For various reasons， principally owing to the Great War， it tooknearly eight years to complete the building. The area covered by it is12 mow， and it contains 400 offices capable of accommodating allthe departments of the Council. In connection with it， as alreadydescribed， is the new Drill Hall for the Shanghai Volunteer Corps. Thetotal cost was one and three-quarters million taels.
The building met with enthusiastic approval from thosepresent at the opening ceremony. It furnishes a fitting home for theadministration of the great International Settlement. As was said inan editorial in the North-China Daily News， written on that occasion，“the building is a parable in stone commemorating the past， andprophesying of an even better future.“The S. V. C. ClubIn the part of the building devoted to the activities of theVolunteer Corps， rooms were set aside for the S. V. C. Club， and thesewere formally opened on December 18th by Mr. H. G. Simms andCol. R. Marr Johnson， commandant of the Corps. At that time apresentation was made to Col. T. E. Trueman upon his retirement ascommandant， in recognition of his valuable services， especially duringthe period of the Great War.
Opening of the Ewo BuildingOn November 15th another new building was formally opened，that of the old firm of Jardine， Matheson and company， known by itsChinese name as “Ewo”。 The edifice is an imposing granite structureand adds much to the fine line of buildings along The Bund. At thetime of the passing away of the monopoly of the East India company，trading to China， the firm of Jardine， Matheson and company hadbeen established at Canton， as far back as 1832. Gradually other tradecentres were established， as new ports were opened up， and this firmwas among the earliest to come to Shanghai. Thus at the opening ofthe new building it could look back upon a history of over eighty years.
Szechuen Road BridgeThe new Szechuen Road Bridge was finished and opened to trafficduring this year， and gave Shanghai a bridge greatly superior to theGarden Bridge from an architectural point of view.
Strike at Chinese Post OfficeAlthough Shanghai had become more or less accustomed toindustrial strikes， it was a new feature to have labour troubles inconnection with the public services. Some 300 postmen employed bythe Chinese Post Office in Shanghai went out on strike on April 24th，and for a time threw the service into confusion. As the demands werenot complied with immediately， a majority of the sorters employedat the central and district offices decided to join the strikers， and thisresulted in further disintegration of the service. By yielding to someof the demands of the strikers， the matter was finally adjusted. Thismovement on the part of government employees to join in strikescaused considerable apprehension in regard to the future， and laterevents showed that these apprehensions were not altogether groundless.
Strike of Women WorkersWith the passing years， strikes in mills and factories became morefrequent， but it was not until 1922 that women workers participatedon a large scale. There was a strike of women connected with the silkfilatures in Chapei in the month of August. Nearly 10，000 of theworkers went out， when the employers refused to grant their demandsfor a ten-hour day and a daily increase of five cents in wages. At thattime， they were working thirteen and a half hours a day， for forty cents.
More than 24 mills in Chapei were affected by the strike， and whensome of the employees of the filatures in the Settlement joined them，the numbers on strike increased to 20，000. The strikers paraded theroads in Chapei carrying banners to “make the world know of theirharsh conditions.“One of the results of the strike was an appeal， representing900，000 women workers， to the Civil Governor of Kiangsu， imploringhim to reduce their hours of labour. They pointed out that thoughtheir hours were nominally eleven， yet in practice they were usuallyfourteen， and that although at the Washington Conference in 1921， aneight-hour day and a 48 -hour week had been approved， the proposalhad been entirely ignored by the silk filature authorities.
Proposed Road around the SettlementOwing to the deadlock in connection with settlement theShanghai Municipal Council continued its policy of opening up newroads leading out of the Settlement. The Chinese looked upon thisas a precursor of further claims for extension so that foreign propertyand residences on these roads might be brought under the control ofthe Municipal Council. In order to Check this supposed policy， someof the Chinese authorities advocated the building of a boundary roadaround the Settlement and its environs which would serve as a clearline of demarcation and prevent the construction of any further roadsby the Council outside the area thus delimited. It would also serve thefurther purpose of facilitating communications between Chapei andLunghua.
Increase in Crime
Shanghai in recent years has become altogether too familiar withacts of violence. Now and again it has been aroused by some sensationalshooting affair of an unusual nature， such as the attempt on the lifeof Baron Tanaka on March 28th， when he was leaving for Japan. TwoCoreans threw a bomb among the crowd on the Customs jetty， but itfailed to explode. In their effort to escape， they fired indiscriminatelyinto the crowd so as to prevent pursuit， with the result that one ofthe passengers， Mrs. W. J. Snyder， an Indian watchman， and somecoolies were struck. Mrs. Snyder was fatally wounded and died shortlyafterwards in the General Hospital.
