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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O.882/11
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON |
| ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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made by our Commission and send it to our Executive Com- mittee, and sell all his stock before the 30th of the 12th moon of the 15th year of the Republic (1st February, 1927), on the expiry of which he shall send it to the X goods auction room to be establislied by the Kwong Tung Entire People's Anti- If he fails to do so, he X Economic Boycott Commission. will be treated as having prejudiced our patriotic movement and will be punished.
5. If anybody is found selling any goods of the X country secretly after the 30th of the 12th moon of the 15th year of the Republic his goods will be confiscated if his offence is slight, and if it is serious he will be prohibited from continuing his business.
6. All merchants of our country shall have all bank-notes of the X country he has in his possession changed, within three months after the publication of these rules, at the Bank which issued them. After the expiry of the term no bank- notes of the X country shall be used except in money. changer's business. Any offender will be treated as having prejudiced our patriotic movement and such punishment as is for traitors will be inflicted on him by our Committee.
7. These rules shall be enforced after they have been passed and published by our Executive Committee. But they are subject to amendment at a meeting of the Executive Council, when found necessary.
C. 23626/26.
No. 43.
The Governor of Hongkong to the Secretary of State for the Colonics.
Secret.
SIR,
(Received 23rd December, 1926.)
Government House, Hongkong, 20th November, 1926.
*
With reference to my secret despatch of the 14th November,' I have the honour to enclose the following documents† concern- ing the boycott:
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(1) A report from the Assistant Superintendent of Police, New Territories, dated the 14th November, concerning the position on the frontier.
(2) A copy of an extract from a letter, dated the 16th November, from the Hongkong, Canton and Macao Steam- boat Company, Limited, giving details of cargo and passen- gers for the period 4th to 13th November.
C.28807/26; not printed. ↑ Not printed.
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(3) A copy of a letter addressed by His Britannic Majesty's Consul, Swatow, to the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, dated the 13th November, pointing to renewed anti-British agitation at Swatow. (A naval report from Swatow, dated the 18th November, states that, although there are still a number of local diehards who insist that the strike and boy- cott are not off, the situation has improved slightly.)
2. In paragraph 3 of my secret despatch of the 5th November* 1 referred to the intimidation which was being exerted through the Seamen's Union against the Hongkong, Canton and Macao Steamboat Company, Limited, and to the demands which the Union has been making for the dismissal of the crews engaged after the original crews struck work in June, 1925, and for the The Company declined to reinstatement of the 'original crews. comply with these demands and an effective boycott of the Com- pany's boats has consequently been maintained up to the present. The figures given in enclosure 2 show that from the 11th Novem- ber onwards there has been practically no cargo on these boats. On the 17th November Mr. Arnold, the Secretary of the Com- pany, handed me the enclosed memorandum concerning terms for a settlement of the trouble with the Union. After discussion, I felt myself unable to offer any objections to the proposal that Mr. Arnold should attend a meeting to be held in Canton on the 18th November, with the representatives of the Seamen's Union, in order to ascertain in the first place what particular demands were being made. The Company was prepared to authorise Mr. Arnold to agree that the men of the original crew should be taken back as vacancies occur in the present crews of the Company's boats. The Company, however, decided not to take any steps to get rid of the strike-breaking crews.
The matter was discussed in Executive Council on the 18th November, and it was agreed that although there were serious objections, in view of the experiences of Hongkong in 1922, to according even this amount of recognition to the Seamen's Union, there was no alternative course which did not involve even Mr. Arnold met representatives of the Seamen's greater risks. Union at Canton, and I attach a memorandum which he has It has been impossible to come to written on this interview. terms with the Union and the Company has, therefore, decided to retain its present crews and fight the matter out.
3. Apart from the trouble experienced by the Steamboat Com- pany, which is due as much to labour troubles as to the anti- British boycott, the general situation seems to have improved slightly since my despatch of the 14th Novembert was written. The local manager of the British-American Tobacco Company, who is in close touch with conditions in Kuang-tung, and who returned from a visit to Canton a few days ago, states that he is making his arrangements on the assumption that trade will now be re-established. Personally he is of the opinion that the Canton
↑ C.23887/26; not printed.
• No. 40.
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