a large number of associations and societies representing a complete cross-section of the Colony and an overwhelming majority of its population. (A complete list is given at Appendix I). On 18th May a group of businessmen in the Colony opened a fund for the higher education of the children of Police officers which in a fortnight reached a total of $3 million, an extraordinary acknowledgment by the people of the debt they owed the Police. In the face of this massive and, to them, clearly unexpected demonstration of opposition to confrontation, the communists turned to an attempt to display their strength by a succession of work stoppages.
49. During the preceding days there had been persistent rumours of impending stoppages and during the disturbances some bus and lorry drivers had stopped work in sympathy with the demonstrators. From 23rd May onwards there was to be a wave of stoppages as a form of protest against the Government's refusal to accept the com- munist demands. They affected transport and utility companies, a few textile companies and the staff of some Government departments. In most cases they were planned as token stoppages only some incon- venience was caused but it was not insurmountable nor was it lasting.
50. The main effect was on the transport companies. Employees of the China Motor Bus Co., who had been aggrieved by the arrest of three of their colleagues the previous day, stopped work on 23rd and 24th May. Inspite of considerable intimidation this stoppage was not fully effective and some buses continued to run. The Hong Kong Tramway Company had a reduced number of trams on the evening of the 23rd and on the 24th but by the 25th the numbers had returned almost to normal. Kowloon Motor Bus workers, who were among the most militant of all, staged a stoppage on the morning of the 24th and, armed with iron bars, prevented loyal crews from taking buses from the garages. This stoppage was called off at 9 a.m. after discussions with the management and, although many buses carried inflammatory posters, thereafter normal services remained in operation. Communist employees of the two ferry companies confined themselves to brief token stoppages, the Star Ferry for one hour on the evening of 25th May and the Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry for three hours on the early morning of 28th May.
51. These were not 'strikes' in the ordinary sense of the word as they did not arise from a genuine industrial dispute; they were purely a political manoeuvre. In a meeting with officials of the China Motor
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