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28. Memorial services held in commemoration of the death of Koo Tsung Hung the formulation to the Japanese mill owners of certain demands by the strikers, a threat to cut off the water and electric supply of the foreign settlement, the distribution of inflammatory pamphlets and handbills urging the farmers and labourers of China to unite, the ill-treatment of Chinese suspected of Japanese sympathies or of holding counsels of moderation are illustrations of the methods used in order to work up the feelings of an excitable and credulous Oriental mob and so inevitably to bring about a dangerous anti-foreign outbreak.
29. The first hint received by the authorities of the International Settlement as to what might occur may be said to have been conveyed by the attitude of the meeting convened by the Shanghai Students Union on the 27th May in the Tung Tuh Medical School to discuss ways and means to oppose the proposal of the Shanghai Municipal Council to enact new bye-laws relative to printed matter and an increase in wharfage dues. Yuin Dai-ying, a well-known Chinese Communist, who is a teacher in the Shanghai University, stated at this meeting that, apart from the efforts of the Municipal Council to enact new, obnoxious bye-laws, which should be strenuously opposed, the existence of unjust bias in favour of oppression among the members of that body had been illustrated recently in the arrest by the police of students and others who were endeavouring to help the Chinese victims of the brutality of the Japanese capitalist cotton-mill owners. Amongst the resolutions then discussed and passed was one that measures be taken to secure the release of the students at present in custody in case they are not at liberty by the 30th May."
30. On the 28th and 29th May the officials of the student organisations and of the labour unions were very active, in the Chinese districts situated outside the settlement limits strike pay being distributed, intimidation being resorted to and a flood of pamphlets and cartoons broadcasted. Resolutions, more particularly anti- Japanese, were passed at numerous meetings. On the 30th May some forty students belonging to the Vung Chi University and others from the South China University called at the Labour Union and stated that they would make open-air speeches every where in order to call people's attention to the cruelty displayed by Japanese in the recent trouble and to the necessity of boycotting their goods.
31. The proceedings of the Mixed Court on the morning of Saturday, the 30th May, were probably largely responsible for the suddenness and violence of the rioting later in the day. It should be remembered that some half-dozen students had been held in custody for having participated in the mill riots, and the fact of their having been detained instead of released on bail, which they were unable to find, was apparently the first spark which set alight the anger of their comrades. When the six students appeared in court on the 30th May before a Japanese assessor and a Chinese magistrate, a large crowd of students assembled outside the court to await the result. The accused were again remanded and were each allowed 100 dollars bail; but, being unable to provide this sum, they had perforce to remain in custody. Their removal to Louza police station, which is situated about one mile from the Mixed Court building, was the occasion for the outburst which had such unfortunate results: for when the accused were removed from the court, many of the students outside followed on foot to the Louza police station, apparently with the intention of rescuing their comrades.
32. At 12-15 P.M., the Commissioner of Police, Mr. McEuen, who was about to leave police headquarters on his way to the club, heard by telephone that a pro- cession of students was being formed outside the international boundary, probably with a view to demonstrating in the settlement, but he did not regard this as anything more than an ordinary student demonstration, so that at 1 15 he drove out to the Kiangwan racecourse, about five miles away, and returned to the Shanghai race course in the middle of the town at 2:30 P.M. At 1-55 P.M. a report was received at Louza police station that students were making speeches of an anti-Japanes nature and carrying flags with anti-foreign inscriptions at various points on the Nanking Road, and refused to move on or disperse when ordered to do so by the police Inspector Everson in charge of Louza police station, and a party of European constables, proceeded to investigate and arrested three men, one of whom was actually making a speech to a crowd about 50 yards west of the station, with two others standing by waving flags. On arrival at the station, followed by: crowd of about 150, these students were placed in the charge room and admitted that the speeches were anti-Japanese and that they had arranged with students of other colleges to hold meetings at various points in the settlement to protest about the killing of a Chinese workman by Japanese. The three men arrested were
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charged and the crowd told to leave the station. This they refused to do, and they were therefore locked up. A few minutes later Inspector Everson proceeded to Tibet Road, where similar meetings were in progress, and arrested another student carrying an anti-Japanese banner. On being arrested one of these students stated that he did not know that he was forbidden to make anti-foreign speeches in the foreign settlement. On their arrest a large crowd again followed to the station, refused to leave and were taken into custody. At this stage it appears that Mr. McEuen, who was in the Shanghai racecourse, hearing that there was a large student demonstration, telephoned to Inspector Everson to enquire if he wanted any assistance and was informed in reply that Inspector Everson considered that he had sufficient force at his disposal to cope with the situation. This was about 2:30 P.M. At 2-45 the first act of violence occurred on Tibet Road, Police-Constable Stevens being knocked down by the crowd. The ring-leaders were arrested, and on arrival at the station many of those following forced their way into the charge room, that is to say, the crowd pushed their way down a cul-de-sač, about 60 yards long and 8 yards wide, leading from Nanking Road itself into the centre of Louza police station. There was a considerable hubbub going on. Inspector Everson estimated that there were at least 100 in the charge room and 300 outside between the charge room and Nanking Road. Orders were given to clear the police station, in which were stored some 2,000 rounds of ammunition and a quantity of police arms, automatic pistols and carbines, these being in an open room immediately opposite the charge room, In the confusion the men charged with the assault against Police-Constable Stevens escaped. There were about thirty available policemen, composed of Chinese, Sikhs and Europeans, in the station at the time. With this force the charge room was cleared and the crowd pushed down the alley as far as the entrance of the Nanking Road. Inspector Everson, with about fifteen policemen, then continued slowly to push the crowd further away down the Nanking Road, the police meanwhile urging them to disperse, while he left some twenty police officers as a reserve inside the lane (cul-de-suc) leading to the police station itself. The police succeeded in pushing the crowd about 100 yards to the corner of Kwangsi Road, on which stands the town hall. Here, apparently, tramcars were blocked at the corner and the crowd made a stand, refusing to go back any further. The crowd was very menacing and for the first time shouted: Down with the foreigners!" "Kill the foreigner Thinking they might turn at any moment, Inspector Everson stood up on the running-board of a near-by motor-car in order to see over the top of the crowd, and as a result of his bird's eye view of the situation he determined to retreat to the police station. The crowd was now beyond control and the European constables were being very severely handled. The police were still using batons and sticks freely, and Inspector Everson himself was still only armed with a stick. At this stage Inspector Everson observed a large procession of more students, which he estimated at about 2,000, bearing down on the rear of the 300 or so students which he was holding in check. The crowd now developed a very ugly spirit and advanced on the police in an attempt to wrest the fire arms in the possession of the foreign members of the force. Everson and his small party of police, which had already been very roughly handled, was gradually driven back to the entrance of the alley which leads to the Louza police station, off the Nanking Road: fearing that the mob might succeed in rushing his police station and loot the arms which it contained and liberate the prisoners, he felt that the time had come when extreme measures must be taken. He therefore called out the twenty policemen in reserve and formed a half circle round the entrance of the alley. Then, grasping a carbine from one of the policemen, he called out in Chinese to the crowd, "Stop, or I fire"; at the same time indicating by gestures that the police were about to fire. Approximately ten seconds elapsed and the inspector gave the order to fire. This occurred at 3.37 P.M. As a result, four of the crowd were killed outright, five subsequently succumbed to their wounds and fourteen were wounded, all being Chinese. The mob immediately dispersed.
33. The next day found Shanghai an armed camp. The volunteers were mobilised and naval reinforcements were on their way to protect the interests of the different foreign nationals dwelling in the International Settlement as well as in the neighbouring French Concession which, it should be noted, remained unaffected throughout this crisis.
34. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce declared a general strike, and it began generally to be realised that the disturbances of the 30th May had by now com. pletely lost their original character of a mere student demonstration and were
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