19
card as "Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs."
Mr. Sung explained that the Central Government desired
to reorganise the Seamen's Union with the object of
exercising a greater measure of control over the
activities of its undesirable elements. They were
however handicapped in doing so by the fact that the
majority of seamen of the boatswain, fireman, and
steward class were displaying considerable reluctance
to joining the union. To bring pressure to bear on
them a military man, General Yang Hu, had been appointed
head of the Organising Committee of the Chinese Seamen's
Union. (General Yang Hu 18, of course the Commander of
the Peace Preservation Corps in Shanghai.) He has,
however, been able to make little headway in the matter,
and Mr. Sung, who is concurrently on General Yang's staff,
had accordingly been instructed to invite the co-operation,
through His Majesty's Consulate-General, of Messrs.
Butterfield and Swire, and Jardine, Matheson and
Company, Limited, to induce their crewa to register
themselves as members of the Union. If all the
companies' seamen, he suggested, were union members
the settlement of points of conflict would be greatly
facilitated, to the mutual benefit of all parties, by
direct negotiation with the Union's representatives.
It was not at present proposed to raise the question
officially nor to approach other national interests,
aa these would naturally follow the lead or these two
predominant companies. There was, he added, no
legislation at present in existence to compel Chinese
ships to carry only union crews, but he happened to know
that a law to that effect in respect of river vessels had
been/