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assistance should be made available, if required. His Excellency the General Officer Commanding the Troops responded at once to my request for this assistance, and as a result, troops were available that night both in Victoria and Kowloon. Had it not been for this fact, the loss of life on the mainland would have been much
greater. As you know, disturbances broke out very suddenly there in various localities, and shortly before the arrival of the troops in Kowloon City a dastardly crime was committed in an isolated area a mile away. The Police were quelling a disturbance in Kai Tack Road at the time and the Military were engaged in similar work in other parts of Kowloon and it proved impossible to get assistance there in time to prevent what occurred. By 1 a.m. the rioters had all been dispersed, and Kowloon was absolutely quiet.
That evening about 8 p.m. the Inspector
General of Police had rung me up on the telephone to the effect that things looked more serious, and I decided to hold a further conference early on Sunday morning, with a view to taking further emergency measures. The conference was held, followed by an urgent meeting of Executive Council, at which the measures were form- ally approved. As a result, a state of emergency was declared, and action taken on the lines that members
are aware of.
On Sunday there was a considerable throwing out into the streets of Japanese goods by their Chinese owners, but otherwise there was no trouble.
Since Sunday both the island and Kowloon have remained quiet, apart from small outbreaks at Belchers Street and Shaukiwan, both of which were promptly suppressed. There is however still an under-current of unrest, and care and vigilance are being maintained.
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