Outline of Textile Machinists'
Scheme: Offer of Plant for Shanghai Institute The proposal ie csiablish a school in Shanghai for the training of Chinese in the textile industry continues to engage the interest of Sritish and Chinese experts. When the Textile Machinists' Association of Great Britain, some time ago, offered to provide free of charge suitable machinery for the equip= went of a textile school, provided millowners in China were prepared ta support the scheme, the proposal was unanimously aproved by Brit-and Chinese masters, but the; same unanimity has not as yet been achieved in the matter of finance. Support has been promised, but the present period of depression has put rather a check upon this side of the matter, and for the time being it remains in the negotiation re.. It is. possible that the di culty in regard to funds_ will ha overcome by action now being) taken at Home with a view to securing a grant from ihe Boxer Indemnity in support of the scheme. Lieut.-Colonel Dobson, of Messrs. Dobson & Barlow, is engaging the interest of influential members of Parliament and, once the essential importance of the proposal is recognized, the scheme should go rapidly forward to a successful issue.
The provisional scheme is that the school should be established in some central location in "Shanghai, land and buildings to be provided by the millowners and others interested in the industry, and to be vested in a trust composed of an equal number of British and Chinese. Machinery requisite for the proper equipment of the school will be provided by British textile machinery manufacturers, Instruction would be given in cotton spinning, cotton weaving, bleaching and dyeing, and mill management.
has long been realized that, order to secure the most satisfactory results from, and the best development of, the textile industry heve. it is essential that China should be equipped with capable Chinese textile engineers, thoroughly trained, theoretically and practically, in all the details of textile. machinery, as well as in mill management.
It is proposed that the school shall be managed by a, committee consisting of an equal number of British representatives of the manufacturers supplying the machinery and representatives of the Chinese and foreign millowners, the latter to provide for the mainten-anew of the school, guaranteeing an adequate annual income for the first five years. It is estimated that. the annual budget will amount. to between TIs. 30,000 and Tls. 50,000), possibly Jess. but in eas: not an excessive amount in view of the importance of the work to ba undertaken and the advant-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.