Meeting to Denounce Anglo-
Japanese Alliance: Boycott of British Goods Urged The demonstration organized last Sunday by the Association of Street Unions to protest against renewal of the Anglo-Japanese alliance was less imposing than its promoters anticipated. Apparently an attendance of at least two or three thousand people had been looked for, but only some 600 put in an appearance. The crowd was chiefly composed of members of the Street Unions, students being in the minority.
The meeting was of a very ordinary character and moderate in tone. The first rebuff was experienced when shortly after one o'clock some 600 persons found the Recreation Ground gates closed against them, and soldiers and police on guard. A deputation was at once sent to the yamen of the Military Governor, returning two hours later with the news that permission to hold the meeting could not be obtained. The disappointed demonstrators then formed up into procession and wandered about in search of some quiet spot where the police were at rest' and the voice of the protestor might be heard in peace.
Banners bearing inscriptions calling upon all people to oppose the alliance, to oppose the unconstitutional government, to oppose all foreign loans, and to unite for the salvation of the country were carried in the procession.
Eventually, a suitable place for the meeting was discovered, a piece of waste ground near the City Procurator's Court, and a bench having been borrowed for the use of speakers, the proceedings began.
The first speaker, a prominent member of the National Organizations Union, criticized the authorities for denying people the use of their own Recreation Ground and compelling them to discuss public matters in a dirty and inconveni lent place.
Boycorr Urcep, A lady school teacher, recently returned to Shanghai from the Straits Settlements, pointed out that the original alliance enabled Japan to gobble up Korea, and that its renewal at the present juncture would mean a similar fate for China. She urged that the Japanese boycott be continued more energetically and that a boycott of British goods should be organized.
The third speaker, a Cantonese who is President of the Society for the Promotion of Punctuality, endeavoured to persuade the meeting that there really was no trouble existing between North and South, the real culprit being the devil, ie, Japan. At the same time he
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.