"Interest They Show in Civic Affairs Most Encouraging"
—Mr. Fessenden A very pleasant endeavour to promote good international feeling, routual friendships among different nationals, and ce-operation in civie duties, was made by the officers and members of the American Women's Club on Tuesday afternoon, when they received ladies of other Debs in Shanghai.
Mrs. Verne Dyson, in opening the proceedings, said that a need had been felt for broader viewpoint} among women living in Shanghai, this essentially cosmopolitan city, and that the responsibility of their civie duties had grown during the recent trouble Mri Stirling Fessenden, who was! then introduced, said that he was much honoured by the invitation to address the Club women of Shanghai and that this interest shown in civic affairs was most encouraging.
Even in 1857, he said, the editorials of the only newspaper in Shanghai at that time deplored the apathy of the rate-payer. He said that the efvic duties of women in Shanghai included an interest in the problems of government, which were very complicated and difficult, and the acquiring of a reasonable amount of knowledge about the manner in which the government was administered. The theory of extraterritoriality as applied to this Settlement and an outline of the ind Regulations should be known to them if they wished to have any conception of the character of the problem.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.