A
A
river-steamer companies have been entirely in the
hands of the bolshevized Canton Seamen's Union.
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5. As was to be expected, there has been constant
trouble ever since. The Union, flushed with its success, has exerted its authority in many ways. It has held Bolshevik celebrations on board the Company's steamers not only when at Canton, but even in Hong Kong until
the Hong Kong Government intervened. It has forced the
companies to provide, the crew in each steamer with "social
rooms", really meant to serve as communist "cells". It took a leading part in endeavouring to promote in Hong Kong a thoroughly Bolshevik celebration of the anniversary of the death of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. It staged a lightning
strike on the s.s. "Kinshan" on the 30th March and on
s.s. "Fatshan" yesterday. On both these occasions the
steamer in question had to be brought from Canton to
Hong Kong by, scratch naval and military crews. It
compelled Mr. Wu Hay-tong, owner of s.s. "Sai On" to
dismiss Captain Jenkins, the master of that vessel, in
February last, because he ordered his Chinese "boy", a
member of the Union, who had been grossly insubordinate,
not to be allowed again into the ship's saloon (see
enclosure No. 1 in my secret despatch of the 12th February
6. So long as the bolshevized Canton Government gave its support to the Canton Seamen's Union and tolerated
its unlawful activities, the Company was in no position
to extricate itself from the humiliation of complete
subjection to its own crews. But the coup d'état carried
out by General Li Chai-sum in Canton and elsewhere on Good Friday (14th April) against communists and bol- shevized labour leaders radically changed the situation. The Canton Seamen's Union was one of those against which
General Li