rockhill Avenue to Soochow Creek as any man's land, the chairman went! on to remind his hearers that though it is inside that part of Shanghai which is de~ fended by foreign troops, it lacks anyeéntral control; it is without any definite government and, "worst of all it has no voice, no vote (though it pays rates to the Municipal Council of the Foreign Settlement), no means of remedying existing abuses, and no corporate body to represent its views to the tax gatherers who are certainly under a very definite moral: obligation to maintain it! as a healthy, law-abiding, and livable area. That is @ very fair estimate of the situation with regard to the Western district outside the boundaries, and the only kind thing that can be said about it is that this unfortunate state of affairs just happened. It has not been brought about by a reasoned policy on the part of any of the various administrations of Shanghai, but has arisen from the unprecedented ' state of affairs which has prevailed in this locality for the ast twenty months. 'The delay in complete-reopening the northern, and eastern districts of Shanghai, for which the Japanese are responsible, and' the reluctance of many Chinese to return to those districts under present conditions, led many of them, who could not approve of their money lying idle, to employ it in industries the. revival of which has borne such striking testimony to the. vitality of the port. Flimsy structures to house these industries speedily went up, while a large matshed-dwelling population quickly settled in the area. There were no adequate legal means of obtaining the necessary control over the situation, for while the Municipal Council exercised Jurisdiction over the roads, the hinterlands they served were under the control of Chinese, in this instance the Ta Tao Government, It is somewhat of an anomaly that a district within the defence sector should not be under the administration of the Municipal Council, but that arises from the fact that purely "strategic factors operated in the choice of the Railway as the most suitable me for the defence of Shanghai against out side aggression. It would have been a counsel of perfection if the authorities of the International Settlement had in the early days of the trouble decided to bring this area under their administration. It would have indicated possession on the part of the authorities of a degree of vision which seems to have been denied them. But ex post facto wisdom is always the easiest to acquire, and Joking back upon those days it is easy to understand how what now seems to have been a very obvious step to have taken was overlooked. It-is, nevertheless, not easy to disregard the contention of the chairman of the Association that the Municipal authorities are under: some sort of moral obligation to do everything in their power to alleviate the lot of those for whom he was speaking. The argument may be made even stronger by the contention that not only is there a moral obligation, but also a material one in view of the fact that those paying rates are not receiving what they are entitled to expect. The slight difference between the rates paid in the Settlement and those paid by householders along the outside roads is not so great as to suggest that all they are in fact paying for is merely the upkeep and policing of those thoroughfares, for the difference of two per cent, between the two cannot cover the cost of the additional services rendered to those living inside. the boundaries. There is consequently every Justification for the belief that these rate~ payers are not in fact receiving value for money and that every avenue should be carefully. explored to see what additional satisfaction can be given them. Their grievances are very real and urgently require alleviation.
'That is not to be taken as any unnecessary' criticism of the Municipal Council. Things being as they are it has to be admitted that that body has done a lot towards effecting improvement. What else it can do by itself in the circumstances it is not easy to see. The suggested cutting of public services cannot be supported. To refuse to supply water to the offending areas would only tend to make matters worse, and create unhealthy conditions in which the protestants would suffer even more than they have. Power, it appears cannot be cut off, and while the withholding of water supplies would have a very serious effect upon the industries which have sprung up, and might equip'the Council with a weapon' calculated to make the proprietors of such industries more amenable to reason, the denial of water might create a situation very much different from that which supporters of the argument at present believe. The whole question is obviously tone which cannot be settled without the cooperation of the City Government of Shang-hal which is responsible for the area in question. That again in view of the political] situation would be difficult to obtain, but it! ought not to tax human ingenuity overmuch to devise some formula by means of which It might be possible to arrive at the necessary ce-operation. That this would necessitate a compromise between extreme views which are at present held on a variety of matters is apparent, but some sort of modus. operandi should be possible whereby tempor~ ary expedients might be applied. Once that was secured there could be a general clean~ Ing up of an area which is as unwholesome {rom a hygienic point of view as it is noisome' from a moral aspect. A recognition of the realities of the situation and a resolution to apply merely temporary arrangements seems to be the only way out of the difficulty, and while there may at present be obstacles to such a solution the best endeavours should bbe made to overcome them.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.