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One who at Home has worked perhaps more vigorously than any other man, Dr. R. P. Scott, late of the Board of Education, has brought forward a scheme which I daresay many of you have been able to see, and he has met with a great deal of success. He got into touch with so many members of Parliament and other influential people that Mr. Ponsonby wasg afraid to bring the Bill up for its Third Reading, and that the Bill would be amended to "educational and other cultural purposes. According to Dr. Scott's scheme the money is to be broadcast among British institutions where there are any but also among Chinese institutions as well. So the position is this: that at Home, with true British generosity and a very liberal spirit which at the same time brings with it its inconveniences and em- barrassments, a movement has developed considerable strength to devote a large part of this money to purely Chinese institutions, and great pressure will be brought to bear upon those with whom the determination of the question rests to decide the question in this sense. I need not say that this would be a dangerous thing, for all of us here know something of what has been going on during the last few months in China. It is nor difficult for us to understand what the outcome of such a procedure would be in view of the spirit of unrest, the political agitation, and the evolutionary ten- dencies that have been in evidence of late, especially among the student class and in the higher Chinese educational institutions. None of us would hear with any satisfaction of such a course being taken as has been suggested.
We are thus in front of a serious departure from the original inten- tion of the decision of the Associated Chambers. If the money is devoted entirely to education, it will mean a large absorption of the funds by purely Chinese institutions, with results which we cannot look upon with any com- posure. The only thing for us to do under the circumstances is to limit quite strictly the expenditure of the funds on those institutions of which the British public can feel sure, namely the British institutions at present at work in China, whether educational or medical. The other part of our action must be to find the wisest outlet for all that remain unpaid, to sug- gest of China some purpose which will be manifestly free from the imputa- tion of political or selfish ends and at the same time prove a lasting benefit to China and her people. It would be very hard indeed to show any selfish purpose if a portion of the funds is devoted to such work as conservancy and reclamation. In the second place, there are communications.
Mr.
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Woodhead's articles have helped us to realise that although the building of railways very often sounded as if it did come from selfish motives, the actual amount that would accrue to industries at Home in connection with the con- struction of such a line as suggested by him, forms a very small proportion. For all that it must be ranked second to conservancy and such projects, in deference to any doubt that might remain that it would not be an unselfish act.
Hence the resolution before us to-day, a resolution which I hope will form the basis for general agreement in all the Biitish Chambers of Com- merce cut here. It is not necessary for me to refer to any of its clausep as this has already been done so well, and as each one of these really speaks for itself.
I would like however to mention very shortly two points in this con- nection. It is imperatively necessary for us to be agreed if possible. I mean that those at Shanghai, for instance, who are still of the old and honourable opinion that all ought to be given to education, should be able to vote with us in this matter. I believe that the wording of the Resolution will permit of their doing so. We do not depart from things which have already been decided. The change is that with the help of Mr. Woodhead our Arith- metic has been somewhat cleared, and we know now that a very substantial help can be given to the institutions to be benefited, and yet the major part of the funds be left untouched.
Secondly, that a vast amount of meaning is packed into the simple phrase "in view of the conditions actually obtaining in China". The trou bles which have been in evidence of late, the aggressive side of the nationalist feeling in matters educational, the political unrest, all these are meant by that expression. It would not however be politie to refer to these disabilities in a document which we trust may form the basis for legislation hereafter, and thus prove an historic document. It is in the hope that it may prove indeed to be so that I beg leave to second the Resolution. (Prolonged applause.)
Mr. Woodhead-This afternoon I had a call from a distinguished Chinese who was in fact mentioned as the Chinese representative on this Anglo-Chinese Committee. While not prepared absolutely to endorse the