To the Editok of the "Nomrü-CHiNA Dany News"
Sm,—On page 6 of your today's issue, under the caption of "In the Russian Colony," story writes inter alia the following:
Most battles being waged by Russian lawyers now are for the interests of clients living in apartments and rooms. In this respect Mr. N. I.
Kolesnitchenko says that the Chinese Court has taken a stand in favour of tenants, refusing to make them leave their premises even if they have defaulted on their rent, and will rule a sum of money to the landlord rather than give him the right of ejecting his tenants. If the landlord chooses to cut off light or water, the Chinese court says that he took the law into his own hands and fines him accordingly This is interesting reading and should serve as a lesson to many an unscrupulous landlord, as well as to the legion of tenants who are making a huge profi out of flat and/or room sub-letting. I am at the moment living with a friend in the Western District, who occupies a flat of a house rented to a Russian lady. This lady pays to her landlord $110/120 per mensem, and on this sum her toxes are paid to the S.M.C., Revenue Office. She does not live in the house rented to her, and collects from her sub-tenants approximately $500 per mensem, which means that she is depriving the Council of toxes on the difference between the sum she actually pays her landlord and the sum which she collects from the occupants of the house rented to ker—a difference of about $400.
Things would not be so bad if the rents collected were made to cover water, lights and heating, but the Russian lady in question confines herself to the payment of the monthly water bill, leaving the rest to her tenants, And this implies that a flat consisting of two fairly large rooms, one very small room, kitchen and bathroom costs the occupant thereof approximately $175 as follows:
Rent.00 Heating 2500 Lights 1000
$175.00 an absurdly high rent in these bad times, considering the comparatively
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.