He asked the Committee how it was possible to secure rapid progress agricultural methods in a country where two men could not sit down to 2 meal together because of caste restrictions, where it was impossible to get rid'of inferior cattle because Jofa religious convention that all cows, whatever their quality, were sacred, where it was impossible to make proper use of the pig because the ig' was an unclean' animal. 'Those disadvantages which applied to Ind did not exist in China, anu therefore, if the farmer here could be shown how to cultivate his land without the distracting influence of the moneylender, the bandit. and the grain buyer,' @ great advance would be made in the rural development of the country.
Thrift Socteties in Cities Mr. Strickland who, by his presence, was symbolizing an attempt to bring about a reconciliation between St. George and the Dragon, congratulated Shanghai on having a branch of the Royal Society of St. George in its midst, He had to confess that he never before had ithe pleasure of attending such a function and he Crest with "Reformed Hens"
Mr. Strickland, indeed, thought he had been recently represented as desiring 40 introduce reformed hens into China. An ancestor of tis, who sailed with Sebastian Cabot, brought back the turkey from America England, and hence his family crest bore that bird ever since. He was not sure whether he would take back thought that it was not a bad thing a reformed Chinese hen to England that Englishmen occasionally should organize to prove their existence in the world and not leave that form of selt-assertion entirely to other nation alities. But Mr. Strickland wished strongly to refute the idea that his sole concern was with rural recon struction problems, important though they were; ju faci that day he had een Invited to address a company of bankers on the advantages of tonift societies in urban areas. Chinese who found their livelihood in big towns, where all the luxuries and. attrac-
required just as much direction in ons of urban life were present, the ce-operative society Ideal as the farmer in. the interior, and Mr. Strickland felt that there was great. scope for work of that kind in Shanghai. His experience in China, short as it was, had been intensely Interesting. The Chinese farmer was very stout fellow, and if Chinese. properly trained, could be encouraged in memory of his visit here, but he felt that, whether the reform of a ten lay "in its laying more or Teas eggs, such an achievement would not the pleasant. Finally, Mr. Strick= and asked the Committee 40 note that the Universities' China in London. Commitice was desirous of sending out Englishmen to introduce English culture' to China, and he hoped that those who came after him would receive the same attention from the Royal Society of St. George as he had been delighted to receive that day. He believed he could guaranties Ghat all of them, with perhaps one exception, were Englishmen and £0 deserving of the Society's favour.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.