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Enclosure 4 in No. 23.

(Extract from Kwok Man San Man, Canton, 15th September, 1927.) Notice by the Anti-British Boycott Commission enforcing examina- tion of British goods.

Importation of British goods stopped from to-day. (From the Chung Kwok She News Agency.) (Translation.)

In order to carry out the anti-British boycott which is to com- mence to-day (15th September) and to stop all sale and importation of British goods, the Commission for the Extension of the anti-British boycott yesterday (the 14th September) issued an urgent notice which reads as follows:-

"In the matter of a notice:-

In October last year we altered our policy from that of the blockade of Hong Kong to one of an extended anti-British boy- cott, with the object of dealing a fatal blow at the British Im- perialists. Our Commission was then established, and in the year Later the succeeding our work has been noticeably successful. Party Purification Movement necessitated a re-organisation in the Committee and various boards of the Commission, and in conse- quence our work was to some extent impeded, and a quantity of British goods was smuggled in by the merchants. This has led the British Imperialists to entertain the mistaken idea that our patriotism cannot endure for longer than five minutes. Being of the opinion that we will submit to oppression, their fury has again blazed forth; their brutal conduct is again in evidence. Lately they committed an outrage at Do Shing and caused a massacre at Tai Ping. If such can be tolerated, there is nothing we will not endure. Nobody with any sense of shame can refrain from being so indignant that his hairs will bristle and his heart be grieved.

In order to carry out effectively the great mission of the anti- British boycott, and in order to fulfil its duty, our Commission unanimously resolved at a meeting of the Representatives of vari- ous classes held on the 6th September, that from the 15th instant pickets should be sent out for the careful examination of all British goods.

This notice is issued for the information of all classes of our fellow-countrymen in Kwang-tung. We beg that they will unani- mously fulfil their duty as nationals of China, and co-operate in carrying out our anti-British boycott. We hope also that all mer chants in Kwang-tung will give serious consideration to the great principle of saving China, and stop all sale and importation of British goods from the 15th instant. Possession of such goods found will be treated as a breach of our rules and the goods will be confiscated. We hope that no person will attempt to break our rules and so suffer a loss in consequence. We believe that all are as patriotic as we, and we earnestly hope that all our fellow- countrymen will rise in a body en masse against our foes, and to deal a fatal blow to the British Imperialists."

Enclosure 5 in No. 23.

(Extract from Tin Tseung P, Canton, 16th September, 1927.) Time fired for paying the allowance to the strikers. (Translation.)

For paying the allowance to the Hong Kong strikers, loans were raised from the Commercial Guilds in various districts, Now that such loans have been successfully collected it is proposed that the allowance should be paid to the strikers without delay, in the interests of the livelihood of the workmen. We learn that it has been resolved by the Political Branch Council in Canton that all the allowance should be paid on the 10th October, but that as the Government is in financial stringency, $45 should be paid in notes of the Central Bank and $45 in Public Bonds, and that, when payment has been made, arrangements should be made to dispose of the workmen and to close down the meal-halls. The Peasant and Labour Department will be held responsible for this mission,

C.30001/27 E. [No, 11].

No. 24.

The Officer Administering the Government of Hong Kong to the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

(Secret.)

SIR,

(Received 28th November, 1927.)

Government House, Hong Kong, 20th October, 1927.

During the past fortnight Canton has experienced yet another of those swift counterswings of the political pendulum which are So common a feature of present-day China. The period opened ominously. On the 14th October the Seamen's Union, true to its character as a great political engine, indicated an unmistakable shifting of power towards the Left. A meeting of all members was summoned in a way calculated to cause the maximum inconvenience to the Union's old victims, the river-steamer companies. It is not clear whether the arrangements were the personal work of the Union's former chief, Ho Loi, whose flight on the occasion of the anti-communist coup of last April was recorded in paragraph 8 of the Governor's secret despatch of the 1st June. But his name was freely used in the matter and the result left no doubt that the extremist section were of the opinion that the arrival of General Cheung Fat-fui was opening a new era of labour misrule. At the close of the meeting a mob of 2,000 members rushed to the offices of the "reformed " Union, murdered two of the Commissioners and severely injured two more.

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2. For the moment no attempt was made at active interference with the steamers, the crews returning quietly to duty. But Canton

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* No. 13.

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Reference !--

C.O.882/11

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