The announcement that the Shanghai Municipal Council has given consideration to a scheme of price control for the International Settlement along lines that have already been announced by the authorities of the French Concession, and that a small committee has been appointed to consider the practicability of any such scheme is indeed welcome news. it is to be hoped that the deliberations of the committee will not be unduly prolonged, and that when they have concluded their deliberations their finding will be in favour of instituting some sort of control It is a regrettable fact that since the suggestion was first mooted there has been no improvement in the price situation, which has if anything worsened. There is all the evidence necessary in existence to show that speedy action is essential, for with the outbreak of labour troubles which has been noticed this week it has become apparent that the danger point is rapidly coming nearer, and that the possibility of disorder is daily increasing. There are signs and portents to be seen on the streets by the most casual observer. The theft of coal and rice from lorries passing through the streets, and that singularly enough by women is highly significant. Thefts of this sort by boys and young men is, and has been common enough, but it is rarely that gangs of women have been seen indulging in this form of petty peculation, and the fact that they are doing this sort of thing is in itself but another indication of the growing serious ness of the situation. Similar significance is to be attached to the various strikes which have been reported and which are likely to become more frequent unless something can be done to bring the cost of living down to levels which the masses can afford to pay. The reported demands of strikers include requests not only for increases in wages but allowances for rice to cover the difference between normal prices and the large sums which are now being demanded for that staple. Unless something can be done and that speedily the position which is already bad may be confidently expected to deteriorate.
The excellent lead which the French authorities have given the rest of Shanghai, and the endorsement which has been given to such a scheme by Mr. Fu Siao-en should serve to set at rest any doubts concerning the legality of any such scheme being applied by the Shanghai Municipal Council. The jurisdiction of the Council, it is true, was originally very narrowly defined. Since that was done there has been an ever-widening conception of what the Council could or should do, and there is plenty of support for the view that to be bound by such narrow ideas at a time like this would be to defeat the whole object of the Council's existence. It is sufficient to enunciate the doctrine that it is the duty of the Municipal Council to maintain good order in the Settlement. That responsibility is twofold. It not only means that it is the duty of the Council to suppress disorder with force, should that become necessary, but also to take such action as may forestall and prevent disorder. Consequently if it is shown that the residents of the International Settlement are being fleeced by a number of ruthless profiteers, and food hoarders, and that their manipulations are likely to bring about a state of desperation in which the peace of the place may be disturbed, it is by no means illógical to contend that it is not the duty of the Council to await until disorders have broken out and put them down by force, but to take such preventive measures as would obviate the necessity of having to use stern suppression. Realizing that there is a very great difference between the powers of the authorities in the French Concession and those of the Municipal Council, it has to be remembered that a wholly unprecedented situation has been brought about, and that if the Council has not the necessary powers they should at any rate for the time being assume them. Indeed the doctrine of comity demands that the International Settlement shall move shoulder to shoulder with the French Concession in this matter, and with the blessing of the Special Municipality of Greater Shanghai, vhich has been given, there should be no real obstacle to the perfection of some scheme of control which would bring relief to the masses in Shanghai who are indeed badly hit by the spectacular increase in the cost of living.
Conditions in Shanghai are not to be judged by the apparent prosperity of places of amusement. The people frequenting such places form a very minute proportion of the total population of the city. There are on the other hand millions of residents whose margin between income, and bare living is always small, and to whom the present rise in prices represents not only an increase in outlay, but in so very many cases an actual deprivation of the necessary quantity of food. A position is being created where the masses simply cannot pay for all the food they require to keep themselves in moderate health. This observation is thoroughly borne out by social workers in Shanghai whose activities bring them into contact with classes with vhich the average foreigner is but superficially acquainted. The great need for action is, therefore, only too apparent as is also the fact that whatever can now be done will have to be drastic in character and energetically applied. It is a matter of sheer common sense that the Municipal Council should take whatever steps that may be necessary for the preservation of peace and order in the Settlement, and from that point of view their rights and their duty are quite clear. Nor should any preliminary doubts as to whether an improvement can be brought about by such means as is suggested prevent the embarkation upon the experiment which the French authorities have initiated. It has been clearly shown that the Council has received the support of the District Court in its endeavours to maintain some control over the price of rice, several profiteers having already been sharply fined for their rapacity. Public opinion will not be contented with a mere finding that nothing can be done. The French authorities believe something can be, and are ready to make the endeavour. They not only deserve congratulation but the active support of the International Settlement, in order that their attempt shall not fail through any lack of ce-operation on the part of the Municipal Council. With the situation growing more serious every day it is imperative that action be taken and taken quickly, lest worse evils befall the city.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.