For the coming year St. David's Society will have as its president Judge Penrhyn Grant Jones [whom " special tribute -has been paid by ignoring the fact that, dur-ting his term of office, he bably have to watch' over the lar "Through Foreign Eyes" replied qreday thoughtful article temperately to some of the "paints raised in the previous week. by a lively photographic record of Chinese impressions of the foreigner's attitude towards the people of this country. Evidence of. the improve: ment which is now discernible in Sino-Foreign relationships is surely forthcoming in the mere fact that delicate subject of that kind can be treated with so much candour, Moreover both articles here the impress of a fervent desire to eliminate in-Aluences which were considered
writer of yesterday's ight sort of unde
most, a keen sympathy with the ice sh unconsciously al-showed, ideal' of Sino-Foreign friendship, It is probably correct to say that most, of the misunderstanding which exists is to be found among those who ne tually come little into contact with other than their own communi. tes, in the social sense. Obviously racial differences must make complete contact from every possible point of view impracticable, " Nor is it wise to put much reliance on well-meaning but often, illedirected, movements of the "get together"? kind,
the right fines has been made by recent years more' progress on encouraging reunions over inter in which both parties share techn al, professional or cultural bonds. The success of the professional and Jeumed societies in extending the horizon of international understanding is to be noted in that regard, It is inevitable that both for-sand Chinese should
shibboleths and prejudices. Too handicapped by the tenacity of old often among forel ers, ple, there is a readiness to cling to time-honoured but intellectually-discredited dicta. by which'the whole philosophy of western contacts with the East used to be summarised, It not sulfliciently recognised what changes can be. wrought by the process of education, by the impact. of currents of opinion from the out side world, by the march of econo-mie and political events elsewhere, by the rapid increase in the moans Of communication and by modern invention generally. Frequently the foreigner in China seems to the travelled Chinese to be blissfully unaware of important developments Tehieh have falcon place—not "in but in Europe, or perhaps, in America, And to foreigners used to associating with Chinese—not in any foreed fashion: but in. the natural round of social obligation—it seems occasionally ludicrous to hear other foreigners who, from choice or lack of opportunity, have remained jsloof from Chinese contacts (except perhaps through the usual com-Dradore channels) hold forth in cmuzingly dogmatic vein on the \various ingredients which go to form the Chinese character. Dr; Wu Lien Club—an organisation which is doing valuable service to Sino-Foreign friendship—illustrated this idiosya-Jerasy. It is matched, of course, by a similar tendency to generalis on the other side, But one of the most satisfactory portents of the moment is the ineveasing recognition of the need for dissipating these misconceptions, Nef so. long ago. they would have been merely the subject of despairing resignation and. left at that. In other words. Sino-Foreign intercourse is developing on less artificial lines and unreality 1s becoming more and more confined to Pr0- those who refuse to step over the racial boundary, <2. 1.ts\ tain
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.