CO129-572-6 Hong Kong Seamen's Union- proposed proscription 22-1-1938 - 30-8-1938 — Page 13

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is

inclined to rebel against the collection of funds for the

support of civil wars in China. They were ready, they

said, to contribute to the cost of a war with Japan, if

that became necessary, but not to furnish money for the

slaughter of their own countrymen. It became necessary

for the "bosses" to find a new policy, and they discovered

sources of inspiration in the nationalist movement and the

Russian revolution. The year 1921 saw the foundation

of the Chinese Communist party, and it was from then

onward that the rapid growth of labour unions began.

The career of one Lei Yeuk Shan, a resume of which is

given in Appendix 1 illustrates the process. The transition from Triad to Communist ritual was an easy

one. The slogan "Down with the Manchus!

Ming Dynasty!" became, "Down with the Imperialists! Long

live the World Revolution!" The God of War and his two

satellites were removed from the altar and replaced by

Sun Yat Sen, Karl Marx and Lenin. Red was already the

Triad colour.

Labour Unions.

Restore the

The new labour unions thus inherited a tradition of blackmail and unlawful political activity which handicapped them from the start. Their leaders, for the most part, were men who, at the best, looked for political power in China, and, at the worst, schemed to fill their own pockets from the union treasury. Strikes and labour disputes were fomented on the most trivial pretexts, less with the object of bettering the condition of the workers than of advertising the union and its leaders. With the same motive vast funeral processions passed through the streets of Hong Kong when a member of the