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power of the Union to which, however, they had already surrendered. Conferences to this end started hopefully, but soon broke down; and in any case this arrangement still left untouched the problem of the goodwill.
I also considered the possibilities of legislation, giving power to exclude from the port afl vessels in whose favour, discrimination was being
exercised by the Canton Seamen's Union. But, apart
from the possible complication with foreign powers
which such a course might have involved, it was
evident that the injury to the Colony arising from a
fresh stoppage or partial stoppage of trade with Canton would be grave in the extreme, while the prospects of
any real injury to the Seamen's Union
Were
of such legislation, at the best, pour.
by means
6.
I, therefore, decided with great reluctance,
after several full discussions both in and out of
Executive Council, that it would be wiser for this
Government to take no further part in the struggle,
and I accordingly caused the Companies concerned to be
informed that the Government could offer them no advice
as to their attitude, and that they must act as seemed
to them best.
7.
In connection with enclosure No. 8 I have
to invite your attention to the Sessional Paper enclosed in my despatch No. 404 of the 24th September. The
anti-British outburst of Mr. Sun Fo recorded in that
paper shortly preceded the announcement by the Canton Government of its intention to remove the boycott, and
it is, perhaps, not without significance that Mr. Sun's
denunciation of the 21st December follows closely on
the friendly conversations between His Majesty's Minister and Mr. Eugene Ch'ên, with whom his political
*** relations
* not reprinted tc.20103;26; not pruited.
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