Meeting: Reception by Chamber of Commerce At the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday afternoon, the five gentlemen elected to serve as Chinese Advisory Committee to the Shanghai Municipal Council were guests of honour at a reception given by the Shanghai Chinese Ratepayers' Association and other bodies.
Chen Tze-ming, chairman of the Shanghai Commercial Federation and one of the strongest agitators in the recent fight for Chinese representation on the Council, presided. In a short speech of welcome, he said that this was not the time for rejoicing. A great deal of work was to be done and much was expected from the five Chinese ad visers. The successful outcome of the fight for representation, he said, depended upon the energy exerted by the gentlemen who were elected.
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One of the oldest Chinese residents in Shanghai, Ma Hsiang-peh, called upon to speak, told of the regrettable manner in which Chinese had ignored munici: affairs in bygone days. "When I first came to Shanghai after the Taiping rebellion," said Mr. Ma in part, "the Chines: paid no attention to civic affairs. At that time there were only 2% foreign houses in the Yangkingpang district. They wanted police protection, and when they approached the Chinese Government on the matter, Peking, instead of organizing an ' efficient police force, gave the petitioners $150,000 to start their own police force. This is just an illustration to show how inefficient the Chinese Government was at that time, and how little attention they paid to municipal affairs."
Mr. Ma said that foreigners had done "their bit" in building Shanghai up as one of the best places in the universe, and could not be blamed for administering municipal affairs since the Chinese themselves were indifferent in the matter. The speaker concluded by saying that he hoped the Chinese advisers would perform their duty and bring about happiness to everybody concerned.
Replying on behalf of the Advisory Committee, Sung Han-chang said that he and his colleagues already felt the responsibility that devolved on the advisers, but that they would try to do their best in the interests of the Chinese. Mr. Sung's speech, though brief, was very dignified.
Huang Shao-yen, representative of the Labour and Commercial Union, said that he hoped that the Advisory Committee would follow an open policy and in case of difficulties consult with the local organizations. He hoped that they would be concerted in their actions and discuss with each other before
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.