150
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
TITT
Reference :--
TETIC.O.882/11
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
288
in my telegram of the 19th September,* which was concurred in by Major-General C. C. Luard and Rear-Admiral A. J. B. Stirling, and in which those officers' do not wish to make any modification in view of the Foreign Office telegram No. 270 of the 21st September, repeated to me from Peking.
(d) As regards the taxation proposals, I concur in the view expressed in your telegram of the 22nd September† that we should maintain silence until after the 10th October. If on or before that date the anti-British boycott has been effec- tively removed, we should, I submit, negotiate with the Canton Government first as to the terms upon which we will give it de jure recognition and thereafter as to any modifica tions which it desires in our existing treaty rights and in the cxisting Customs tariff.
21. This despatch confirms and amplifies my recent telegrams.
SIR,
I have, &c.,
C. CLEMENTI,
Governor, &c.
ENCLOSURE 2 IN NO. 33.
Republic of China,
Nationalist Government,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Canton, 18th September, 1926.
I have the honour to confirm the statement made to you yester- day that arrangements have been made to end the boycott on or before 10th October (most probably at the end of September), and that the proper Chinese authorities will levy a special con- sumption tax of 24 per cent, on ordinary imports and 5 per cent. on imported luxuries, together with a special production or pro- ducers' tax on exports. It is proposed to calculate the new rates of Customs Memo, and to arrange for the Customs authorities to clear papers only on production of vouchers verifying pay- ment of such new special taxes.
I have to add that the arrangements referred to have been made with the Strike Committee.
I have, &c.,
CHEN YU-JEN,
Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs.
J. Fitzgerald Brenan, Esquire,
H.B.M. Acting Consul-General,
The Shameen.
* Not printed. + C.17996; 28; not printed.
C.21020/26.
289
No. 34.
The Governor of Hongkong to the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
Secret.
SIR,
(Received 11th November, 1926.)
Government House, Hongkong, 5th October, 1926.
Your telegram of the 2nd October* inquiring whether cargo- boats are now going up to Canton and, if so, whether any trade is being done, whether there is any further evidence of the with- drawal of pickets and the disbandment of the boycott organisa- tion, and requesting me to telegraph my views on the shipping situation, crossed my telegram of the same date reporting upon all these matters.
Limited,
2. Mr. T. G. Weall, of Messrs. Dodwell & Company, reports that the Chinese servants, who had returned to Shameen at the end of last month, left Shameen again on the 1st October owing to intimidation. No demands were made by them on their masters. They simply disappeared. Mr. Wcall also reports that a Chinese pensioner of his Company, aged about 75, comes to Shameen every month to draw pension. At the end of Sep- tember he was waylaid by strike pickets as he left Shameen, robbed of his money, beaten and taken away in a pig-basket. As regards the position at Swatow I enclose an article, dated the 1st October, from the Swatow correspondent of the Hongkong I also enclose a cutting‡ Daily Press and published yesterday. from the South China Morning Post of the 2nd October, report- ing an interview which that newspaper's Canton correspondent had with Mr. Eugene Ch'ên on the 1st October. Mr. Ch'en is reported to have said that the strike and boycott cannot end until 10th October, and that this will be effective only if the British act in the right spirit and there are no reprisals. The strikers Two million dollars will be inactive, but cannot be dispersed.
is estimated to move them.
3. On our frontier there were, yesterday, six strike pickets on duty at the Chinese Lo Wu railway station, one at Lo Wu railway bridge, and two at Lo Fong gap. The rest of the pickets appear to have been withdrawn to Sham Chun. It was reported that all strike pickets would leave by express train from Sham Chun for Canton on the 30th September; but this report proved to be untrue. Villagers from the New Territory are not allowed to visit Sham Chun and to buy small quantities of food-stuffs, e.g., rice not more than 3 tau, pork 5 catties, and from 3 to 4 chickens.
‡ Not printed. † C.18745/26., not printed ⚫ C.18575/28; not printed.
U
}Page 151
151
290
When they cross into Chinese territory they have a chop put on their arms so that they may be easily recognised on their return. A copy of a report by the Assistant Superintendent of Police, New Territory,* concerning activities on the frontier during the week ended 4th October is enclosed.
4. The trains of the Kowloon-Canton Railway still do not cross. the bridge at Lo Wu, and passengers have to walk from Sham The numbers travelling chun into British territory or vice versa. have been small, as the following table will show:-
(a Railways.
28th Sept. 29th Sept.
Up Down
30th Sept. 1st Oct.
2nd Oct.
3rd Oct.
Up Down
Up Down
Up Down
Up Dram
UA
4th Oct. Down Up
Donem
1st Class
4
1
1
5
2
2
6
2nd Class 5
10
17 1
13 5
10
7 5
10
144
6
225 17
1391 60 160
914
170
113 224) 112
187
Totals...
3rd Class 584 145 96 1691 881 105
63 159 113 174 101 111 149 74 172 103
(b) River Steamers.
119 247 135)
3rd fiet.
28th Sept.
Cargo Tons 33 Passengers 292
29th Sept. Up Down Down
150 200 60
131 515 515
30th Sept.
1st Oct.
2nd Oct
Down
Up
Dazen
U flown
Up Poten
90 20 & 111 136 117
80
272 131 238
70 50
56 GU 131 272
291
on
stating that members of the Hongkong unions who went strike last year, and who later returned to Hongkong to resume work, must report themselves to the Strike Committee Head- quarters in Canton between the 1st and 12th October, as other- wise they will not be given recognition as strikers and will not be allowed to participate in any compensation or profit resulting from a victory of the strikers. Inquiries are being made as to the response to these invitations.
8. I further enclose a report made to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs on the 29th-and-30th September* by one Wu Kam Kan I enclose also a (Chinese characters), a strike picket leader. copy of a letter,† dated the 25th September, written to Mr. T. H. King, Deputy Superintendent of Police, by a correspondent in Canton who is usually reliable, but whose name it is desirable to keep secret; also a translation of an extract from the Canton newspaper, the Man Kwok Yat Po of the 23rd September, setting out the general rules for the organisation of the Anti- British Boycott Extension Association; and I attach in conclusion a report from Colonel F. Ilayley-Bell, § dated the 2nd October, on "The Strikers' New Policy." These documents all go to show that there is little or no prospect that the anti-British boycott will really end on the 10th October.
The daily averages for September were up 217 and down 178 passengers, in all; and for August, up 221 and down 181 passen- gers,
in all.
5. As regards the river steamers, the acting Consul-General at Canton does not wish them to make use of their Canton wharf at present, as he considers that it would be a mistake to do any thing which might interfere with the attempts of the Canton Government to settle the boycott. The recent figures on mani- fest for these steamers have been as shown in table (B) above. The daily averages for September were, cargo up 51 tons and down 72 tons, passengers up 121 and down 299; and for August, cargo up 42 tons and down 48 tons, passengers up 76 and down 200.
6. The firm of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Company is the only one which has sent ocean-going British steamers to Canton since the 4th September. The ships sent were s.s. Fooshing, which arrived at Canton on the 9th September and left on the 12th September, and s.s. Cheong-shing, which arrived at Canton on the 19th September and left on the 21st September. This vessel left for Ĉanton again on the 26th September and is expected Neither steamer was to return about the 6th or 7th October. molested by strike pickets, but both were under special naval protection. I am enclosing in a separate despatch† an interesting report written by Mr. Sutherland on this venture.
7. It is reported that the various labour unions in Hongkong have received letters from the Strike Committee in Canton
• Enclosure 8. † Not printed.
I have, &c.,
C. CLEMENTI,
Governor, &c.
ENCLOSURE 3 IN No. 34.
FRONTIER INCIDENTS.
During the past week the situation on the frontier has been reported to you daily by telephone. A summary of these daily reports is as follows:-
Early in the week all pickets between Lowu and Deep Bay had been withdrawn to Sham Chun and the shelter huts for pickets on post duty in this area taken down. On the 29th ultimo, the Officer-in-Charge of the pickets in conversation with certain Customs employees informed the latter that all pickets would be withdrawn from Sham Chun to Canton on the 30th, and would leave Sham Chun by the 14.00 hours express train on that date. such order Apparently, however, the order for withdrawal--if was ever given--was cancelled, as in the late afternoon of the 30th the pickets were still at Sham Chun, and the Officer-in- Charge of the pickets, seen at Lowu by Detective P.S.C.75 Lo Kwong, informed the latter that he was awaiting fresh instruc- tions from Canton, but that the pickets would be withdrawn from Sham Chun by the 10th October at the latest.
• Enclosure 4.
+ Enclosure 5. + Not printed.
any
§ Enclosure 7,