Witty Speech by Dr. V. K. Ting at the Union Club: Why Some Schemes Fail Dr. V. K, Ting, Director-in-Charge jot the Shanghai and Woosung. Special Municipality, gave a very witty after-tiffin speech on Tuesday at the Union Club to nearly 100 terested members and their friends.
Mr. R. Calder Marshall presided and emphasized the great importance of the work in connexion with the special administrative arca_and the considerable number of difficulties confronting those who were in [charge of affairs. No ore, said the speaker, realized this more than the Director himself and so he was going at his work in a very earnest determined way. All would, wish him pucees. The chairman then proposed a toast to Dr. Ting and this was heartily drank, all Dr. Ting recalled a movement in Peking some years ago to organize new society which was known as the Anglo-Chinese Friendship. Bureau which did not prosper because the members did not meet as frequently as many would have desired. There were formal lunches and all that sort of thing; the members came in uniform and carrying all their decorations, but they did not come into real personal contact with each other nor did they talk frankly to each other. The result was that the Bureau was a failure and the name had to be changed to that of society. Many have asked whether it did any good to meet together and have meals if there was no definite object in view. It was a fair question and the suggestion was that serious minded people should get together in clubs, but the speaker's personal view was that, when clubs were too formal ud" serious-minded, they did not succeed.
He instanced this by his visits to the French Academy of Sciences end the Royal Society in London, both of which had men of letters, serious-minded men, as their mem-berg. At the French Academy there /was a full membership present whe> he arrived. They were smoking, chatting and writing. When the came for the formal meeting, they "kept this up and their noise drowned the words of the speakers. A foreign speaker left in disgust because he did not have enough hearers, Dr. Ting asked his friends in the Society why this state of fairs prevailed and the answer was: "Why should we pay attention? We can't understand the speaker and don't know what he is talking about, Anyhow, we can sce what he says Dr. Ting left France with the session that France wat rot vious-minded enough and was quite sure that conditions at the Royal Society were different. When he attended, there was a tea party and, members from all over the country were present. The te was in one room and. the meeting was to have beet ing one. When the meeting arrived, there were only 11] out of 300 members, who went into the meeting room, these the chairman, the sceretar lecturers, and three foreigners, meeting was held and when over Dr. Ting eked a Jcome here to xee cur fri and to take tea. object. We can see wh jer says in print to-morrow." that was the reason why he {the opinion that such a club a+ the Union Club, without the formality of a bureau or a enciety, was better (Hear! Hear!") 1e. members [could meet together on equal footing. A talk frankly, settle arguments and away with misunderstanding, as they could not otherwise The Union Club was work in bringing for Chinese: together and he would continue. That everybody wanted.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.