The dispute between the painters in the Settlement and at Nantao and their employers with respect to the former's demand for an increase of wages by 45 cash per day appears: to be still unsettled. The master-
Painters, as it is locally understood, are keepers or proprietors of pair shops, whilst painters are those working with the brush for a living. The workmen have demanded higher to the increase as demanded, so it is not binding legally.
Shortly before noon, about a hundred or more painters presented themselves at the Prefect's yamen in the city with burning incense in their hands, praying for succour. They submitted that it was impossible for them to live upon the old scale of wages. The Prefect persuaded them to disperse and present their case by delegates in a proper way. He advised them to remain quiet, for they would only defeat their own ends by such rash doings as collecting together in great numbers and going on strike.
The master painters have also submitted petitions to the Chinese authorities, as well as to the Municipal Councils and police forces of the two settlements, stating their case.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.