Wuex the attack on the! Labour Union in Chapel took place on Saturday, August 22, its victims without, hesitation} declared that it was the work fof malcontents belonging to a rival union, one believed to be much more moderate in its views than the Chapei organization. 'There was evidently cou. siderable apprehension of further outbreaks, for the Union' leaders called upon General Shing] 'Shi-lien for protection: This denunciation of the culprits and; the call for a geard over tha) premises were made while the members of the Union still trembled in fear and anger—a' rather impotent sort of anger it must be admitted at the moment—and it was not until some time had elapsed that they realized how capital could be made out) of the affair against the foreigners. In a way, although not) altogether, for they had a wholesome fear of the river they dropped the story of the attack by malcontents and vamped up some sufficiently wague version that British and Japanese "imperialists" of the Settlement had engineered it. This) instantly made an appeal to the! propagandists, and that particular version of the case is now) broadcast. To the average foreigner an apriéve pense such as this brings suspicion along with! it, and he cannot but feel that, the original version must be the correct one for the reason that certain men of the rival Union must have been recognized beyond question of any doubt while the assault was in progress. Further the story of the fight being engineered by foreigners is unsupported by any evidence. The fact, however, remains that for reasons best! known to themselves the bulk of the Chinese prefer to accept the story of a foreign-engineered) scheme.
Some of the more important) features of the case must be referred to. Before the start of the present trouble, the prin efpal Labour Union in Shangpai had its headquarters in the French Concession, and its activities were solely confined to Labour matters, Some time.aftes May 20 enterprising individuals such a5 Li Lih-san saw possi ties arising out of the situation, not only for the promotion of an extreme labour movement, but also for their owa material prosperity in the establishment of] an entirely new body, and-hence the Union of Education, Commerce and Labour came into being in Chapel. A good deal of skill was displayed by the promoters in making its scope large enough to include not only Labour but students and prac tically every branch of the community interested in strikes and unrest, and it easily acquired a preponderant influence. Maney! poured into its coffers, to the disgust and dismay of the Union ion prohibited in the French Concession saw itself in process of being speedily impoverished. The Chapei people took no pains to hide their newly acquired wealth; there were reports of leading men in the organization flaunting rolls of bank notes in tea and sing-song houses; and everything in the case was calculated to rouse the ire of the old Labour Union. As stated, things came to a head on August 22, wheal" members of the old Union made their desperate assault on the Chapel premises, an assault which did little except, first, to put the fear of death into the new Union leaders and secondly, to furnish them with excellent material for more. lying propaganda. Their} maliciously perverted minds could not refrain from superimposing on already known facts the dis-tertian which now, it is too much] to be feared, has gained general
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.