313A
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ments passed on this subject in the British Chamber of Commerce Journal, Shanghai, of December, 1924.
"We are very much in the dark as to what other proposals the Federation has in mind, but amongst them, perhaps, is the suggestion that the Indemnity should be devoted to railway development, suggestion which is said to find favour in the eyes of Wu Pei-fu, not very long ago one of the most influential men in China but now, as far as can at present be estimated, of comparatively little account in Chinese affairs. Influential foreigners in North China have also expressed themselves in favour of the idea, notably the British Cham ber of Commerce at Peking. The Tientsin Chamber has also discussed the suggestion sympathetically, arriving, however, at the conclusion that, with the Central Government in its present helpless state, ex- penditure of the unpaid portion of the Indemnity on railway con struction would merely be the means of swelling the hordes of un- scrupulous Chinese officials. Apart from this proposal which, at the time of writing, has not, as far as we are aware, received the endorse- ment of any other British Chamber of Commerce in China, the "Journal" knows of no new, influentially supported, suggestions.”
Gentlemen, as you will realize, we have now reached a stage in this question of Britain's remission of this vast sum to China where definite decisions are about to be taken and definite recommendations must be made, if they are to be made at all. This act is of considerable concern both to the recipient and to the donor and it behoves us to act with the utmost dis- crimination.
In proposing this resolution to you to-night. I feel I have behind me the deep convictions of a large section of Britons in China and of a great number of thinking Chinese. Two of our members, whose names have for many years been associated with the welfare of this Chamber, Mr. C. R. Morling and Mr. P. II. B. Kent, are not with us to-night, but I can tell you that they are in full sympathy with what I am saying.
Before allocating to the sole purpose of education the £11,000,000 in- volved, do let us reconsider our position in the light of recent events before it is too late. I trust you have all read Mr. Woodhead's excellent articles which have appeared recently in the "Peking and Tientsin Times." Some
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of you have also seen the interesting memorandum on Railways drawn up by Mr. Mounsey some time ago. You will also have had in your hands to-day copies of letters to the "Times" written last December by Mr. M. T. Liang an by Dr. Lavington Hart. The ideas expressed in these writings ive considerable food for thought. They deal so exhaustively with the Various aspects of this question that I will not go over the ground which has been so fully covered.
When I was in Shanghai last month I approached some of the mem- bers of the Shanghai Chamber's Committee on this question and found some of them quite in sympathy with those ideas, whereas others, seemed very reluctant to depart from the views repeated and confirmed at two conferences.
Gentlemen, the sums involved are such that, without in any way departing from the recommendations which were submitted to our Govern- ment by the Conference of Chambers, they will allow of other supplementary uses which might in the long run prove of greater practical value both to the people of China and to the British taxpayer.
I understand that over $8,000,000.- have already accumulated in our Indemnity Fund in the last two years. This would allow of a capital grant of say 4 million Dollars for educational and similar purposes and, after providing for a further annual grant of say a million and a half Dollars which is far in excess of the sums asked for by the British schools and medical missions, there would still be left at least $2,500,000.- per annum to be applied for other purposes.
Even if, in a sense, our recommendations do come somewhat as an afterthought, let us consider them roadmindedly on their merits and not allow false feelings of pride to influence us in our decision.
In past years the British merchant has usually looked upon his Cham- her only as a medium for seeking redress in his trade grievances. It is only during the most recent times that, by pressure of circumstances, he has given somewhat deeper thought to the social and political issues which are now affecting the very foundations of his trade in China. With all defer- ence to the Resolutions passed in Shanghai at previous conferences, I think I may say that the recommendations regarding the allocation of our share of the Boxer Indemnity followed as a natural sequence to the well thought out and excellent work which had been put in by the Central Education Com- mittee constituted in Shanghai. It is encumbent on us not to go back upon