CO129-394 - Governor Sir May & Public Offices - 1912 [12] — Page 199

10 PY.

Enclosure

195

Interview with Sir Kai Ho Kai on the 27th of December, 1912.

222 2he Colonial

Present: The Governor, Sir Kai Họ Kai-

Secretary.

The 20 JAN 13.

I adverted to the letter addressed to Sir Kai this day

on the subject of the report of an interview with a representative of the Hongkong Telegraph in the issue of 23rd. December.

Sir Kai said that he had given a verbal précis of his

speech to the Chinese Commercial Union to a reporter of the

Telegraph as his speech had not been reported at the time it was

made. He said he had been incorrectly reported and that he quite

understood that the assurance I had given in Legislative Council was limited as explained in the letter of today. He added that his

audience at the Commercial Union also quite understood the limited

nature of the assurance.

I then told Sir Kai that what I proposed to do was to

allow 10 representa tive owners or occupiers of each area to be

proclaimed under the Ordinance to appear before the Governor-in-

-Council to show cause why the area should not be proclaimed. Sir

Kai agreed that this was reasonable and adequate.

I next asked Sir Kai who was at the bottom of the boy-

-cott. He said that the Money Changers and Bankers were the

principal supporters of it; next the Guilds of Engineers and other

artisans Unions he called them. These were interested in the

launch traffic and ricksha traffic which were reaping a golden

harvest; next the general population who had suffered indignities

by being turned off the cars for failure to produce Hongkong coins.

I said I thought he had omitted the political element. He denied that the movement was in any way political. He quoted a conversation with a high Chinese Official from Canton who had ex-

-pressed the private opinion that the Canton Government would hail

even prohibition of Chinese silver money here with pleasure as

they wanted all the silver they could get in Canton.

I said nevertheless it would have been impossible to

establish the boycott and to intimidate the Chinese population as

it

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