M. T. Brown said that with regard to Mr. Addis' remarks about beer and tobacco, they had been the very life of the Society. If they abolished beer and tobacco he must take his name off the list of members. He did not smoke, but he liked to see other people enjoying themselves, Mr. Bland said there were evidently two opinions in the Society at present, one held by the majority that smoking concerts should be continued and the other held by the minority that it should be a purely literary Society, and he would therefore suggest that the Literary and Debating Society should continue tudor the present name and that those who felt that smoking concerts were a need should form another Society under azdifferent name and that the funds at present in the sion of the Literary and Debating Society should be either divided between the two or given to some local charity.
Mr, W. Bright said that he saw no necessity for a change in either the title or the nature of the entertainments of the Society. The title had been changed once in order that they might inherit a sum of money from a similar Society then defunct, but the probable result of a further alteration in the title or the nature of the work would be the hastening of the Society's death. They could not but expect the Society to be ina bad way when the Committee had done so little for it, The rules said that the Annual General Meeting should he held "in the first week in June, or as near thereto as practicable," but here they were holding that meeting in the February following, and by no stretch of legal acumen could the "'as near thereto as practicable" be made to cover a period extending from the first week in June to the first week in the following February, The concerts, both with and without the tobacco which had been so much railed against, had in the past been very successful, so had the lectures and debates; and he saw no reason why, with such a Committee as had been proposed and with the work carried on on the old ines, the Committee should not come to them by the next Annual General Meeting in June with a much better account than was now presented. 7 The Rev. F. L. Hawks Pott pointed out that the very first page of the rules said that the object of the Society should be the intellectual improvement of its members. Ttseemed to him that there must be room in Shanghai for a Society of a literary character, and he thought that the new committee, if elected, should endeavour to carry out the idea of the founders and make it literary Society. If certain members fell off tle rest would not feel badly. The success of a debating society did not depend upon getting a bumper house every time. Why could they not have meetings of the size of the present one once a month to discuss some question, book, or scientific point? They could meet in some member's house or in the Shanghai Club, and he wanted, as one of those who had been proposed for the Committee, to state clearly the idea he would carry out, were he elected, viz, to make the Society a literary one. He did not advocate having Eo private. He believed that. though public meetings, but out of eight let seven
these lines there would be a falling off of members there would still be a survival of the fittest and that the fittest men of Shanghai would be bound together by the Society, that, the meetings would be interesting and, if carried out on these lines there would be no necessity for the burial of the Society. (Applause)
Mr. Drummond Hay said that some years ago the Society was run on the Jines last suggested, but was not generally successful. The entertainment principle was 2 success, but the variety had fallen off until nothing but smoking concerts were given. In pursuing the entertainment principle they were likely to entrench on the A.D.C., etc., and if they confined themselves strictly to the literary branch they were just as likely to entrench on the Asiatic Society (Hear, hear, and laughter). He thought 2 judicious mixture of the two might ensure success.
pleasure in seconding Mr. Addis' proposal.
G. J. Mosse. sid be had much Mr. R. A. Anderson was in favour of the literary and not the entertainment scheme.
Mr. H. B. Morse said he thought that the smoking concert part should belong to a different Society. He was in favour of; entertainment, of the proper sort. He also was in favour of private debates.
Mr. J. P. Donovan said-he had been connected with the Society for fifteen years, and did not believe in abolishing the entertainment part of it altogether.
Dr. Fryer said he had taken a very great interest in the Society and was one of the firs members. The debates then were attended by crowded houses. He considered the smoking scheme was a great mistake Mr. Wickham said that before smoking was introduced the membership was so low that they could not hold a debate, but the smoking concerts had brought it up to nearly 300.
Mr. Limby said there were evidently two camps in the Society. He presumed that the committee Mr. Addis proposed would not be bound hand and foot to return to the old principles of the Society, as he would be very sorry to see Mr. Brown's name taken off the list.
Mr. Addis said his remarks were directed to show that beer and tobacco should be eschewed asa diet. He had no objection to-them as an occasional sedative.
Mr. H.'T, Wade thought that the Society had departed largely from the lines on which it was first started, but he did not advocate the separation of entertainment and debate by hard and fast lines, because the Society would dwindle into mere nothingness.
The Chairman then put the proposal to the meeting, and it being carried unanimously the meeting terminated.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.