A general meeting of the members of the Shanghai Literary and Debating Society was held on Monday e' Mr. George Tamieson presided, and there was a fairly humorous gathering of members.
The Chairman, in proposing the adoption of the report and accounts, congratulated the members upon the Society being in a satisfactory financial position, there being a balance of $528 in the bank.
Mr. A. P. Wilkinson seconded the resolution, which was unanimously certi The Chairman said the next business was the election of a Committee for the season ending June 1894. Ten names were necessary to form the Committee, which elected from its body the President, Hon. Secretary, and Treasurer. The following uitlemen had consented to serra, Mesars.
A. Anderson, T. Brown, H. Browett, F. Ellis, Cecil Holliday, R. A. Jamieson, M.D., G. Taylor, I. Turner, and H, Mr, Holliday asked if the Chairman would not be persuaded to go on the Committee (Hear, hear).
The Chairman said he was much obliged for and flattered by the compliment but he must decline. If he could be of any a tance outside he would be only too please Mr. L. Moore seconded the proposed Committee, and the list was then put to the meeting and unanimously approved.
The Chairman invited the meeting to offer any suggestions to the new Cor mittee, as now the Committee had bei elected the alternative resolution fell tothe ground. The difficulty the retiring Committee had had to meet was in the way of enlisting the eu-operation of the members. The Society could only be kept alive with the assistance of the members, and he invite' them to come forward and help the Committee by suggestions for and the contribution of subjects, Dr. Jamieson thought it would be well if ie ere dieinetly fad down that there was no restriction, by the rules of the Society, as to the nature of the subjects proposed for debate. For the Inst few yours, had been understood alike by the mem: bers of the Society and the public that all questions of religion and morals were excluded from discussion. This impression arose from the action of a gentleman who was forced upon the S ciety ax President—he allucted to General Kennedy—who although from the first in his (the speske a remarkable. specimen of the ound brass and tinkling cymbal must have been person of a special sort of ability, for he impressed not only this Society but the entire community with the value of his services while in reality he was doing nothing or doing mischief. Unfortunately, and without any authorisation whatever, General Kennedy, who xt the time was not a member of the Society, was, by one of the members of the C-mittee then in office, invited tomake the presidency. The hands of the other members were of course tied, it irould have seemed a very ungracious thing to blackball him when put up for membership, or to exclude him from the Presidency when he had offered himself for membership on the express understanding that he should be President, Accordingly he became President and held the position as long us he remained in Shanghai. He did not hold the opinion which the speaker and others held, that as President he was no more than the highest administrative oticer of the Society, and that his business was not to make rules but to administer those to which he had subscribed. He determined to be not only a law to himself but also to the Society, and he gave a distinct pledge that no questions of religion or morals should be discussed so long as he should be President. That pledge he gave to Mr. J. G. Purdon. The decadence of the Society began from that time, and the change of policy forced out of the Committee a number of very active members including Me, Bright, Me, Brown, the speaker himself and he thought Mr. Wade. Old members would recall the immense gatherings that filled the Masonic Hall at debates which excited the most passionate interest and enthusiasm, and as matter of fact, whether to the credit or the discredit of the public, each of those debates was followed by an influx of fresh candidates for membership. Since then, s0 far us the debates were concerned, the history of the Society had been a very lamentable one. In the spexker's opinion what they wanted in order to attract and interest an audience, and to stimulate the members to speak, were subjects for discussion which, while of the very greatest importance, were outside the ordinary strife of each individual's daily life. The question of bimetallism, for instance, was a very important one, and he had no doubt was very ably discussed, but it was something
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.