The acceptance by Mr. Fu Siao-en of the position of Mayor of Greater Shanghai will without doubt call forth widely divergent opinions, though most will feel that the securing of such a man to occupy the office has been an important success for the Japanese. There will always be at least two ways of regarding the conduct of Mr. Fu in taking over so.important a post, and neither of them, tested in the light of real and effective patriotism can be shown to be entirely wrong. There is the one type of thought which will regard the adhesion of such a man to the invaders of China as a traitorous act, denying the existence of any sense of loyalty and subordinatjpg to individual ambition the duties which "patriotism expects of the citizen. If Mr. Fu Siao-en in deciding te assume office has done so for the service of his own ends he must stand condemned. On the other hand this journal pointed out some months ago that the holding of such an office in occupied territory may be actuated by the most praiseworthy of motives. There are precedents which justify the contention. and the case of the famous M. Max, the burgomaster of Brussels during the years of German occupation of Belgium, is a striking example of the kind. There M. Max stood between the masses of the Belgians and the military overlords, and undoubtedly did much to make easier the difficult lot of his own people. There was not at the time and has not been since any suggestion that he acted in any improper manner, and the service he rendered to his fellow nationals earned him nothing but commendation. If similar motives: have inspired the new Mayor to undertake work which will be difficult, and at any rate for the time being earn for him the opprobrium of at least a section of the Chinese public, he may in the long run be vindicated. He alone knows his reasons for taking the.step he has, but if they are indeed inspired by the real desire to be of assistance to his own race they may prove to be entirely good.
That pending the final outcome of Sino-Japanese hostilities so important a section of China as Shanghai and its environs should be left desolate and idle does not commend itself to reason. This vast industrial region, and the area from which it obtains so much of its food supplies, should be reorganized into efficiency at the earliest possible moment.
Not necessarily because of the purely selfish idea of getting back to business again, but because by doing so much of the misery which still exists in and around Shanghai would be alleviated. The restoration of good order in the outlying districts would make it possible for large numbers of the peasantry, at present idling away their time from their fields, to get back to their work, and prevent the further inroads of that psychological rot which inactive ity so frequently engenders. The process does not stop there. There is a host of undertakings which would be operating if general conditions could be improved, within as well as without the urban areas, and the restoration of activities to some degree approaching normal would mean the commencement of that return to prosperity which is so necessary for so large a district as that over the destinies of which Mr. Fu Siao-en has agreed to preside. His declaration of policy published in this journal yesterday is interesting, even though it follows the only lines which might be expected in times such as these. Mr. Fu contemplates doing his best to stop the spread of Communism. That should not prove difficult in a land where the danger has always been more fancied than real, and where that political creed has been in the-past so different from the brand preached by Moscow. The adoption of a "good neighbour policy" between China and Japan will come one of these days and in expressing an intention to bring it about now, Mr. Fu intelligently anticipates what may be expected at some future date, be it distant or near. For the rest of his declaration it may safely be said that it expresses intentions which could be those of the most rigid loyalist to the Chinese Government, and to be expected of any one who has the interests of his countrymen at heart, and in conclusion he asks to be judged by his deeds, which shall be dictated by a sense of morality.
It is by such a sense that he will be judged. The blessing which has been bestowed upon him by Mr. Masayuki Tani, Japanese Minister-at-Large, will inevitably impress those who sec in the whole development the execution of the Japanese will, and in that respect it may to some extent discount the welcome which in other circumstances might have been given to Mr. Fu's appointment. Of the new Mayor's executive ability there is no doubt. He may be able to render inestimable service to his own people in this area, but it is evident that in the eyes of a large number of his fellow countrymen—probably in the eyes of the majority—the close! association of the Japanese with his appointment may prove a serious handicap. It is only by the results of his endeavours that he will eventually be judged. There is so much to be done, and the tools at hand so scanty. Someone has to start the work and the men who have at one time or other intended to initiate it have paid in some cases dearly for their temerity. In view of that fact Mr. Fu Siao-en has at least shown the courage of his convictions, for though it is to be expected that every possible precaution will be taken to ensure his safety, it is apparent that in making the decision he has, he risks his personal safety, and, perhaps, that of others. It is to be hoped that the threats which have already been made will not be carried out. There have been enough wrongs committed in China during the past year or so that a surcease from them will be heartily welcomed. Mr. Fu should be given a chance to make his words good. If he can follow a policy designed to relieve the people of some of the heavy cost of war' which they have been so tragically paying, his action will have been justified; if he cannot, he will not have done much harm, and the judgment ultimately to be passed upon him can with safety be left to posterity, U.S. Rearmament President Roosevelt's decision that the United States must embark upon a new rearmament plan, was probably more influenced by recent developments in Europe than the advice and speech ofer. Bernard Baruch, forifever there were a time in which actions speak louder than words it is now. Activities of dictatorship countries in the south American continent may not yet have assumed substantial proportions, but there is plenty of evidence available that Such have been prosecuted vigorously, if not by emissaries sent there for that purpose, at least by natives convinced of the good qualities of totalitarianism. The result has been that a remarkable change has been wrought in the United States. Even in the last stronghold of idealism the infection of realism has secured a hold, and it is becoming increasingly realized that the treasuring of ideals needs the protection of a completely realistic outlook. To hold to those things which are of good repute is the desire of most people, but when it is realized that even they are in peril because of a rapidly spreading materialism, then the coldness of that fact induces the determination to avail of every means to protect them. That the Government of the United Sues has come to realize, and A United States fully equipped for the ped lo conviction is being borne in upon its 1
defence of the American continents would undoubtedly be a force to be reckoned with and the prospect of retaining the western hemisphere for democracy will naturally appeal io a people in which its principles are so deeply ingrained. There will even now be some opposition to the new scheme which has been propounded, but the trend of the news during the last- few years has-served to make Americans increasingly foreign-minded. With that will come the realization that the United States cannot stand aloof from developments elsewhere in the world, and with it the understanding of the fact that international relationships are developing along such lines that in the not too distant future somebody's business will be the business of everyone.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.