COPY
MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT UNITED KINGDOM SHIPPING REP-
RESENTATIVE FOR THE FAR EAST. HONG KONG.
CONFIDENTIAL.
Ref: 624/8/RD/DA.
Dear Millbourn.
33
201, Victory House,
Wyndham Street,
Hong Kong.
10th July, 1948.
When I wrote to you on 5th June, 1948 (487/8/RD/DA), about the Governor's proposals over the Port Committee, I said that I thought the inclusion of Baker on the committee could do no harm. At that time I thought Baker was a member of the Commissioner of Labour's staff; I have since learned that while technically that is so, it is an incomplete picture. Baker is Trades Union Adviser, a regular trade union man,
with much experience of the movement at home but little experience of these parts. He has only been here a short while but is very active in advising local, trade Union leaders how to act, but the conditions are not straight forward, as they are in Europe.
The
My information is that he is. actually proving. somewhat of a menace here because he will not get it into his head that Chinese Trades Unions are first and foremost rackets for the purpose of making money out of employees (and employers) and would be shocked if anyone seriously thought they were benevolent Societies for mutual co-operation;
they also have a political element, not necessarily socialist. local Chinese trades unions have to my knowledge compalined (informally of course) to shipowners that they cannot make head or tail of Baker, as he does not seem to understand what they are getting at, and will take it for granted that they operate or want to operate like European unions. Such ideas as he has put up or induced the unions to adopt have had to be rejected by the shipowners, not because the ideas are bad in themselves on paper, but because they make no allowance for the basic factor that the Chinese unions are rackets, which must not be allowed outside regular limits. The head of the Chinese Seamen's Union before the war was the most notorious dope smuggler in Shanghai; and that is something. He would not be in the job, if it was not worth a lot to him now.
Incidentally he is a General.
I should therefore modify what I said in my former letter to the extent that I do not think that Baker's addition to the Committee will be an advantage and I would very much rather see- as an interim measure the Commissioner of Labour himself on it. If this comes too late do not please, make trouble over it, but, should the occasion