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64 CHINA MISSION YEAR BOOK.such a plan for such a school could not succeed. As tothe other department, which has been carried on inShanghai for the last eight years, that of instruction inforeign languages, there is no need for Governmentsupport, but when it is borne in mind that there is avery large number of similar schools, both underGovernment auspices and under control of differentmissions, it is at once apparent that at least there is nogreat necessity for the Institute to continue this form ofeducational work. For establishing any other schoolthat would be high-grade and successful, there would beneeded either Government patronage or larger financialassistance from some source than the Institute is blessedwith at the present time. Therefore, owing to myabsence for a year from Shanghai, and the lack ofGovernment support, it was decided at the last regularSemi-Annual Meeting that the class-room work of theInstitute be for the present abandoned, in order to givegreater facility for other departments of the Instituteplan.In thus making this statement of facts, I desire totestify to the kindly attitude of the personnel of theBoard of Education. Last summer each of the twoVice-Presidents, Yen Hsiu and Pao Hsi, contributed$100, and just as we now go to print, the President,Grand Secretary Jung Ching, sends us a cheque for$200. We are confident that some of our suggestions onthe educational problem will yet bear fruit.Personally, I am very grateful for the experienceI have had in direct class-room work and for theacquaintance with very many students who have cometo us for instruction from upwards of thirteen provinces.There has been no doubt in my own mind that such awork has been one of importance in the past. At thetime of its initiation, nearly all the schools in Shanghaiof good standing were in connexion with the differentMissions. Our constituency has been almost entirelyfrom among the non-Christian families, and the large

WORK FOR THE HIGHER CLASSES. 65majority of the students have come from other placesthan Shanghai. At presentit would be difficult toattract students from a distance, unless we had a largerand better-equipped staff of teachers than provided forin other schools, and unless we had more money at ourdisposal for the maintenance of such a type of educational work. At the close of the last term we were verymuch pleased with the kindly feeling that was shown bythe students in attendance, who were to leave for otherschools to complete their education. Regrets for thetemporary abandonment of our educational work wereexpressed by teachers and students and by Chinesemembers of the Institute. I deem it, however, a wisemove in thus turning from the close attention of classroom work, averaging seven hours a day, to otherdepartments of work more in consonance with the mainintent of the Institute plan, and far more important andindispensable during this period of transition in thesocial and political life of this great Empire.Turning now to the more positive aspects of thework as contemplated in the change which has beenmade, I would emphasize the fundamental principle onwhich the Institute has been founded, and for the consummation of which we should direct all our energiesin the future. This principle is one of the harmonybetween Chinese and foreigners, and between Christiansand non-Christians living in China, for the special welfare of China and the Chinese people, but also seekingto give benefits and assistance to legitimate foreigninterests. The Institute, therefore, is the one joint stockcompany in China in which Chinese and foreigners areon an equal basis, have equal responsibilities, and areequally benefited by such cooperation. The barriersthat exist between the East and the West are to bebroken down through the process of larger mutual appreciation. This is a work full of difficulty, but inspite of the difficulty we have gladly undertaken thework for nearly thirty years. We have been willing to

WORK FOR THE HIGHER CLASSES. 65majority of the students have come from other placesthan Shanghai. At presentit would be difficult toattract students from a distance, unless we had a largerand better-equipped staff of teachers than provided forin other schools, and unless we had more money at ourdisposal for the maintenance of such a type of educational work. At the close of the last term we were verymuch pleased with the kindly feeling that was shown bythe students in attendance, who were to leave for otherschools to complete their education. Regrets for thetemporary abandonment of our educational work wereexpressed by teachers and students and by Chinesemembers of the Institute. I deem it, however, a wisemove in thus turning from the close attention of classroom work, averaging seven hours a day, to otherdepartments of work more in consonance with the mainintent of the Institute plan, and far more important andindispensable during this period of transition in thesocial and political life of this great Empire.Turning now to the more positive aspects of thework as contemplated in the change which has beenmade, I would emphasize the fundamental principle onwhich the Institute has been founded, and for the consummation of which we should direct all our energiesin the future. This principle is one of the harmonybetween Chinese and foreigners, and between Christiansand non-Christians living in China, for the special welfare of China and the Chinese people, but also seekingto give benefits and assistance to legitimate foreigninterests. The Institute, therefore, is the one joint stockcompany in China in which Chinese and foreigners areon an equal basis, have equal responsibilities, and areequally benefited by such cooperation. The barriersthat exist between the East and the West are to bebroken down through the process of larger mutual appreciation. This is a work full of difficulty, but inspite of the difficulty we have gladly undertaken thework for nearly thirty years. We have been willing to

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