CO129-494 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1926 [9-10] — Page 435

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Note 3.

The following is a list roughly in chronological order, of various outrages per- petrated in 1926 by Strike pickets at Swatow to the detriment of British subjects and of their domestic and business staffs :-

1. On 26th January, 1926 the British Consul, Mr. Kirke, complained officially that robberies and depradations on British owned property continued with monotonous regular- ity.

2. During February an attempt was made to levy an entirely illegal House Tax on British and other Nationals. Threats were made that non-payment would entail the cutting off of water and electric-light services.

3. On or about 20th March a boatman, who was the son of an ex-employee and pensioner of the British Consulate, was seized in the street by 12 pickets under the eyes of The police. His offence was that he was alleged earlier in the "Strike" to have been of use 10 the British community. He had in fact previously been sent to Hong Kong to escape the pickets" resentment, and, on returning on this date to Swatow to buy his father, he

was at once seized.

4. On or about 25th March. Dr. Lyall of the English Presbyterian Mission, one of the oldest and best known foreign residents in Swatow, was about to leave for home. In spite of the fact that he had obtained a special pass from General Ho to enable him to load his baggage on to sampans and to have it conveyed to the steamer, the strike pickets inter- fered and forced the sainpans to return to the jetty. Only intervention by H.M.S. Magnolia enabled the pass to be honoured.

5. During March, on one occasion the local press actually published a paragraplı, which, translated, runs as follows:

"Arrest by the strike pickets yesterday were as follows :—

(i) Chou Yung Ho, arrested for carrying provisions to Butterfield and Swire's residence. As this is not his first offence he will be detained until the end of the strike.

(ii) Teo Yee Swee arrested for sending various items of information to the

British Consulate. He will be detained for examination."

6. At this period serious robberies of goods belonging to the Asiatic Petroleum Company and the British American Tobacco Company took place. The values of the stolen goods were $2,500 and $2,700 respectively. The British Consul complained that the Chinese police afforded the Companies no protection at all, and that in the case of the Company first named above, the police did not even visit the scene of the robbery until fourteen days after its occurrence. In either case, practically none of the stolen property

was recovered.

7. On 11th May, the pickets opened fire on a sampan conveying certain Chinese passengers who were endeavouring to board a British ship, regardless of the fact that the British S.S. Haining was in the line of fire. They then wished to board the S.S. Haining but were prevented by the chief officer.

8. On 16th May the S.S. Fook On and the S.S. Fanon, both flying the Cantonese naval ensign, proceeded without permission alongside one of the pontoons which are the private property of Messrs, Butterfield and Swire. Similar misuse of these pontoons by Chinese vessels took place on 30th April, 15th-17th May, and 19th-20th May. Repeated representations by the British Consul led to a reply from the Commissioner for Foreign Vffairs that he had requested the Chinese Military Authorities to cease to use these pontoons save with the British Consul's consent. However, further cases of unauthorised use are reported to have taken place on 29th June and 1st September.

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9. On 21st May while Mr. Kirke, the British Consul, was tearing down some Com- munist posters which had been affixed to the front wall of H.B.M.'s Consulate, he was assaulted and struck by six or eight pickets who had just affixed them there. Urgent representations made to the Canton Government by II.B.M. Consul-General in Canton led to the despatch of telegraphic orders to the Swatow Authorities to apologize and to give an assurance that such incidents would not be repeated,

10. During May, the British Consul complained of further robberies at Messrs. Butterfield & Swire, Messrs. Bradley & Co., the Asiatic Petroleum Co. and at the Masonic Hall. No satisfaction however could be obtained from the Chinese authorities.

11. Early in June a Shantung servant of the British Consul was seized and imprison- ed by the Strike pickets. After a false statement, forwarded by the Strike Committee with an impudent forgery, that the man in question wished to go on strike, he was eventually released upon providing $500.00 security that he would leave the port. This he did.

12. During the early part of June an Indian watchman in the employment of Messrs. Jardine Matheson and Co. was arrested by Strike pickets when returning from a steamer with a case of tinned milk for his own use. He was speedily released but it was only after six or seven days that the protests of the British Consul obtained the return of the milk to its rightful owner.

31. On 6th June as a Russian employee was riding a bicycle back to the Asiatic Petroleum Co.'s premises, carrying stores and clothing. he was attacked by four or five pickets who knocked him down and stole his bicycle and parcels. These articles were the property of the Company. The British Consul could obtain no redress for this outrage and reported that the Chinese police were far more afraid of the pickets than of the Com- missioner for Foreign Affairs and their own officers.

14. During June occurred another theft of flooring from the Tai Koo Club. It was perpetrated in daylight regardless of the fact that the thieves were in full view of a party of police, who were drilling on some private tennis-courts. It was officially explained that the police were not on duty at the time.

15. On 16th August, Mr. Sim Kye Lim, a British subject of Chinese race, was en- tering the office of his employers, Messrs. Bradley and Company, when he was seized by a number of armed pickets in plain clothes, bound, and dragged to the general headquar- ters of the Strike Committee In spite of the production of a pass from the Executive Delegate, Mr. Hsu Fu, and his protest that he was a British subject, born at Singapore, the son and grandson of British subjects, he was flung into a filthy cell with a heavy and rusty chain so tightly padlocked about his neck that he could hardly breathe or swallow. This chain was removed four days later after the payment of a bribe from Mr. Sim's friends. He was then interrogated by five self-styled judges, but was subsequently im- prisoned in a small ill-ventilated room some eighteen feet by twelve with well-nigh a score of other prisoners. Thence, on 2nd September he was taken again before the five 'judges', the chain being again padlocked round his neck. He was given a choice bet- ween immediate release on payment of $2000, or a transfer to Cantou for trial. He offered $500, only to be threatened with a rifle and half-strangled by the twisting of the chain. Finally he was released on signing a promissory note for $800 a sum which has been paid. A strong protest lodged by the British Consul has so far elicited no reply.

16. On 25th August armed pickets removed from the hold of the Chinese 8.8. Yuetwah thirty-eight cases of Cigarettes which were being re-exported to Amoy by the British American Tobacco Company, under permit from the Chinese Customs. Thirty- four cases were also seized from a lighter alongside. The local Commissioner of Customis made an urgent demand for their return, and the question of closing the port was under consideration, when, on 30th August all the cases were returned and re-export took place without further trouble.

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