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it initiated and pursued by the most unscrupulous methods of coercion and intimidation, not shrinking
even from murder. It had already assumed something
of a political character by virtue of its contribu-
tion to the war-chest of Sun Yat-sen for his Kwang-
si campaign of 1921; and in 1922 it was strong
enough to ignore the possibility of interference by
the Canton Government, · if indeed it could not ac-
and it organized
tually dictate to that Government,
the Hong Kong strike of 1922 from the security of its
base at Canton. The strike of that year, which lasted
about two months, and which for a time paralyzed the
shipping of this port, extended to many other branches
of Labour in addition to the seamen, including for example the household servants of the European popu- lation. It was prosecuted to a result which the Seamen's
Union proclaimed as a "great victory", although it is
open to doubt whether many seamen other than Union
officials have ever realized much advantage from the concessions then made by the employers. The "victory", however, naturally resulted in a great increase in the power of the Union, and its value as a potential weapon was not lost on the Bolshevik conspirators, who about
that time began to be busy in Canton.
3
The confidence of the Seamen's Union in its
own power was unhappily increased by the action of the
Hong Kong Government. On the 1st February, 1922, when
the Seamen's Strike had already lasted for six weeks,
the Union was proscribed by the Governor-in-Council
by notification published in the Government Bazette
of 1st February, 1922. But on the 16th February, the delegates of the Union then in the Colony were officially
informed
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