Dr. John C, H. Wu, president of the Provisional Court made a short speech in which he fully agreed with the tenets of the Society and was happy to see such an organization formed. He congratulated the 'S.M.C. and the Shanghai community having such able leaders as those present who foresaw the need of a prisoners' aid society and he thought that the greatest charity that could be performed for the discharged prisoners was to give them work instead of alms and from his experience in the Provisional Court he knew that many of the men sentence ed there were independent and resented being forced to ask for ancial assistance.
He thought that some of the prisoners might be better regarded in the eyes of God than the judges who condemned them and even than the people present at the meeting "all except. the Rev. Sheppard, which brought loud laughter, He had felt the need of such a Society for some time past and he resented the fact that it had to be started by foreigners whereas the men in need of aid were almost. wholly Chinese. He laid this cond tion to what he characterized as "Chinete indifference" in the past and he felt that with the formation fof the Society it would be found that the Chinese of Shanghai would staunch supporters.
The tentative constitution was then adopted and the committee of 1d elected. It is to be composed rage Messrs. F. W.
Ponto, V, Grosse S. M. Edwards, Rev. G. W. Shop: pard, S, W, Wolfe, George Howell and Miss Abercrombie of the Door of Hope. The Chinese members are: Messrs Kwan, former Chief Magistrate of the Mixed Court, Chun Bing-him, L. T. Yuen, T. Chow, W. B. Leh and Dr. Fong Sec. Mrs. Herman Lin was, also jin order that two ladies member On the motion of Mr. Sheppard and after being seconded by Mr. Edwards, Gen. Macnaghten was then elected president and the meeting adjourned.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.