'A Protest To the Editor of the "Nonm-Ciawa Darcy News"
Smit is a tong time since 1 have found in. the pages of the Munteipal Gazette anything quicken the pulse or stimulate interest in Municipal affairs, In. today's issue however, I found an announcement that caused me to sit up and begin to take notice, T read that the Council has decided to rename Thibet Road and to call it Vu Yah Ching Road. So now we Know what the Council has been doing during these three months or since they came into office, The more I think of it the more I resent this most unwarranted interference with the nomenclature of our roads, to which we have become accustomed. If it is necessary to gratify Mr, Vu Yah Ching by naming a road atier him surely some new or nearly new thoroughfare could have been selected instead of up-Ing our topographical ideas and wiping out of the history of the settlement one of its most onstanding T do not wish to belittle or erly ticism the services of Mr. Vu Yah Ching but I cannot see -one single Sane reason for the change which is not only proposed but, it appears, Is now signed, sealed, delivered and recorded, In the first place, I strongly object to the washing out of street and place names which have become historically established. There has been an orgy of this sort of thing in China and in some other of the more ill balanced and hysterical communities, For goodness sake let show a lttte stability and respect for the traditions of our City, There no need or call for any such alteration and there is no new epoch, or change in this road or district, of our constitution which demands commemoration by any alteration of accepted names, I cannot think that considerations of euphony had any Part in the Council's deliberation =Wo have some fairly il sounding ames among our streets at present but curely Vu Yah Ching Road will be as bad as any of them, I will admit that it is better than many of the street names in the French Concession, some of which call for about six fect of cast iron notice board, as well as a pronouncing dictionary for anyone who is bold enough to try fand mention them—but this seems to be its only recommendation, When the old stroct names of this settlement were first decided it seems that the members of the Council at that time or whoever it might have been, gave careful consideration to the question, and they evolved sulla able and not ill-sounding names. and worked on a reasonable and sensible system. They decided that the sel tlement streets should be named After Chinese towns and provinces, All roads leading on to the Bund were called after Cities of China in alphabetical order from Canton Road fon the South to Soochow Road on the North (Jinkee Road Is a later interpolation and was originally a private road).
The roads running North and South parallel to the Bund, were named after provinces of China and Thibet Rond was the farthest and Westernmost of these, So it will be seen that the name has a distinct signi-Aeance and is part of a carefully studied system, But never mind all that" save the Councli—"we want to please Mr, Vu Yah Ching and we can't be bothered to think of any other way of doing it" "And what about the people who live on Thibet Road and. those Who use it and have to speak or write of it? There is bound to be riy amount of bother and confusion before the change is finally established—it It ever is. Popular usage has a way of ignoring Council and official edicts when it comes to the convenience of the man in the street, 'Above all, and to make confusion hopelessly more confused, I see that North Thibet Road will be renamed "Thibet Road.' I suppose even the Counelt could not stomach "North Vu Yah Ching Road.
Viator, Shanghai, July 31,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.