CO129-492 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1925 [12] - 1926 [1-5] — Page 318

welcomed

3.

the proposal, and said he was anxious

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311

that the present trouble should be settled as spoodily as possible. I pointed out to him that any payment of compensation to the Striko Committee was a direct incentive to another strike. He agrood with this. I also drew his attention to the state of lawlessness, brigandage and piracy prevalent in Kuong-tung, He doplored it, and agreed that the fire: duty of the Canton Government was to restore law and order in the province. His aim was to give the province good government, and to make it, by its prosperity, an object lesson to the rest of China. He said that he did not agree with the

policy of a campaign into Northern China. He consid - ered: that the Canton Government should confine its

activities to the Liang Kuang provinces, and endeavour by negotiation to come to terms with what- ever power may dominate Northern China. He fully realised the intimate connection between Honkong and Canton, and said that projects for developing Kuang-tung would have a beneficial effect also on Hongkong What was needed in Kuang-tung was, he said, a constructive policy as a means of finding honest employment for the impoverished elements

in the population which now instinctively turned to- wards lawlessness and brigandage. I spoke to him of the importance of verbal communication betwoon highly placed officials in Canton and Hongkong, whenever a question of any difficulty arose between the two governments. He fully agreed that communication of this kind, takin, place directly between officials, would be far better

than