Leslie are both in favour of more publicity. Of the other British candidates at the recent election, only one went on record as being! against the admission of the Press, and tha. candidate failed to secure election. we are going to try secret diplomacy we are going to lose, be-lease throughout the world secret diplomacy is distrusted, discredited and damned. But what, gentlemen, after all, is the reason' underlying! this genoval desire for publicity. Te is the feeling that our cause, the cause of the foreign residents, and indeed the cause of the whole of]
Shanghai, is being ignored, if not our diplomats, at least by our Home Governments; a feeling that what we say does not count. The reply of the Home Government is that we do not say anything. Recently a well-known member of this com munity was interviewing in the Foreign Office in London the gentle. man whose particular duty it is to Took afte affairs in China, and our friend was asked "Whom do you represent?" and regretfully he had to admit that he represented no one Dut himself. The immediate reply given {o him was "How can you expect us to know what the residents of Shanghai think or want, when their Council_mectings are held in private and there is no Association of residents or ratepayers which makes their views known to their]
Tome Governments?"
Gentlemen, this is a Up from the! horse's mouth, which we cannot, afford to ignore and T hope that the natural corollary to the admission of the Press to Council meetings will be the formation of a Foreign Rate-_ payers Association with a strong representative International Com. mittee and that every foreign ratepayer and resident in Shanghai will feel it his duty to join.
Such an Association would support and ce-operate with the Council to the fullest extent and in case of necessity could call a meeting of, ratepayers and give such forcible expression of our views that our diplomatic representatives and Home Governments would be compelled to} take notice.
We hear a great deal about the Shanghai mind, but what it is essential that the Foreizn Governments and the world should know the real mind of Shanghai upon matters which concern us s0 deeply.
A year ago, at this very meeting, you listened to a very eloquent, speech.by Mr. 0. M. Green in regard] to the scandal of the Provisional just, and your applause showed ly your agreement with ws. One year has elapsed, stead of an improvement, matters have gone from bad to worse, and when just over a month' ago we learned that even this Provisional Court—with the small] amount of protection it gave to foreign interests—had been abandoned without Shanghai being consulted, I think I may correctly, Janalyze your feelings when T say that we felt that one by one these bulwarks and foundations which are so ential to the security of our civie fife were being taken from us without our knowledge, without our!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.