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"In the very heart of Canton they instigated traitors like Wai Bond Ping, Leong, Hung Kai, Muh Sung, &c., to rebel. Here in Swatow they provoked the bandits Chie Chiung Ming, Liu Chih Lu, &c., to commence an attack on Canton. conspiracies they aimed at the overthrow of the Nationalist Government.
By these
The bandits Chien Chiung Ming, Liu Chil Lu, &c., were the trained hounds of the Hong Kong Imperialists. To prove their faithfulness to their masters, the attempted to bite the moment they were ordered to do so. They instituted oppressiv here by dissolving labour unions, putting their leaders under arrest, and suppressing every kind of patriotic movement. Among those present there must be very many who have had some thrilling experience of these brutes. In spite of this, however, you have pulled yourselves through instanter an achievement which clearly proves your valour and strength of character. The Nationalist Government realises that the beat means of bringing about the real unification of China is to overthrow all forms of imperialis among which the foremost is the Hong Kong Government. They (we) firmly believes that, unless imperialism is overthrown completely, it is absolutely futile to attempt any crusade against native militarism. In the dying commands of our late President Sun Yat-sen we also find this theory vividly explained to us.
"As imperialism is now recognised by the National Government as the real enemy, they will do all they can to support the strike against it, and, as the labouring classes have suffered oppression at the hands of this imperialism, they should co-operate with the Government.
"In Canton the Government and the labouring classes have been working together in complete harmony, and this has enabled us to weather many destructive storms and keep the ship of State in excellent seaworthy condition. This would have been impossible without co-operation between the Government and the labouring classes.
"Since so much has been done by us in Canton there is no reason why at least as much should not be done in Swatow. The Nationalist Government will do more than merely help the working class-they will support them, encourage them, and direct them in their attacks upon Imperialists. You may wonder why the Government should go to this trouble. In explanation, I will tell you that the workers have in their hands the most effective weapon for the destruction of imperialism. This weapon, as you can understand, is the strike which you have instituted.
IL
That the strike is an effective weapon is a recognised fact throughout the country. Its effectiveness increases as its sphere expands. Our present movement should not be confined to any fixed locality, like Canton, for instance.
For this reason we have advocated its being spread over Swatow, where happily it has been in existence in spite of the obstacles put in its way by Liu Chih Lu, &c. Now that the Kuomintang troops are in control over this territory they are bound up by the Kuomintang principles to keep up the strike and nourish it. As the present should be a general strike all over China and not limited to one fixed point, there must be close connection between the movement in Swatow and that in Canton. When these two points are firmly linked up Amoy will be the only place in South China where Hong Kong imperialism can find an open space to pop up for its breath. While Amoy is at the disposal of Hong Kong it is not a place comparable to either Swatow or Canton in importance. Furthermore, since our occupation of Swatow the Hong Kong Imperialists have begun to tremble with apprehension.
C
The British cousul for Swatow is very perverse in his attitude, but in his heart he is overawed already, as was well proven in one of his recent conversations when he remarked that even prisoners interned in China should be given their food.
"How powerful the strike is! We have never had anything like it in our diplomatic history since the famous Opium War. It is because of this that the Nationalist Government is so anxious to help and support the movement in Swatow, so that the struggle may continue until the very life of Hong Kong is wrung out of the colony.
"We have firm belief in the effectiveness of the strike, and because of this, immediately upon our arrival here we telegraphed urgently to the Canton Government and to the Hong Kong and Canton strike committee to connect up the movement here with their own and introduce a common policy for joint prosecution. uniform methods of procedure are thought out, however, should like to make the following suggestions for your guidance :-
Before these
"1. In dealing with foreigners: Continue the severance of economic relations with the British. British residents in China who are willing to obey. Chinese laws and jurisdiction shall have our adequate protection for their
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lives and properties. Those who refuse to put themselves under the control of the Chinese law shall be driven out of the country.
"We strikers are not against the British residents as individuals: we are against Hong Kong imperialism. Beyond this, however, all our acts should be highly civilised, because we are only at the stage of giving warnings and not at that of declaring war. We are not afraid of them, mind you, and we firmly believe that some day or other we shall overthrow their British imperialismo.
But
"But there is American imperialista, Japanese imperialism, French imperialism, &c. You will ask, What attitude should we maintain towards these ? " We all know that these Imperialists are alike in the oppressing and plundering of China, and we should therefore overthrow them all. for the present we shall deal with the British alone, and give the Americans, the Japanese and the French time to learn from the lesson being taught to the British. Meanwhile, they will be carefully watched to see what attitude they adopt. If they should secretly extend supplies of food to the British they shall be treated in every way like the British. Their ships may run between Swatow and Canton, but they may not touch Hong Kong. The China Merchants Steam Navigation Company were prevented from calling at Swatow by Liu Chih Lu before, but they may now come here and go to Canton if they wish. By means of these tactics we are sure to hold the very life of Hong Kong in our hands.
In dealing with ourselves: Under this heading I find there are three things
we should attend to at once:-
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"(a.) As rapidly as possible the exact number of labourers in Swatow should be ascertained, At present there is no one who knows the exact number. This is a bad state of affairs. Striking is not unlike fighting. If a fighter does not know how many comrades he has with him, he is bound to be defeated. same is true of labour unions. If a union does not know how many members it should enrol or has admitted, that union is bound to be weak.
The
"(6.) Workers on strike should be promptly educated. They must be taught why they must strike and what effect their strike will If a striker understands by produce on China and the world. the term 'strike 'nothing more than receiving a daily allowance of a few cents gratis, there is immense danger in front of him. Take Liu Chih Lu's troops, for example. They never had any proper training, and because of the lack of it they were In Canton we defeated notwithstanding their anxiety to win.
There
have many institutions for the benefit of the workers. are the labourers' schools, the pickets' training classes, c. Here in Swatow the unions must arrange for the proper training of their members.
(c) Nowadays, in all our undertakings where financial questions are concerned we have a budget, not withheld from publicity. By this we know how much we have to spend per day, how much we have left, and how long we can keep things running. If we only know how many subscriptions we have collected and how much we have paid out, we are sure to be met by failure before we have gone very far. If a fair distribution of the funds is not attended to you can never expect your members to have confidence in you. I am sure you all understand this point very well, and I wish therefore that you would forthwith accord your very best and most prompt attention to this phase of the work."
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