C 8
Disputes and Strikes:
37. There were no disputes or strikes of any but minor importance during the year. There were a few disputes among rival gangs of waterfront coolies but the boycott of Messrs. Butterfield and Swire's ships in Canton engineered by the Chinese Seamen's Union had no repercussions in Hong Kong.
38. A partial strike of teahouse employees took place just after Chinese New Year on account of the refusal of certain teahouse masters to increase their staffs in accordance with a scheme of the Teahouse Employees Guild for absorbing some of its unemployed members into the trade. The dispute continued for about a month with one or two instances of violence and the smashing up of crockery in certain teahouses but eventually a settlement was reached, the masters accepting the Guild's requirements in a modified form.
Cost of living of poorer classes:
39. There was a slight all round reduction in the cost of living. Prices of all Chinese food stuffs (except fresh fish), commodities (including firewood) and the rents of Chinese flats fell towards the end of the year.
FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS.
(Table XXXII).
40. The year 1933 was an exceedingly bad one for the industries of the Colony. The general trade depression affected the local manufacturers severely and in the early part of the year a number of bankruptcies and failures occurred. Several large factories engaged in the manufacture of cotton singlets and hosiery were forced to close down, while short time with reduced staffs was general amongst those which remained open. High tariffs in neighbouring countries were blamed as the chief cause of loss of business, the export trade to China being especially hard hit. Towards the end of the year, however, a slight improvement in trade became apparent and a more hopeful outlook prevailed. The heavy industries such as shipbuilding and engineering were still suffering from lack of business, but in other trades, especially the rubber shoe trade, electric torch and dry battery making, and electro-plating, the factories were again working at full capacity. The diversity of Hong Kong's many small industries prevents the Colony from suffering as much as it might were it entirely dependent on one basic industry. In spite of the depression the number of factories in the Colony continues to increase and new factories started during the year include a large printing works, a tannery, a tooth-pick factory, a paint and varnish works and several small factories for the manufacture of joss-sticks and mosquito-sticks.