The arguments which SumscRIBER put forward, in his letter published yesterday, against the sale of that portion of the Cathedral Compound known as the Honan Road lease property deserve every consideration by those who will be called upon to deal with the resolutions which have been proposed for the sale of the property and the purchase of the Cathedral School premises in Kiukiang Road. It is a carefully prepared statement of the financial situation as he sees it, and if his facts are correct,—and there is reason 10 believe they are,—a very good case is made out for retaining the whole of the Cathedral property as it is, ana yet finance the purchase of the school building in a manner which seems'not only prudent but calculated to meet the future needs of he cathedral in a manner in which they have f The point, that if the prospective purchaser of the Honan Road property finds li to be a good investment, it must be assumed that it is equally good for the Cathedral and should be retained, is a good one According to Sumscmmem the financing necessary to purchase the school building should present no difficulties, and on his estimates the money, which he suggests should be borrowed from the banks, could be repaid in a comparatively few years, after which the Cathedral would have Us property intact, and its finances on a thoroughly sound basis. The suggestions which the correspondent has made, it is urged, should be thoroughly investigated for it would be indeed a pity if the cathedral propeHy went through a process of whittling down every time the Cathedral was unfortunate enough to become financially trassed. N is recognized that the scheme as put forward by the Cathedral trustees should of itself put the Cathedral on a sound footing, but no one knows what the future may bring and the development of the precedent established by the original lease of ihe Honan property into an actual sale of it might lead to further changes which might prove deplorable. It is the duty of this generation, to those which preceded it, and {hose to come after, to ensure that this property, so intimately connected with the history of Shanghai, should be preserved in its entirety.
That should also be the answer to those other enthusiasts who favour the bodily removal of the Cathedral to some site out west r to the residential areas. There is a al to be said for the doctrine that ch should go to the people it desires serve, but that does not mean that cathedrals should be moved around with every fluctuation in the residential habits of a city's population. The Bubbling Well Chapel seems adequately to serve the needs of people living in the western district and it is a matter of speculation whether, if the Cathedral were moved out westwards, the attendance at services would be any greater than the total of the present attendances at both places. Even if there were larger attendances the/question would still remain as to whether the increase justified so'important a change as has been suggested. It needs to be pointed out, however, that if there were any certainty that the Cathedral could render vastly better service to the community by any such move it would be a strong argument in support of the suggested change, but as there is no such cer-fainty the greatest caution is necessary in making any decision with regard to it.
But apart from these considerations there is still another why the Cathedral should be maintained on its present site. In the first. pace it is not really inconveniently situated, and attendance at it requires no more effort on the part of worshippers than they take every day in going from their homes to their offices, or the central shopping district. Further the disappearance of the fresh green lung which the Cathedral grounds provide in the heart of this part of the city, would, apart from historical associations, be regretted. It may be argued that Shanghai is provided with plenty of air space throughout the whole width of the Whangpoo. That is but the compound presents a pleasant wratifring even to those who merely pass it by. To sum up, there are plenty of reasons why these attempts to tinker with ihe Cathedral property should be stopped. SusscmmrR has clearly indicated one means by which the financial difficulties of the Cathedral,—and they do not appear really to be very big—could be met. Doubtless if his scheme is not feasible—and there is nothing to suggest that,—other schemes could be forthcoming, and it and whatever others there may be should be closely investigated before the present proposed plan is adopted.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.