In Shanghai all the students of Government and Mission schoolswent out on strike on May 26th. To express sympathy with the studentagitation， the merchants of Shanghai also declared a strike， and allshops closed their doors on June 5th.
Backed by public opinion， China"s representatives at the PeaceConference refused to sign the Treaty.
Later in April， 1920， the students united in declaring a secondstrike， to protest against the Chinese Government entering into directnegotiations with Japan in regard to the return of Kiaochow， inasmuchas the pro-Japanese clique was in power at Peking. It became nationwide， and for a time threatened to be as effective as the first had been.
In Shanghai it led to a clash between the soldiers and the students，when the latter tried to force an entrance into the Arsenal at Lunghua，for the purpose of stirring up the workmen， and five students wereseverely injured. In the end， owing to lack of public support， the strikewas abandoned， and this led to a student prestige， and to an effort onthe part of the officials to suppress the unions.
The End of the Volunteer Fire BrigadeThe Shanghai Fire Brigade had been a volunteer organization forover half a century， and had made for itself an enviable record.
Difficulties arose after the engagement of a professional chiefofficer for the Brigade in 1912. Owing to the growth of Shanghai，and the decline in the number of volunteers， became necessary toemploy a paid Chinese force， but it was not easy to harmonize in oneorganization a volunteer foreign force and a paid Chinese force. Moreand more the foreign volunteers realized they were in an impossibleposition， and finally the whole force consisting of 44 men resigned enbloc on April 30th， 1919.
Mr. Edward C. Pearce， when inspecting the volunteer members ofthe Fire Brigade for the last time， before their disbandment， reviewedthe services of the Brigade to the community during the preceding50 years. He recalled that in the years 1886 to 1894， when he was amember of the Fire Brigade， the firemen themselves had to run the hosereels and ladder trucks to fires， and that reels were first drawn by poniesin 1890. It was not until 1908 that the first motor was introduced.
After that changes became more rapid until the most up-to-date motorequipment was secured. He pointed out “that to meet present moreexacting requirements and those of the near future， we must rely morefully on a paid fire staff whose whole time can be devoted not only tothe extinction of fires but to their prevention.“Municipal FinanceTurning now to Municipal affairs of the International Settlement，there were some important happenings in 1919 to which referencemust be made.
During the war period， the Council found it difficult to floatdebentures， and to secure the money necessary for extraordinaryexpenditure， and this furnished considerable concern as the Municipaldebt was increasing. The ordinary expenditure of the Municipality hadgrown as is shown in the budget of 1918.
Tls. Tls.
Police Force 1，088，000 Fire Brigade 106，000
Public Works 1，058，000 Finance 84 ，000
Health 238，000 Public Band 4 9，000
Education 205，000 Volunteers 45 ，000
Secretariat 186，000 Public Library 3 ，000
Trouble over the Increase in Municipal RatesThe Municipal rates were increased owing to this serious financialcondition， but the Chinese took the stand that they would not paythese rates unless representation on the Council was granted， andthis brought about an awkward situation. The Council explainedthat it was not at liberty to change the Land Regulations， and thatChinese representation must first be voted by the Ratepayers， and thenreferred to the Diplomatic Body in Peking. Only the latter body， inconsultation with the Chinese Government， could sanction this changein the Land Regulations.
Of course， the Chinese were not satisfied with this answer， but theagitation gradually subsided， and the leaders of the Street Unions andthe Chinese Chamber of commerce issued a circular in the name ofboth organizations， advising the people to pay the rates. From this timeon， however， the question of Chinese representation on the Councilbecame an important issue.
Street Unions
As an evidence of the growing demand on the part of the Chinesecommunity for a voice in the affairs of the Settlement， Street Unionswere organized and meetings were held for the purpose of obtainingequality of treatment for the Chinese community. A new set of LandRegulations was drawn up by the local Chinese leaders， and forwardedthrough the Special commissioner for Foreign Affairs to the ConsularBody. According to these Regulations the Chinese residents in theSettlement were to be granted the franchise， and a rental of ＄10 permensem was to confer a vote. There were other radical proposals of soextreme a nature that they received but scant attention.
community Affairs
Immediately after the close of the war， in Shanghai， as elsewhere，there was a marked reaction to the feeling of anxiety and suspensewhich had continued so long. Shanghai broke out into an unparalleledround of festivity， marked by collective and individual extravagance.
Increased Cost of LivingAt the same time the residents of Shanghai began to feel theincreased cost of living， and the dearer price of food caused by thegeneral unsettled conditions of the world. The housing problembecame quite acute， especially for those living on moderate salaries.
This was due to high rents. It was claimed that these high rents werenot entirely the result of landlords taking advantage of the fact that thesupply was less than the demand， but to the increased cost of building，caused by the higher price of materials， and the advance in workmen"swages.