214
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
PHIC.O.882/11
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
|ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
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way whereby annoyance or inconvenience shall be caused to the passengers or which might cause damage or danger to the ship or any part of the ship. The social room shall under no circumstances, and at no times be used for purposes contrary to the laws of the Canton Government or the Colony of Hong Kong. The social room shall be subject to inspection by ship's officers, and the customary [usual] ship's [discipline] regulations.
5 [6.] Should the Guild be unable at any time to supply the Company with their requirements in pursuance of this Agreement then, on the Company giving to the Guild twenty-four hours' notice in writing to that effect, the Company shall be at liberty to fulfil their requirements from any other sources at the disposal of the Company.
6 [7.] Should the Company at any time for any reason lay any of their steamers up, either permanently or temporarily, the Company shall be at liberty to dismiss the seamen employed under the terms of this Agreement, but the Company shall provide a passage back to Canton or the equivalent in money if the seamen are not dismissed in Canton.
7 [8. The Company will accord to the seamen employed under the terms of this Agreement fair and just treatment and will as far as they are able act in consultation with the Guild.
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8 [9.] The term seamen "where used in this Agreement shall include all Chinese employed in deck, engine and saloon departments, but does not include compradore and his staff,
9 [10.] Any notice required to be given by this Agreement shall be deemed properly served if left at the last known address of the party to receive it.
10 [11.] This Agreement shall be construed [and interpreted according to English Law and] in a liberal sense, the intention being to provide a friendly and solid understanding and a cessation of all misunder- standings for the future.
As witness the signatures of the parties hereto the day and year first above written.
Signed by the Company in the presence of :-
W. E. L. SHENTON,
Solicitor,
Hong Kong.
Signed by the Guild in the presence of :-
Witness to Chinese Seamen's Union.
HAU MAN ON.
Hong Kong, Canton and Macao Steamboat Company, Limited.
T. G. WEALL,
Chairman.
LEUNG CHING W. Crow JOD MOY (Chinese Seamen's Union Chop).
(30001/27D [No. 15].
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No. 22.
The Governor of Kong Kong to the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
(Received 3rd October, 1927.)
(Secret (2).) Government House, Hong Kong, 1st September, 1927.
SIR,
Until a few days ago the dramatic changes in the position on the Yangtsze, resulting from the retirement of Marshal Tseung Kai-shek to his native place in Chêkiang, had few visible repercussions in Canton. General Li Chai-sum certainly followed the Marshal's ex- ample and retreated to his native town in Kuangsi. But the occasion, the death of his mother, was genuine, and according to Chinese tra- ditions more than adequate for the neglect of any official duties and, if there was more behind the move than was announced, the crisis has passed and General Li is back in Canton. Co-incidentally with this "retreat,'
rumour grew of a fresh outbreak of Communism and an assault on Canton by two Communist armies from Kiangsi under Generals Ip Ting and Ho Lung. There was also talk that the friction between General Li Chai-sum and General Tsin Tai-kwan (see my secret despatch of 29th July*) had deepened into a definite rupture. Yet another rumour stated that General Cheung Fat-fui (of whom more below) was about to invade Kwang-tung on behalf of Hankow. What ever may have been the grounds, there was a steady withdrawal towards the provincial capital of all regular forces and the usual outbreaks were arranged in the evacuated areas by sympathisers with the pre- nationalist régime, the most serious being in the Kiung Chow peninsula.
2. But the Press of 31st August contained a really important announce- Some time ago it was reported that negotiations were in progress for an entente between General Li Chai-sum and General Cheung Fat-fui, a Cantonese, who had at one time been the former's second-in-command. General Cheung has in the last few months come to the fore as commander of a considerable section of the Hankow forces, and one of his latest exploits was to bar the advance of the Nanking armies towards Hankow by capturing Nanchang, the capital of Kiangsi, and expelling the two Communist generals above mentioned (who then retreated southwards towards the Kwang-tung, border). On 21st August it was announced that General Cheung had arrived in Clanton on 28th August and, after placing himself at the disposal of his former chief, was leaving again to join his army in Kiangsi almost immediately. The reconstruction would, therefore, appear to be based on a military combination. General Li Chai-sum has already with him the Kuangsi forces under Generals Wong Shiu-hung and Fan Shek- shang and at least the good-will of those under General Li Tsung-yan operating with the main Northern Expedition. If to these are added the army of General Cheung Fat-fui, the scheme of "a Monroe Doctrine for Kwang-tung and Kuangsi" would seem to be taking a big step forward.
ment.
No. 27.