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198-01
38
Faciol No. 2.
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43
Hong Kong as a refuge from a communist émeute
in Canton.
3.
The fresh surrender to the Seamen's
Union reported in my secret despatch of the 7th
ང་
J..
July has reaped the reward which in China always
awaits weakness. Having proved that the Steam-
boat Company would not fight for an inch, the
Union has now demanded an ell. It has presented
a set of demands to which the Company must make
written submission before the British Consul –
General, involving inter alia guarantees that the
Union shall be entitled to carry on propaganda
on board the Company's vessels in Hong Kong and shall be immune from arrest by the police of this
Colony until such time as the Union is reopened. A copy of the full text of the demands and certain correspondence regarding them is enclosed. Should the further negotiations by the "Farming Syndicate". prove fruitless, I understand that the Company will follow Mr. Brenan's advice and lay up their vessels for a time. But in that case it is possible that the Colonial Government will be asked to support the Company by cancelling the through train service to Canton and possibly by persuading or even com- pelling the other river-steamer lines to stop their sailings, the object being to bring home to Canton the fact that the weapons are not all on one side.
4. The plans for a boycott of Japanese goods
are reported to be going into effect, though
exceptions have perforce been made in favour of
such essential goods as coal and drugs. The Canton
+ No. C. 30001 / 27 C. [No. 38]. + Not how thea.
vernacular
50
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