CO129-489 - Governor Sir Stubbs & Sir Clementi - 1925 [8-12] — Page 251

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The problem of bringing the loan funds out

to the Colony is one of considerable difficulty and I have appointed a small committee to advise regard-

ing it. If the boycott should end within a reasonable period, nothing like the whole sum of £3,000,000 should be required.

5. There are distinct signs that the boycott

is weakening. The demand has hitherto been that Hongkong must be entirely destroyed, but during the past

weak suggestions for calling off the strike and

boycott on conditions have been put forward for the

first time. I attach a list of the terms published

by the strikers, which have not apparently received official support. I attach also a copy of a letter from Mr. Foo Ping-sheung, in charge of foreign affairs, to His Majesty's Consul- General, which is consider-

ably more reasonable in tone than former communications. The vigilance of the strikers' pickets is beginning to relax at points, other than the frontier, which are some distance from Canton, and increasing numbers of workers are finding their way back to the colony. The strikers' funds have run very low, and they are issuing appeals for subscriptions for the purpose of buying winter clothing.

6. As regards the political situation, General

Cheung Kai-shek, to whom I referred in the concluding 45198 paragraph of my despatch of the 4th September, has

managed to eliminate all the military leaders in Canton who might possibly dispute his authority, and

he