On Monday there was issued on behalf of the Trustees and Vestry of Holy Trinity Cathedral an appeal for $100,000 in order to eliminate outstanding deficits; and a committee, consisting of. Messrs. C. D. Longhurst, G. E. Marden, and H.C.B. Way, has been appointed for the purpose of raising the required sum before the end of the year. This appeal naturally follows upon the defeat of the proposal, earlier in the year, to sell a portion of the Cathedral property. As the committee in their circular letter state: "The necessity for this appeal can be given quite briefly: the whole community, no less than our subscribers, have shown that no sale of any part of the Cathedral compound will be tolerated; the cost of upkeep and the administrative expenses are constantly rising due to the depreciation of local currency and the continual rise in local costs; whilst income from subscribers and other sources is not increasing to a degree commensurate with the increase in expenses." It may as well be admitted that the arguments in favour of the proposal made in September last to sell a portion of the Cathedral compound appealed to quite a large number of people, though fortunately popular sentiment carried the day and preserved the property intact.
Nevertheless money has to be raised if the Cathedral is to continue to function as it should, and there is a very definite responsibility laid upon those who defeated the proposal to make sure that the finances of the Cathedral shall be maintained, and that its staff, a particularly small one, shall be fully equipped to carry on the important work which it is doing. The Cathedral serves the spiritual needs of a large community, its historic associations should endear it to all Shanghailanders, and it would be a thousand pities if its usefulness were in any way impaired by the lack of funds. The committee are not asking for a very large sum. Doubtless support will be forthcoming from those more blessed with this world's goods than the average, but it is eminently desirable that everyone, who possibly can, should contribute, for it is not only the amount that matters but the demonstration of solidarity which lengthy lists of subscribers afford.
In these days of stress and suffering the Church looms larger.in the mind of the masses than during happier times. It should not be the case, but, humanity being what it is, that is what occurs. To the Church many men and women turn for comfort and inspiration in times'of danger and distress, and they unfailingly find that for which they are in search. It is but natural, therefore, _that the Church when it also encounters difficulties should expect assistance. If the appeal were based upon nothing higher than gratitude for services rendered the case of the Cathedral would indeed be a strong one. But there are other reasons why this movement to raise funds to clear it of debt should comment itself to subscribers. Not the least of those is that it is highly undesirable that those. having the work of the church in their care should be impeded either from lack of adequate funds with which to carry on, or by the continual knowledge of the existence of a growing debt. While some people profess to believe that a church in debt is likely to be more healthy than one not so incommoded, because it tends to greater activity, there are others who insist that a church should never be indebted.
Best opinion leans towards the second view. It is realized that the number of demands which are made upon charitable purses is nowadays very great. But it must be insisted upon that this is not a plea for charity, but a request that the community which the Cathedral serves should see that it is enabled to carry on its work with the utmost efficiency. The appeal, therefore, is also based upon the duty of the people availing themselves of the services of the Cathedral, whether regularly or not, to share in the maintenance of a particularly useful institution. The sum required is not large. The community appealed to is not poverty-stricken, and it should be possible to secure the $100,000 by the end of this month. Better still if it can be raised by Christmas, for it would afford a timely means of recognizing the great value of the Cathedral workers' efforts, and at the same time demonstrate public appreciation of what has been done in the past, and what will be possible in the future once the Cathedral is free of debt. It is for these reasons that readers are earnestly requested to respond t the appeal as liberally as possible, eliminate outstanding deficits and place the Cathedral's finances on a sound footing. Members of the Church of England, and others who avail themselves of the Cathedral owe it to themselves that Holy Trinity should be relieved of the indignity of debt, ahd that the institution should stand freed of all encumbrance.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.