May 28.
Mr, A. W, Burkill leaves Shang~ hal to-day for England by way of Siberia, It is an adventure which has often happened to him in the course of his long career China. Yet this journey is different, as the advertisements aay, In the last few -weeks, Mr. Burkill has been undergoing the process of receiving farewell tributes. That is not an unusual experience in this hospitable place which Is apt to seize on even less notable personal movements for the sake of staging a discreet combination of conviviality and oratory.
But Mr, Burkill's present departure constitutes a definite severance of ties of several decades' standing. He will, it is hoped, find occasion, sooner o later, to revisit his old haunts, but he will come 'a8 a distinguished visitor and not as a Shanghailander on the active list, So the farewell tribute is due.
It is more: it is deserved. Fortunately there is no need to burden Mr, Burkill's modesty with the recapitulation of his achievements and labours in Shanghai and for Shanghai, with which his family has an association going back, through his father and grandfather to 1857, His services to the Shang-hal Munteipal Council, as a Member for a short period, for much Tonger as a kindly Peshwa at the Annual Meetings of Ratepayers, as an independent scrutator of public utility enterprises and as Chairman of the Recreation Ground Trust, are well known and have been highly appreciated. As for his support and assiduous guidance of Shanghai's great sporting institutions such as the Race Club, the Rugby Union Football Club. the Paper Hunt Club—are they not written large in the faithful chronicles of this city?
So much of Shanghai has centred round the activities in which Mr.
Burkill has taken the leading part—whether they be concerned with business, public administration, sport or charity—that his departure must leave a gap in the very fullest sense of the term. He may have' gathered, from the various functions lately held in his honour, something of the esteem and affection which he has inspired here.
His leadership has been com~ pounded of the right mixture of persuasion and command. And he has never shirked the display of firmness which all good leaders ships—long Joffices acquired mediaeval signi-Jfcance. Politically Mr. Burkill has been strongly entrenched in conjservatism but conservatism of the reasonable type. He has adhered to Principles "of good, citizenship and applied them with single minded directness to his dealings with the various nationalities which go to form the community of Shanghai. As the times have changed, he has managed to move Jwith them, not too stiffly to be ridiculous and not too exuberantly ito create doubt of the sincerity of tuis conviction. Tt may, therefore, Ibe asserted that the respect which Ihe enjoys among his own people is shared by those other nationalities with whom he has come into contact. He has refused to wear Luis heart upon his sleeve and yet, Jas many would testify, no-one has focken more ready than he to give the unobtrusive helping hand Jwhen distress or difficulty demanded.
The legacy which he leaves to tuis community in Shanghai is one which his diffidence would, perhaps, [be disposed to disclaim. It comes from his outstanding sense of Past. citizenship in the due reconcilement of strong British character istles with the day-to-day require~ ments of international thought in this international city. He has endeavoured to preserve the standards of his own nation in business, in public affairs and in sport While impressing them vigorously on his own community almost as matter of discipline, he has not iven them a didactic emphasis to other nationals. In his persistent labours for the welfare of the British troops and other servicemen in Shanghai and in such activities as recently typified in his chairmanship of the Jubilee Entertainments Committee, he has shown his belief in British leadership there. He has set British Shanghalanders a good example of service, spite of his manifold preoccupations. It was characteristic of him that, while he was busily Jengaged in the various details of the Jubilee celebrations, he found time on the great day itself to drop personal note of congratulation to the staff of one of his companies Jon its specially effective illumination of its premises. That was the spirit of the former rugger captain, well aware of the value of rare commendation given in season to a really sound piece of work. [Leaders go and others fill their places. Mr. Burkill will be the last man to believe that worthy success sors cannot be found to carry on his traditions. These are days when youth deserves to have its chance and perhaps a troubled Jworld will be the better for the change. But this much can be said: Mr. Burkill has been no Olympian Taipan. He has not distained to show the technique of his ascendency He has won the confidence of young men by taking them into his confidence. So they have every ground for trusting to his methods adapted may be to the changing conditions—in order successfully to maintain the institutions from which he now severs active connection. The best tribute they can pay him will be to keep, as he has Jdone, a lively faith in the future Jof Shanghai and in the part which their community can continue to play in its development and greater progress. And when he returns for that fleeting visit of dignity with out responsibility may he see that they have paid that tribute faithfully and well.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.