CO129-487 - Others & Individuals - 1924 — Page 485

.4.

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Sun

I think that Sun's chief difficulty and loss of popularity and prestige are due to the number and variety of his generals and other adherents all making demands for 'squeeze', and on behalf of whom the people and city have been bled white! Pho, Sun Yat Sen's son, who has been Mayor all these months has exhausted every illegal method of raising money, by destruction of title deeds, if demands are not met, and by various ingenious new forms of taxation.

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I have spoken to Norman, Sun's American lawyer adviser, to the possibility of an agreement between Sun and Chen to stop this ridiculous "war", but there seems little hope of that. I told Sun at one meeting, that the fighting ought to be put a stop to from humanitarian motives, and said that he at least should have sympathy with the unheard-of sufferings of the people in the military zones. He again referred to the North, and to the evil designs of the traitor Chen as prolonging

hostilities.

We now have debts of $200,000 and can buy no coal or any- thing else and there seems little prospect of getting any advance from Peking. The Military folk have started to supply us with coal, as I said we would not attempt to get any more on credit, and it is just possible that we may be able to get something out of them to pay the workmen for this month to prevent closing down altogether; but I am doubtful of that. I had a talk with the Governor when I was in Hongkong and he held out hopes of being able to help us with rolling stock.

I gathered from him that the idea of his Government taking over the working of the line, in event of default of loan payments, which he had approved of when I suggested it before starting for England, had been turned down by the Home Government.