CO129-441 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [1-3] — Page 103

No CONFIDENTIAL.

sir.

101

GOVERNMENT HOUSE.

HONGKONG. 20th. January, 1917.

I have the honour to report for your informa- -tion the steps taken here in connection with the recruiting of

Chinese labour in South China, by the French Authorities,

2.

Some months ago Lieutenant Colonel Truptil a

retired officer who had served as a Major in the French Army for

about 2 years in North China, was commissioned direct by the French Government to recruit Chinese labour. He is acting indepen-

-dently, as I understand, of the French Minister at Peking. Con-

-Bequently the negotiations referred to below, were conducted by

this Government directly with him.

3.

In Poling he made a contract for fifty thou-

-sand unskilled Chinese labourers, with a syndicate called the

Wei Man firm, at the head of which was the then Chinese Finance

Minister Liang Shih-yi though Mr. Liang's name did not appear.

Recruiting bad hardly started when the trouble, of which you are

no doubt aware, with the Chinese Authorities at Tientsin occurred,

and recruiting came to a standstill. Thereupon Lieutenant Colonel

Truptil came to this Colony and made a contract without consulting

this Government with a syndicate called the Li Man Company, in no

way connected with the Wei Man Firm, for recruiting in South Chine,

the terms of the contract being in some respects different from the

previous one with the Wei Man.

The Li Man Company did not command local con-

-fidence

HE RIGHT HONOURABLE

WALTER LONG, M.P.,

&c..

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