Tus Customs Postal Sobeme may be considered to have received some support from the General Meeting of the foreign residents which was convened to oppose it, It could well not be other wise; for there are few people who having candidly considered the matter would offer an out and out opposi-to the first progressive step which China has spontaneously made. Une fortunately, however, the hasty proceedings of the Chamber of Commerce in suramoning a meeting, and the reso. lations, if accepted literally, bear the Appearance of the community being determined not to abate a jat of what it considers foreign interests, and to be anuble to recognize the advance which China has made during the Inst quar. ter of @ century, A prejudice has been created against the scheme by the incomplete manner in which it was made public, instend of being frankly and as faras possible disclosed, Those who were not inclined to accept the Postal Scheme merely on the strength of Sir Robert Hart's name, and those who accepted its principle and wished to be no cepted by the commanity, ud thnt its working should be nego. pal Council, or some body representing general foreign torests—all these preferred to absent themselves from the meeting rat! than take part in proceedings that each mat. fair presentment made of the opinion of residents, In this we think they were mistaken, and a perusal of the proceedings at the meeting confirms usin that view, The attendance was emall, and in most of the speeches what was anxiously "hedged." It is to be expected that on a matter like this P< scheme, meroliauts would be divided in opinion, a8 they might be on Free Trade or Protection, and therefure no one surprised to find among those present at the meeting some gentlemen whose jadgwent entitles their opinions to ry respect. But it is notable that the partners in a large number of the best known British firms took no part whatever in the proceedings, that only one representative of the American, two of the German and one of the French firms were present, And the alist tion from voting showed, that from a third to a fourth of the hundred or 80 of the audience were there from The Chairman felt very that Western people would approve the establishment of post office; but ie called on the meeting to give an emphatic nogal initial Shanghai is concerned, proposes to take, We grant that a mistake was made by those in whose hands the scheme been placed, in commencing as they have done, but we do not seo therein any reason for the commanity We oppose the whole scheme because you have not gone the right way in starting it, All that could have been made matter for negotiations, and those failed in obtaining reasonable securities from the Chinese, we would only be then as we are uow; and such
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.