EB
other men. I pointed this out to Mr. Sung Tsz-man, and during the course of subsequent conversation he appeared to agree that this matter also was at bottom one of compensation, and that therefore from his point of view there was really only one demand to be pressed, namely that of money payment by employers to strikers. Payment such as this can, of course, only be considered as blackmail; nevertheless I believe that most of the Chinese merchants in Hongkong and several British merchants would be prepared to pay blackmail rather than to allow the existing state of things to continue. This is certainly the view of the two Chinese members of the Legislative Council. All official opinion in Hongkong is emphatically against making any such payment and it would be out of the question that the Hongkong Government should be concerned in negotiations for such a payment. Nevertheless, if it should appear that in the last resort a settlement can only be obtained by such payment, and if Hongkong merchants, Chinese and European, prefer to pay the money rather than suffer their present loss of trade, I doubt whether the Hongkong Government would be justified in obstructing a settlement on these lines. The matter has not yet, however, gone far enough for me to give final opinion, and I shall address you further on the subject after Mr. Fletcher's return from Canton. He is due back to-day.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
Governor, &c.