SHANGHAI LIKE A CITY UNDER SIEGE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23211, 24 March 1950, Page 3

SHANGHAI LIKE A CITY UNDER SIEGE

(Bv a N.Z.P.A.— Reuter Correspondent) ] !OX(t KONG. The entire business and living' routine of the u,000,000 people of Shanghai is undergoing a transformation which has no previous parallel—not even during the hectic days of the Japanese occupation during the Pacific Wn\ Shanghai today resembles a city under seiga, with important office buildings and factories heavily sandbagged, show windows of stores and business houses thickly plastered with blast-proof paper strips. The changes have been brought about by repeated Nationalist air attacks on Shanghai. With the alert being sounded, on an average, twice a day to bring all acttivities to a standstill, the city government. leading business bouses and public utilities have nil changed their office hours to the later evenings most of them between 4 and 10 p.m. —to ensure uninterrupted work. Change-Over in Leisure Period The commercial change over will be total once the banks follow suit, and they are contemplating such a step. If and when this switch becomes general, restaurants, movies and other entertainment places arc expected to alter their hours to suit the new leisure period of the masses, which will be between eight in the morning and four in the afternoon. Meanwhile the general public, but especially the foreign community of some 15.000 have suffered a drastic reduction in the amenities of life to which they have long been accustomed. With every household restricted to but one-fifth ox its former electricity and power consumption, most foreign families have “mothballed” their frigidaircs, electric cookers, heaters and irons and replaced their 100 or 75-watt lamps by 5-watt ones, and even kerosene lamps and candles.

The emergency power regulations are being almost universally observed because few can meet the crushing penalties, ten times the normal rate for any excess kilowatt the first time, 10 times the entire bill for tne second offence, and suspension of all supply the third time. Worse May Be in Store

Worse may be in store for Shanghai's populace if the bombing raids become more serious, as wells are being dug throughout the city as a precaution against the failure of the water supply, and registration has been ordered of all flush toilets for a possible return to old methods of disposal of night soil —through “honey” carts.

While the power restrictions have resulted in a “blackout” or Shanghai's thousands of neon and fluorescent light advertising signs, they have given birth to a new business —the sale and hire of power generators—and created a boom in the candle and kerosene trades. The papers are full of advertisements offering generators which may be operated by gasoline, Diesel oil. charcoal or firewood, and of course at considerably inflated prices compared to two months ago. Most of that city’s leading movie theatres and ballrooms are at present operating on their own power generators, while some cabarets are getting by successfully with petroleum incandescent lights and oil lamps. One result has been the accelerated movement of plants to the interior—in most cases complete with all equipment and workers. According to the Chinese press, more factories are joining the exodus every day. In North China the port of Tientsin appears to be the most popular choice at present at present for re-establishment. Shops Refused Permits to Close

In the case of retail stores, thousands are reported to have applied unsuccessfully for permission to close following a prolonged spell of poor business as a result of the considerably reduced purchasing power of the public. Many shopowners are reported to to have vanished in recent weeks, leaving the running of their dying business to their employees. The overall economic picture remains as grim as ever. The authorities have prevented any wild price spurts so far through mass dumping of rice, flour, and other essential commodities, but the question is how long can they keep this up. It is estimated that 80 per cent, of the requirements of the city are at present being met by this dumping. Yet the parity deposit unit —Shanghai’s new cost of living index on which wages are calculated, has been and is still moving steadily upward. It standsat present around 6600 compared with only about 3000 a few months ago. These figures tel! eloquently the inroads which inflation is continuing to make into the economic structure of Shanghai.