On the occasion of the farewell dinner to Sir Herbert Phillips, given by the British Chamber of Commerce, the China Association and the British Residents' Association, Mr. H. E. Arnhold, one of the speakers, announced the gift by himself and his brother of $25,000 for the purpose of commencing an endowment fund for the B.R.A. Since then an appeal has been issued to, British firms asking that the scheme shall be supported. While it may seem a strange time to ask for support for such a proposal in view of the other and pressing demands which are being made upon Britons In China, it is impossible to refrain from giving the proposal the warmest support. As Mr. H. E. Arnhold said in his speech, sooner of later the war in China will be over, and an economic blizzard will probably strike Shanghai, making it difficult to raise funds which will be necessary for the purpose of maintaining the London Organization which may become so necessary when the questions regarding the part Britons in the Far East are to play in the reorganization of China come again to be more freely discussed than, owing to other preoccupations at home, they' are at present, The manner in which British interests have been represented in London during past years has been wholly satisfactory, and history shows that many and varied questions have been brought to the attention of the Government and Parliament in a manner which has secured greater consideration of them than was before the case.
It is essential that the British case in China should be continually before British legislators, and for that purpose the most imperative requisite is the accumulation of sufficient funds to permit of this being done. During the last war a similar movement was set afoot for an endowment fund in connection with the British Chamber of Commerce, and the suggestion that a similar thing should be done for the B.A. has about it very considerable merit. Of this Britons who will be asked to subscribe may rest assured; irrespective of how these hostilities in China are brought to a conclusion, the settlement of present outstanding questions, and the solution of other problems which must inevitably arise will become matters of supreme importance, if British trade, and interests in this country are to be adequately protected, The effective representation which has already been established in London will need to be continued to make sure that the voice of Britons in China shall be properly heard in Parliament and Whitehall, and self-interest demands that preparations should be made now against the time when such activities have to be resumed. The present seems a strange time for putting forward such an appeal, but whereas some have been hit by what has happened during the past two-and-a-half years others have done well. It is suggested that all who can should freely support this proposed endowment fund as the best means of ensuring the continuance of the good work which has been done, and the proper protection of those British interests in China which have been built up during almost a century of honourable and laborious industry. It must be-remembered that those who stand the best chance of receiving assistance are those who are prepared to help themselves, and the sooner Britons in China are put in a position best to defend their own interests the more reason is there to believe that they will receive necessary protection in full measure.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.