3.
The
Phillips was present throughout the conversation, the substance of
which can be adequately condensed into a very short summary.
Mayor was the spokesman throughout, though he occasionally brought
the Chairman into the picture by mentioning his name or looking to
him for a nod of acquiescence. The Mayor indeed throughout the
visit reminded me of those two lines in Rejected Addresses; "I am
a blessed Glendoveer; 'Tis mine to speak and yours to hear." He
began by emphasising the fact that the Chairman and he were
visiting Hong Kong not merely as Chairman and Mayor but as the
persons deputed by the Generalissimo to return my call on him and
Madame Chiang Kai Shek. The Generalissimo had told them to make
three points. The first was the usual tender of compliments to
myself, with an emphasis on the value of personal acquaintance as
a means to cooperation.
cooperation. The second was the need for Britain and
China to maintain a united front in the East. I was happily able
to nip any lengthy development of this theme in the bud by quoting
from the previous day's newspaper report of the King's Speech at
the opening of Parliament: Britain's policy continued to be based
on the League of Nations, and there was no chance whatever of her
entering into any form of alliance with China. I was glad to
observe that this answer appeared to have been expected, for the
Mayor hastened on to the third point which was the need for
economic cooperation or, in other words, for British capital in
the development of South China. The Mayor was now in his element,
for he has been Vice-Minister of Railways under the Central
Government since 1929 and gave me the impression of intending to
combine that position with his mayoral office in Canton.
he is or will be empowered to do so or not I do not know, but he
proceeded to adumbrate a number of large railway projects which
appeared to have one significant feature in common - a
presidential place for himself on their managements (with no
doubt, in his anticipation, presidential pickings). I had no
desire to trespass on the province of the Consul-General by
Whether