An exhaustive investigation of the local conditions of labourin general and of child labour in particular was carried out， and athorough study was made of the Chinese Government"s ProvisionalRegulations in regard to child labour， which had been promulgated onMarch 29th， 1923.
As the Central Government of China at that time was unableto enforce its decrees throughout the country， it seemed hopelessto place confidence in government regulations for bringing aboutany improvement in the local situation. Accordingly， the MunicipalCouncil decided to submit a bye-law concerning child labour to aspecial meeting of Ratepayers. The object of the bye-law was to prohibitfor a period of the next four years， the employment of children under10 years of age， and after that， of children under 12 years of age. Theperiod of work was limited to 12 hours a day， one hour being allowedfor rest. All children under 14 years of age were to be allowed 24 hoursof continuous rest every 14 days， and were not to be employed in anydangerous work likely to cause serious injury to body or health， or tobe exposed to dangerous or hazardous conditions.
This resolution was presented to the special meeting of Ratepayerson April 15th， 1925， along with resolutions concerning the increasein wharfage dues， licensing of printed matter， and licensing of Stockand Produce Exchanges， but failed to be acted upon owing to lack of aquorum.
The final chapter in regard to this measure is well known. Aspecial meeting of Ratepayers was called on June 2nd， 1925. It camejust after the excitement caused by the May 30th incident. Althoughthe meeting was better attended than previous ones， a quorum wasSee Chapter XXVIII.
lacking and legislation on this important matter had to be postponedsine die.
This continued indifference on the part of the Ratepayers inregard to these measures may be partly accounted for on the groundthat， owing to the hostility of the Chinese public to these regulations，the foreign community feared that， by insisting upon them， conditionsmight be created harmful to peaceful relations in carrying on business.
It remains to consider why the Chinese community was opposedto measures evidently beneficial to both the Chinese and foreigncommunities. Perhaps a sufficient answer is that a section of theChinese was opposed to anything which appeared to be an extension ofMunicipal authority.
Before any such further extension took place， it considered that asa sine qua non， there must be Chinese representation on the MunicipalCouncil. Until that could be obtained， it was inclined to adopt anobstructionist attitude.
It is also probable that Bolshevistic agencies were at work， havingas their aim the destruction of British prestige and trade in the FarEast. This may help to account for the fact that the antagonismshowed itself much more in the International Settlement than in theFrench Concession， some of the measures so bitterly opposed in theInternational Settlement being actually put into force in the FrenchConcession， such as the licensing of printed matter， and the licensingof the Stock and Produce Exchanges.
In considering these bye-laws we have followed their historythrough to the end， and have thus been obliged to anticipatesomewhat. We now return to the chronicle of other events in 1921–1922.
Shanghai Waterworks companyAlthough negotiations were in progress looking forward tothe Municipal Council obtaining the ownership and control of theShanghai Waterworks company， the outlay of capital demanded was solarge that the matter was delayed.
In Shanghai there are several public utilities， such as water， gas，telephone， tramways， conducted as private companies， the exceptionbeing electricity， which became a department of the Municipal Councilin 1893.
In the meantime， with the growth of the Settlement， it hadbecome necessary to extend the waterworks by the addition of newpumps， the construction of western district reservoirs， and the laying ofnew mains.
The following figures are interesting. In 1920 the companydistributed 6，88 1，225，230 gallons of water， and in 1921， 8，292，069，76 9
gallons， an increase of 1，410，844，539 gallons. The maximum deliveredin any one day was in 1921， 30，426，490 gallons against a maximum of24，894，315 gallons in 1920.
Mr. A. P. Wood， for 36 years Secretary and Engineer-in-chiefof the Shanghai Waterworks company， retired in April， 1921， andreturned to the homeland in June. Under his direction the Waterworkscompany had made extraordinary progress.
Bolshevists at the Far Eastern OlympicsThe Far Eastern Olympics were held for the second time inShanghai， in 1921， at Hongkew Park. During the meet， an attemptwas made to distribute Bolshevist literature. Some young men werearrested， one of whom was armed with a pistol. While being pursued，he fired seven times before being caught by Dr. H. H. Morris.
Opening of New Municipal BuildingThe new Municipal Building was formally opened on November16th， 1922， by Mr. H. G. Simms， Chairman of the MunicipalCouncil. The Chairman in his address referred to the fact that as farback as 1904 the need of a new building had become apparent. In1912 the Council had appointed a committee to study the matter anddraw up a schedule of requirements for the projected building. Uponthis schedule was prepared a series of designs which were submitted tothe Ratepayers in 1913. When a final design had been adopted， it wasplaced before the President of the Royal Institute of British Architectsin London， who advised that it be executed in granite instead ofartificial stone， as originally intended.
