Enclo. No. 6.
5.
151
L
enclosed. I am causing the writers to be informed that
before I can recommend any financial assistance against
a fresh strike in, or boycott of, the Company's fleet I
must be assured that they and Messrs. Butterfield &
Swire (for the s.s. "Tatshan" which runs jointly with
their fleet) will do their utmost to avoid re-employing any of the striking crew of the s.s. "Kinshan". For the
moment the matter rests there. Opportunity has been
taken to dock the a.s. "Kinshan" and no crisis is likely
to arise till this vessel is ready for service again,
when a fresh request for a new crew will be addressed
by the Company to the Seamen's Union. This will take place about the 20th April. If the Union persist in its refusal the ship will be furnished with a crew from a rival union having its headquarters in Hong Kong and if the Semen's Union calls out other crews the process will be extended. The subsequent course of events will depend on the readiness and ability of the Moderates in Canton to prevent any recrudescence of the organized brigandage and piracy by armed strike pickets, which was the sole means by which the previous anti-British boycott was maintained. In the meantime the steamers are running
normally.
6. I take the opportunity of enclosing the
* following documents:-
(a) Report published in the Wa Tsz Yat Po, Hong Kong 24th March, of a speech by General Tseung Kai-shek delivered in Nanchang on the 7th March. Both the speaker and those at whom the speech is aimed have travelled far since it was made, but it is interesting
to note the very clear hint regarding Comrade Borodin
and his satellites.
(b)
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.