To the Editor of the "Nonri-Cina Darcy News"
Sin—Your correspondents who write about the S.V.C. seem to miss the point at issue—economy. The "old guard" Is anxious to see the Corps carried on as usual; the new guard to see it abolished altogether. Wis dom and expediency ie midway be-, tween these two extremes, Referring to the Municipal Annual Report of 1927, a year of some activity and achievement in the Corps, we find that its strength then wa about the same as It is to-day, some 41,900 of all ranks, and that the cost for the year was' $139,000. Th 1935 the cost had increased no less than 245 per cent, reaching $340,000, The pay, Pensions, ete, of the per~ manent headquarters sia in 1927 amounted to $41,000; in 1935 to $118,- 000, an increase of 268 per cent, while a further increase in the 1936 budget to $120,000 fs estimated. This Initer gute will be nearly equal to the cost of the whole Corps in 1927.
"The 1995 and 1030 figures are ex-elusive of the Russian" Detachment, which in 1936 will bring the total cost up 10 $690,000, an increase over 1027 of Just about 500 per cent.
The high cost of living these days nothing to the high cost of fighting, cording to the above gures; yet, strangely enough, the cost of uniforms and ammunition has only risen by 28 per cent. from 1927 to 1936. There Is Uitte need, therefore, to indicate where economy Iles, The S.V.C. is peculiar among muni atiments in. that It has of the present or any other commandant, but every one of them Is a Sor S-yourly new broom, and only too often the work of n previous one swept away by his successor great expense and at no small incon: venience to the Corps itself The most important element of the Corps Is the human one—and. that Femains the sine to-day as ever, in numerical strength, efficiency and cost with the exception of its new boots), No battles are likely to be fought, but Ineldents will arise in the future as they have in the past. Small. groups of disciplined but seatiered volunteers will patrol the streets or occupy posi tions on the perimeter; it would be ave mistake to discourage let alone shand them. one learning from past experience, fons. which are expensive, change in organization, training and' detail, but the uniformed volunteer with his rifle OF inf. Performs much the same duty
jone, Shanghai to-duy a8 he has always Banoeo Wine, Shanghol, May 13.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.