CO129-499-4 Canton situation- governor's despatches 18-3-1927 - 22-4-1927 — Page 120

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audience would be allowed to make speeches and that the Chairman should be held responsible for stopping any of them who should attempt to speak, or otherwise the

police would stop him, and that only one member of the

platform party was allowed to speak. The platform party

seeing that originally the Secretary for chinese Affairs

had allowed three of their men to speak, one to announce

the occasion of the conference, one to read the funeral

essays and a third to make a speech in reply, and that

now fresh restrictions had been made, attempted to reason with him. In reply he told them that the funeral essay s

and the reply had not been censored and had therefore

to be suppressed. He also warned them that it was

unnecessary and useless for them to say any more.

--

The proceedings began at 1 p.m. Wong Tong announced

the occasion of the Demonstration and gave an account

of the life of our late President. According to the

programe, it had been arranged that the speech in reply should be delivered by of the platfom party.

But the chief Assistant Secretary for Chinese Affairs

and the Captain Superintendent of Police suppressed

it, and did not allow it to be read. Repeated protest

was made, but without result, One of the officials of

the meeting seeing that they had been so severely repressed

and knowing that protests would do them no good, thought

it best that the meeting should be dismissed so as to

avoid any serious trouble that might be created by the

indignant audience. He therefore came out on the stage

and announced briefly that a large number of men had

desired to make speeches, but that as they were not

allowed by the Hong Kong Government, he could only dismiss

the meeting, and that the dramatic performance called

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