The annual general meeting of; ratepayers on Thursday afternoon at the Town Hall, presided over by Sir Everard Fraser, K.c.a.
M. Consul General and senior consul, was remarkable for the defeat of the Counci] on two or three of the most important matters before! the meeting. The special meeting! which was to have preceded it had to be adjourned owing to lack of} the necessary quorum. All the councillors were present on the platform, supporting the chairman of the Council, Mr. A. Brooke Smith.
After the passage of the formal resolutions appointing the chairman of the meeting and the seeretary, Mr. Brooke Smith moved the: adoption of the report and accounts for the year ending December 31, 1990.
In doing so he said that elements; of unrest and disturbance were present throughout the greater part of 1920, and at times caused much anxiety, but happily on no single, occasion did they become so ac-: centrated. as to disturb the peace; and good order of the Settlement! to the extent of necessitating a call: upon the Defence Forces. China's' political horizon xémained as heavily clouded as ever, and the most far seeing and op tic must have great difficulty in catching even a glimpse of that silver lining, which, we know to exist beyond. Yet he' was confident that better times were in store, and that before China lies! a future full of promise.
Regarding the creation of a Chin-! ese Advisory Committee, it had been necessary to impress on the Chinese Ratepayers' Association that it could not seek to arrogate to itself through its Directorate or Business Committee any rights in the administration or conduct of Chinese affairs in the Settlement or in taking charge of Chinese interests vis-a-ris the Municipal Government. The Regulations of the Association had recently been amended and the nominations submitted for the Advisory Committee had been sent forward to the Consular Body.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.