New Britain herald., 1918-01-30

ISIS true, dccoluliiS
1 10 p0Un Young Chun, Harvard
student, who spoke at meeting Oh
the Commonwealth club last evening
at the Y. M. c. A China's aim is
education, he said His country is
greatly misunderstood because of the
social barriers that have been thrown
up against people from the Occident
and it is moderated by returned
missionaries, Mr.. Chun said. The
millions of Chinese have hope in
America to help lift them out of the
rut and give them footing equal to
| other races and commensurate with
the commercial Importance of the
country.
Mr.. Chun is taking a postgraduate
course at Harvard in preparation for
his return to China, where he will be
employed in the service of the gov
eminent as a supervisor of forestry.
He is a native Of Shanghai and his
early education was secured in China.
Mr.. Chun began his address with
an explanation in regard to the sit
uation of the Chinese people as a
race in the eyes of the world in
general. The Chinese are the most
| misunderstood people on the face of
| the earth because of the fact that
| China has been barred to the outside
world for centuries and the real
Chinese have not been known by the
peoples of other countries because Of
this fact. The general idea of the
Chinese people which has been gath
cred ny the other countries is one
which has been gained through con-
tract with the lower type of Chinese
and as he expressed himself, mot
all Chinese are laundry men,
The missionaries that have gone to
! China have returned with stories Of
| conditions there that are not true
and therefore the belief that China.
| is uncivilized has become the uni
versal idea of all who had no other
! source of knowledge, Mr.. Chun said.
He made the statement that he could
return to China and relate all the
| bad qualities of the United States
| to his people the same way as the
missionaries had done in regard to
| his country. He went on to tell of
| the customs of the Chinese people
| and also described their manner of
! dress and of doing business. He told
| Of the way in which the United
| States was looked up to by the nation
| as a whole and how the country was
being uplifted through the help of
| the American people. Education is
| considered one Of the most importa Mt
| aims in the life of a Chinese and the
| government, realizing this, is sending
| thousands of young people to the
| United States every year for the pur-
| pose of educating them. The meet
| ing was the first held by the Com
| monwealth club this year and was
| ushered in with a banquet which was
| served to the members of the club.
There was an attendance of about
125 people including the friends Of
the members who listened to the re-
ports Of the officers in regard to
previous meetings for the past year.
Secretary E. w. Fay read the min
utes Of the last meeting and the
membership committee reported
total of 33 new members. The lee
ture committee informed the club
| that Mary Boyle O'Reilly had been
secured to deliver an address to the
club in the near future. The lecture
| will cover her experiences in Europe
| She will speak on lone Thousand
Days Behind the Front
| The meeting was brought to a
| close by the members of the club
| after a. vote of thanks was accorded
Mr.. Chun for the able way in which
| he delivered his address.