Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-12
ARTICLE VII.
BY UPTON CLOSE.

Regardless of what Chinese faction
takes over Shanghai, foreign proper
ties must suffer for time there, as
elsewhere, heavy depreciation. This
viii be equally so If the foreign ad
ministration is merely "denatured' by
giving the 100000 Chinese residents
of the settlement a proportionate
share in the municipal government.
When | was in Picking recently
looked up some Summer houses and
lots at the beach resort of Peitaino,
which when | left them four years
before had market value of $1,000.
They are in an area chartered from
the Chinese government by a resi-
dents asSociat ton, originally mission
airy, which in its SubleaseS to indi-
viduals prohibits Chinese ownership
or residence. The idea was TO create
a little white mans sanctuary"
| tried to sell my lots, but not
foreigner would buy at any price.
I'VE are not taking on any unmov-
able property in this country now"
was the answer.
Sells Land at Half Price.
1 went to an old Chinese friend,
graduate of an American university.
II don't believe your No dogs and
Chinese regulation for that area will
AtOAa AOllSs AE SAUL Out VI COAl &c,
there is some risk and you cannot
now give me a full title. All this
foreign property must go on the
market for practically nothing. be-
cause 1t is no longer of use to any
but Chinese, and there aren't many
Chinese who want this type of thing.
But I'll buy your property at half its
originalsvalue." l sold.
There are q score of such foreign
owned areas about China; beach and
mountain resorts, port settlements
and great cities like the concessions
and settlements at Tientsin and
Shanghai. In all of them the foreign
owner stands to lose nearly all his
investment, which in many cases
represents the savings of a lifetime of
labor and hardship and peril to health.
Abolition or compromise Of foreign
I sovereignty in Shanghai and conse
quent uncertainty about the upkeep of
the city's streets, harbor facilities and
administration will cause great depre-
citation. Owners of the 10000 900 of
American property investment in
Shanghai fear a loss in value of so
To 80 per cent.
Caprici0us Taxes Possible.
Realization of these actualities
Jared the State Department out of it's
first sleepy inclination to protect
Americans in Shanghai by transport
Ing them all to Manila" and brought
the reverse counsel from President
Coolidge to our Shanghai community
to .'sit tight
Americans trading in China face the
prospect of other losses. Should eX-
trateT1itorial protection be given up
they would be subject to danger of
capricious taxation. Their credits,
rfc
pend on Chinese courts. And the
Chinese are apt to recall the justice
they have had in the foreign consular
courts, where up to now they have
had to sue aliens.
Germans who lost their extraterri-
torial privileges during the war told
me that they had no complaint to
make on personal treatment by Chi
nese police and officials, but cheating
customers could no longer be forced
TO pay.
Americas trade with China was a
quarter of a billion dollars last year,
one-sixth Of China's whole foreign
trade. IL any clash arises between
tbtS Government and Chinese of
eil.er north or south, the weapon of
the boycott will cut it off almost com.
pletely, as happened to England's
trade.
Bonds Face Depreciation.
A leader of our varnish industry
was talking with me in New York.
Chinese tung oil, coming from far
Szechuan, on the Upper Yangtze, is
one of the essential raw products of
his industry. Foreign boats are no
longer running on the Upper Yangtze,
but his tung oil is still shooting the,
rapids in the old-style sampan. Will
something occur to cut off the sup
ply?
The same situation exists with bean
oil for our soap industry, peanuts for
our base ball games and hair nets for
our bobbed women.
Great firms like the Standard Oil
Co. of New York and the Singer
Sewing Machine CO., which do bust