It was announced some time ago that the dedication of the National Headquarters- Building of the Young Men's Christian Associations at 20 Museum Road would take place on April 12. The committees on dedication are able to announce now that the Hon. Chas, R. Crane, United States Minister to China, the Hon. Chengting T. Wang, lately Delegate Plenipo-tertiary to the Peace Conference, Dr. Po Ling-chang, President of Nankai University, Tientsin, the Hon. C.F, Hsu, Commissioner of Foreign Affairs, Shanghai, and cther friends who were asked to take part in the dedication service have all kindly accepted the invitation.
The corner stone of this national building, which has just been completed, was laid on June 4, 1919, The history of the building, however, dates back much earlier. In 1910 Mr. F. 8. Brockman, then General Secretary of the National Committee, called the attention of the International Committee of North America to the need of a national headquarters building for the Association movement in China. Tu October of the same year Mr. William H. Taft, then President of the United States, invited a number of friends of the Association to a conference at the White House at Washington. There Dr. John R. Mott, General Secretary of the International Committee of North America, presented the needs of the Association in both Asia and South America. In_ response his request Miss Helen Miller Gould, now Mrs. F. J. Shepard, subscribed G.$50,000 towards the national headquarters building for China. At about the same time Mr. Charles M. Stimson of Los Angeles gave G.$40,000 to purchase the land for the erection of the building. After this, Chinese friends of the Association, such as ex-President Li Yuan-hung, Dr. Wu Ting-fang, Mr. Tang Shao-yi and many others, also. came forward to assist and contributed large sums of money amounting to about $10,000 Mexican. Later on the International Committee of North America also made a gift of G.$30,000 towards the fund.
The national movement, which will be directed from this national building, was incorporated by the mistry of Interior in Peking in the First Year of the Republic as a Chinese institution with a board of directors, known as the National Executive Committee, composed hinese citizens. The movement humble beginning only 26 rs ago. To-day it has 31 city sociations and 184 student Associations, scattered all over the country. The business to be handled at the headquarters has. grown so rapidly that a large building is required to accommodate it.
This building was completed and taken over from the contractor last January. It has six floors, well equipped with mechanical devices, elevator, automatic—_inter-communicating telephone system, ete
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.