When it was announced that it was necessary to restrict the use of electric current owing to the difficulty of obtaining adequate coal supplies, many consumers did their utmost to meet the new requirements, demonstrating a loyalty to the common cause of Shanghai which is altogether praiseworthy. But it is a regrettable fact that on the other hand there were people who not only failed to fall in with the desires of the Municipal Council and the Power Company, but actually used more current than before, apparently with the idea of manufacturing as much as possible against such a time when further restrictions might become necessary. Profiteers and other types of hog are to be found in every community, and in this re: Shanghai has proved to be no exception. The announcement on Tuesday that the Council had agreed to a new proposal by the Power Company whereby those who will not fall in with the general scheme shall be heavily penalized is in the circumstances most heartily welcomed.
In view of the conditions prevailing at the time the restriction scheme was introduced, an allotment of 70 per cent. of established usage was by no means unreasonable. That it involved a certain amount of inconvenience and possibly reduction of output in industrial concerns was from the first apparent, though many users by domestic adjustments did not suffer as much as it was at first thought they would, But there were people who refused to fall into line, preferring to pay the sixfold restrictive charge of surplus consumption simply because as matters stood it paid them to do so. Those people have now to be brought into line, and the only way of doing that which can be most conveniently applied is to ensure that they shall be charged such extra restrictive charges as to make the use of current beyond the 70 per cent. of established usage completely unprofitable. The sixfold. charge will still apply to an excess consumption of two per cent. On an excess usage of ten per cent, the difference of eight per cent, will be subjected to twenty times the average all-in charge. Beyond that the additional charge will be fifty times the average all-in, This it is thought should prove a sufficient deterrent against excessive consumption of current, but should experience show this not to be the case it is to be hoped that the Company and the Council will not hesitate to proceed to increase such charges until the desired effect is secured. No consideration whatever should be shown to those who will not cooperate in the attempt to maintain as complete a service of electricity as is possible in the very trying circumstances through which Shanghai is passing. It is stated that the position regarding fuel has deteriorated since the restrictive measures were first introduced, and that it is necessary to prevent the further depletion of reserve stocks by the unreasonable behaviour of non-cooperative consumers. The company it is understood is conducting negotiations for an additional supply of coal, and it is to. be hoped that those negotiations will prove successful, but until that happens to be the case the application of more drastic restrictions is clearly indicated.
It would indeed be a tragedy if a situation arose in which the present allocation of current to consumers had further to be reduced. The effect upon the economic life of the city might very well be disastrous, and that has to be avoided at all costs. That the Council ard the company are endeavouring to do, and the method they have adopted ensures that the minority who are behaving in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the community as a whole shall be sufficiently penalized. In this connection there will be general support for the view that if the present drastic increases in the restrictive charges are not enough to deprive the non-cooperater of his profit, there should be no hesitation in further increasing them until they are. Common interests demand that there should be cooperation all round and if it should be discovered that after these increases there are still some willing to pay them they should be made all the heavier. It may not be possible entirely to deprive them of current,—an ideal way of dealing with this type of person,—but their excess use to the detriment of others should be made as expensive as possible for them.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.