Iris to; be hoped that the attendance of the public at the meeting of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society on Monday last is not to be taken-as an indication of the interest. felt in-the question of the establishment' of-a Museum of Trade in Shanghai, We do not take it so; unfortunately some few years ago an idea prevailed that the meetings of the Society were dull and dry beyond measure, and although there are no grounds for the holding of such an opinion now, it takes a long time for a bad reputa~ tion, such as they once acquired, to die out. The letter of our Correspondent "Cassandra", accuses the community generally of an apparently invincible apathy, and the writer would no doubt point to the recent meeting as a confirmation of the accusation. But there are other reasons, some of which a perusal of the -report will have invalid dated, for the small attendance. Many people, when they first heard of the scheme, thought it too large, We in Shanghai labour under what is in many respects a disadvantage, a general feeling that Shanghai is a much larger place than it really is. As the commercial capital of China it is sometimes regard-a great city like Liverpool, for instance; whereas, for many purposes it is only a town of some three thousand inhabitants. Grandiose schemes, like that of a museum of home manufactures and inventions and the products of this country too, are impracticable. On this rock the proposed exhibition was wrecked; and if the other foreign countries which have treaties with China had followed the lead of Belgium, the proposed museum, would have had to be on the scale of the proposed exhibition, and would have been permanent instead report of the Council, presented by Mr. of temporary. A. glance at the able
China Branch, will shew that the design lorse. ab the recent, meeting, of the now is more modest than it was first be-Tieved tobe. It is confined now to a museum for exhibiting the resources of China, and this is quite within our means. Mr. Morse in the report, which is practically, his, as we learn from the President's remarks, goes exhaustively and yet concisely into the advantages of the museum, as affecting strangers, scientific. men, traders and the general community., He shews, and we all feel this only too thoroughly when we have globe-trotters on our hands, that there is nothing in Shanghai to amuse the stranger, though as a matter of fact, if he cares to.take.the trouble to prow! about the Settlements and the City, he' can see a good deal of the products of: the country, and of the fauna in the little exist i there i sill no question, that a good and properly arranged. collection of what, this vast empire tueed in China which would soon make in alk steps of preparation; farming their way, if they were tried on western implements; specimens' of "minerals markets,. Mr.' Morse, in his recent from all the eighteen provinces; mo-circular pointed out the absolute neces-dels of metallurgical tus; samsity of finding new staples of export, if ples of the thousands of substances our import trade is to be maintained, used by the Chinese as medicines and he says, "It is clearly impossible vegetables fibres and products; textile for each merchant himself to enter on fabrics; tools and utensils; porcelain, the search over so wide a field, by his metal and other wares;"—we quote own unaided efforts he will catch but from Mr. Morse's recent circular—would a few flying straws of the trade that form an attraction to the more serious-passes him by; the true and only minded globe trotter, and would be effective method is to 5] out before worth an hour's study even to the the merchant an exhibition of the re-most frivolous. To the scientific man sources of China, in such shape that all it would be invaluable, for he would find information desired is readily obtained." his material collected in one spot and As to the community, they flourish intelligently classified, instead of having as the trade flourishes, and thus they to hunt for it all over China. The are interested in the success of the advantages to the trader are also obvious, proposed museum. Sir' Robert Hart and the present scheme is an illustrawill add his invaluable assistance if he tion of Hesiod's paradoxical saying that finds that we are in earnest, and it "the half is more than the whole." One remains for us all to put our shoulders reason why the proposition for a grand to the wheel, and make the proposed museum of foreign manufactures as well museum in the limited form it has now as native products was received with so taken worthy of the model settlement. little enthusiasm was, that merchants who have gone to considerable trouble and expense in adapting their to
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.