CO537-2188 — Page 224

1.

TRADE UNIONISM IN HONG KONG.

It is impossible to attempt to convey any approximately

accurate idea of the status and condition of Trade Unions in

Hong Kong today without reference to the political history of

China especially during the last twenty five years, in which

are One to be found the main influences which have encouraged,

determined and to some extent distorted their growth.

2.

I am taking the liberty, therefore, of quoting extensively

from the report of my predecessor in office, Mr. H. R. Butters,

on Labour and Labour Conditions in Hong Kong, which was published

as a Sessional Paper in 1939 and which contains the best summary

of the historical background that I know.

3.

"China has been described as not a state but a society, and

the Chinese as a familial and not a political animal, "society

being merely the family writ large". The family as the basis of

society has been not inappropriately referred to as a communistic

unit with "Do what you can and take what you will" as its guide.

This accounts for the ability of the individual both in China and

Hong Kong to survive periods of distress in the absence of poor

relief, unemployment benefit or old age pension. Devotion to the

family at the sacrifice of truth, justice, and loyalty to the

state bred the vices of nepotism and corruption.

moral philosophers but no metaphysics. With the preservation and

perpetuation of the family exalted as the supreme end of man,

anything that appeared to be conducive there to was inevitably

regarded as virtue. The enrichment of one's self and one's

relations was not only the perquisite but the duty of the ruler.

It belonged to his status. In modern times union officials have

frequently shown themselves susceptible to the influence of

tradition.

China has many