CO129-500-3 Canton situation- governor's despatches 29-7-1927 - 1-9-1927 — Page 69

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deterrent to any attempt to re-establish the

Canton Seamen's Union which has proved so trouble-

some in the past. The Colony is much indebted to Mr.Lei Yau-ts'ün (to) for the great

trouble he has taken over the formation of this

society.

6. As a further step towards curbing pol- shevik influence in local trade unions, and par- ticularly with a view to preventing the dominance over Hong Kong unions of the red" elements in Canton, I have caused an ordinance on the lines

of the Trades Union Bill now before Parliament

to be drafted and published in the Gazette. I

Bil

enclose a copy of the Bill, which has received the unanimous approval of the Executive Council and will be introduced and read a first time in the Legislative Council this week.

7. The situation and prospects in the North remain obscure. You will be aware that Marshal Chang Tso-lin has assumed the title of "Naval and Military Commander-in-Chief" or "Generalissimo no doubt to give his scheme (and last hope) of a single command a flavour of Sun Yat-senism. But whether this move has any real significance in the struggle between the Kuomintang and its rivals is far from clear. Fighting on the Honan and Shantung fronts has ceased for the time being. This may be due to the necessity for consolidating the Southern gains or, more probably, to the un- certain attitudes of General Feng Yu-hsiang, who is coquetting both with Hankow and Nanking, and

of General

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