argument of the previous day whereby he showed cause that why the merchants should pay, and I agreed that, from the point of view of the strikers the argument appeared to be thoroughly sound. It led to the logical conclusion that the Cantonese merchants should join in, and also that the British merchants could not be called upon to pay. I then put forward the argument of the Hongkong merchants, which I had presented to Mr. Sung, that the demands of the strikers were nothing more or less than blackmail, and I supported it very fully by the reasons which I had given to Mr. Sung. The merchants' argument appeared to me to be at least as sound as that of the strikers. It was agreed that the position had been fairly put, and that, although it was hardly a case of an irresistible force meeting immovable matter a simile suggested by Mr. Sung-- a solution would not be at all easy.
It was then asked whether the Hongkong delegation of officials and Cerchants would come to Canton. I said that this was now unnecessary. The proposal was made when it was not made-known that the Canton Government were confining themselves to the role of mediators; but it being now apparent that there was no political issue, the Hongkong Government could have nothing to do with any question of payment. The matter was one for the merchants to discuss, if they wished. The Hongkong Government would withdraw the
names of the four merchants which had been put forward in order that it might not be said afterwards that the merchants' hand had been forced by Government nominees. The merchants would choose their own representatives if they so wished. It was agreed that this course was a reasonable one.
An adjournment was then made for lunch at a
restaurant and it was decided that the Council would consider
what I had said and that we would meet again in the evening. In the afternoon Mr. Foo Ping-sheung, Luk King-fo, and a roads engineer took me for a long motor ride all round the city.
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