CO885-11 — Page 10

. PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

SPREDEC.O.882/11

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

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Reasons for the Spread-(b) Enemy Propaganda. 8. In this case the predisposing cause was prolonged propa- ganda among the workmen by the Canton Authorities and the agitators. And as practically all workmen had been compelled to join the guilds, they had been exposed to clever addresses and lectures, and to equally clever propaganda by leaflets and subsidised newspapers such as the " Chung Kwok San Man Po (The China News) and the Shun Po." The " San Man Po was particularly flagrant. Its daily articles and stories preached Bolshevism, while from time to time attacks, mostly veiled, were made on the merchants and ruling classes. At last it over- stepped the utmost limits of toleration by ridiculing His Majesty the King on the eve of his birthday, after having a few weeks previously published a scurrilous article in which His Majesty was referred to as the "Big Devil," and His Excellency the Governor as the "Little Devil." The paper was closed by order of the Government, ostensibly on the ground that its registered printer and publisher was absent from the Colony without having an authorised substitute as required by law. A few days before the strike began, it was allowed to re-open on the publication of an apology and on promise of better behaviour in future. this newspaper was the organ of the Canton Authorities could be inferred from the facts that Mr. C. C. Wu, the then Foreign Minister of the Southern Government, and Mr. Foo Ping-sheung, the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs in Canton, who were in the Colony at the time, personally interceded for it and its editors; and that the man who was in reality in supreme charge of the paper (one Chan Chau-lam) was on the 15th July appointed to be the Commissioner of the Government Supervisory Bureau, and also given another important post under the notorious Liao Chung-kai. It may be interesting to add that this man was assassinated in Canton together with Liao Chung-kai some time in August.

Strike Agitators and Intimidators.

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9. At the commencement of the strike the agitators had it all their own way, because we were quite unprepared to meet their propaganda and intimidation. Men were posted at every strategic point in the Colony-at street corners, on the Praya while boats were loading and unloading, on steamers and wharves, in the markets and at the stopping-places of trams to induce people to strike or to leave the Colony, As an illustration of their elusiveness, and the impunity with which they worked at first, they went into offices and dockyards to distribute free passage- tickets to Canton; and not a single man was caught, though they must have distributed something like 25,000 tickets.

Resulting Exodus.

10. In addition to the strikers and members of their families, large numbers of the ordinary residents, particularly women and children of the middle class, left the Colony for Canton and Macao, as a result of wild and lying rumours spread by our enemy. It has been estimated that between the 19th June and the middle

of July about 250,000 Chinese (including strikers) went away. From about the end of July tliese people began to dribble back. mostly via Macao, and it is believed that 50,000 to 60,000 of them have returned. But for the strict surveillance exercised by the strike-pickets at Ca: ton and elsewhere in South China a con- siderably larger number would have come back. As a matter of fact, some of those who have got through have done so with great difficulties and, in some cases, even personal danger.

11. At the beginning of the exodus there was a veritable stampede for accommodation on the steamers and trains; and this panic has directly and indirectly caused great damage to the trade and money market of the Colony, from which they have not yet recovered.

Strike-Pickets in Canton, &c.!

12. Once the strikers and others had gone up to Canton and- the interior districts, the Canton Authorities and the Strike Com- mittee took steps to prevent their return to Hongkong. Men who attempted to come back were flogged through the streets, or Some labourers attempted to exposed for hours in the sun. board the steamers for Hongkong by sampans, but the sampans were seized and burnt, and their owners, whether men or women, severely beaten, Four innocent women lost their lives through attempting to cross the frontier at Shumchun into our territory with fruit and vegetables: one was shot by the pickets, and the other three were drowned in the attempt to escape. These acts of terrorisation have not been relaxed either in Canton or at Shumchun except in cases where the pickets have been bribed.

Economic Disturbances.

13. This trouble has shaken our economic structure to its foundations. The Canton Authorities have declared, or con- No British ships are nived at, a complete boycott against us. allowed to be loaded or unloaded in Canton; ships of other nationalities carrying British goods are similarly boycotted; merchants are forbidden to trade with us; and attempts have been made to destroy British goods in stock. In effect, Canton is waging a war against us, only with means other than guns and gas.

Part II.

GOVERNMENTAL AND OTHER MEASURES.

Warning to Intending Strikers.

14. Several days before the strike began, the Hon. Secretary for Chinese Affairs, in an interview granted to the general repre- sentative of the Chinese Press, stated that in the event of a strike the Government might require all idle persons to leave the Colony. This policy has been carried out as far as possible, and has had the expected advantageous results: it has conserved food supplies, kept their prices within reasonable limits, and pre- served the peace of the Colony. On the other hand it has more

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