A further telegram was sent on the 1st March asking Dr. Jamieson to come to Hongkong to discuss the situation, and he arrived on the 2nd March. On the 2nd March telegrams were received from the Consulate at Canton that delegates with full powers were coming on the 4th March; and they arrived accordingly.
On the 3rd March it was arranged that the Hongkong Government should not be represented at the conference, but the Government accepted a suggestion from Dr. Jamieson that he should be present in an unofficial capacity. It was further arranged that, in the event of a settlement being arrived at between the shipowners and the seamen, the representatives of the Hongkong Government should subsequently meet the seamen in order to consider any proposals affecting the Government that they might wish to put forward for discussion. The Secretary for Chinese Affairs, Attorney General, and Clerk of Councils were appointed to represent the Government.
The conference between the shipowners and the seamen took place on the 4th March, and it was announced late in the afternoon that a settlement had been reached. It was then arranged that the seamen's delegates would meet the Government's representatives at 7 p.m.
The meeting took place accordingly, but as proceedings were about to commence Mr. R. Sutherland, Chairman of the Shipowners' Committee, brought in for signature the agreement between the shipowners and the seamen which had been concluded verbally and had since been set out in writing by the shipowners. The Government's representatives thereupon withdrew, as the Government was in no way responsible for the agreement. It was reported later in the evening that the delegates were unable to sign the document as worded, while Mr. Sutherland had no authority to alter the wording in any material particular; and so a further meeting between the shipowners and the seamen was arranged for the following morning.
On the 5th March, prior to the meeting, Sir R. Ho Tung approached the Government with an offer which he was prepared to make in order to facilitate a settlement; and he was informed that he was at liberty to convey this offer to such parties as he might think fit. The Government was unable itself to make use of the offer, as it did not wish to intervene in the economic side of the dispute.
The further conference took place on the 5th March, and an agreement was con- cluded and signed in the afternoon.
The Government's representatives thereupon met the seamen's delegates, who put forward the following matters for discussion:-
(a) the re-opening of the Seamen's Union
(b) the question of persons in custody in connection with the strike
(c) the question of banishment of members of the Seamen's Union
(d) a claim by the guild that they should be allowed to send an interpreter to
attend the signing on or off of articles by Chinese seamen,
(e) the collision between Chinese and armed Government forces on the Shatin
Road on the 4th March.
With regard to (a) the Government's representatives referred to the Government's former proclamation regarding the re-opening of the guild, and agreed that a public announcement by the delegates of a complete settlement would meet the conditions then imposed.
In answer to (b) the Government's representatives said that they would ask the Governor to release persons who were held in custody solely on the ground that they were members of the Union. They would inform the Governor that the delegates had raised the question of men imprisoned for offences against the law, but they could hold out no hope of remission of sentence.
In reply to (c) an assurance was given that no officers or members of the Seamen's Union would be banished on the ground of holding office or of membership.
In connection with (d) the Government's representatives were impressed by a statement made by the delegates that ship's articles were written in English only and not in Chinese and that in many cases men signed under the impression that they were
5
-
entitled to various privileges which were refused to them when they went on ship-board. It was agreed that any members of the Union who so desired should be allowed to take with them to the signing on or off of articles an interpreter from the Union; with the proviso that this agreement was not to apply to foreign Consulates. It was further stated that the matter of improving the Government's arrangements for providing an adequate interpretation of articles would be looked into.
The last point (e) was met by a promise that a public judicial enquiry would be held and that the Government would be prepared to consider favourably the giving of compensation in the case of any persons who had been killed or injured.
The delegates thereupon agreed that a settlement satisfactory in every detail had been come to, and they issued a notice to that effect on the same evening.
On the morning of the 6th March the Governor in Council rescinded the Order-in- Council declaring the Seamen's Union to be an unlawful society, and on the same evening the necessary steps were taken to release persons held in custody on the ground of membership of the Seamen's Union, and also a number of other persons who had been detained for further enquiry connection with the general strike.
(Extract from the Hongkong Government Gazette No. 16 of the 10th March, 1922.)
415