Soothill, of the British Boxer Indemnity Commission, were the guests at a tiffin given in their honour at the Shanghai Clab by the trustees of the Foreign ¥.M.C.A. op Tuesday.
In the course of his address, Lord Willingdon Said that he first came to know the work of the C.A. intimately when he was Governor of Bombay during the war. At that time more than a million men passed through the city of Bombay for war servic and the Government of the Presidency was faced with the problem of giving them as much as possible of a homelike atmosphere. He r2- membered with gratitude the work. that was done by the Princes and people of India in contributing money for the erection of huts and cantonments for this purpose, but when the buildings were completed they were handed over to the Y.M.C.A. who did great service in managing them. He recalled that when practically all the British Y.M.C.A. workers were forced to leave India to go to the front, the American Y.M.C.A. sent men over to look after "Y work, which they managed quite satisfactorily.
Lord Will he had no d uedon farther sai that to interfere in polities or to which might appear to be an in vention in local matters. But he must be allowed to say that in the YMCA. every effort should be made to impress upon the young men the importance of discipline and of law and order. No institution could exist without them.
Government could succeed Which did not provide protection to life He impressed upon hi importance of achieving one's aspirations and following one's ideals by constitutional means, which alone ensured permanent success.
Professor Soothill spoke of his own Y.M.C.A. experiences during the war when he was in charge of the moral and religious department of the "Y" and saw much of its work. He told how much was done by the YM.C.A. for the Chinese who to the west in connexion with the Labour Corps and how the China Association in London raised, £12,000 to be used for huts and canteens for the Chinese at the front. The Chinese interpreters, were given holidays in London, which they enjoyed as the pleasantest period during their stay in Europe. He as well as Lord Willington congratulated th Y.M.C.A. on their enterprise success in Shanghai.
Dean Symons presided and the Horst Smith said grace.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.