Dee. 19:
Allittle knowledge is admittedly-a dangerous thing, but it is A.very present help to an afterdinner speaker. Sir Frederick Whyte, who was our guest in Shanghai not long ago and then informed us of the correct attitude which we should adopt towards the Chinese, is now at, Home and, at a banquet given by the Institute of Pacific Relations, has: been telling the people at Home what attitude the Chinese are prepared to adopt towards them, He says that the Chinese, having now spurned Russian in. fluence, would welcome help from America and Great Britain, Mr, Lamont, the American bank-tious leaders. to carve out, principalities for. themselves, and the nearer the end seems to be-the greater will this centrifugal tendency become.
In spite of the fact that her credit has-been impaired by the events of the past year Chini would have no difficulty in securing funds for constructive work if she exhibited a desire for peace and progress. The potential wealth of the country is so evident, and the intellectual and manual power of the people 's0 great, that she is li a sleeping beauty, merely awaiting the' touch of a magician's wand to wake into life, 'The leaders of the National movement know! this very well; indeed,.Dr. Sun advocates the use of foreign' capital for development purpose: but they say: "Let us finish the war first and then we can give our undivided attention to industrial problems." They forget, that wars are economic and the main reason for the continual] unrest in the land is an economte one.
There are multitudes of! them. that. these uprisings were to be preceded by labour trou: bles because their direct experiences "with the Communists, Chinese as well as Russian,.undoubtedly have given them ample proof that that is the method by which the Communists achieve political success. They will remember that they captured Shanghai with a handful. of troops largely because the la-hourers had 80 stirred up Marshal Sun Chuan-fang's rear that he could not hold his territory, The fact is that in Canton and Hankow, labour troubles did precede the present political difficulties. Although the Communist coup d'état in Canton and its failure prevented the Red from attempting a similar political attempt here, their agitation among. the labourers has produced results.
The current strikes' in Shanghai can only be attributed to Communist agitation. " It-is startling fact that, whenever certain members of the Kuomintang appear in a city, the workers of that place are' agitated until it is impossible for the authorities to hold them in check. When those members came to Shanghai from Canton to attend the party caucus in Route de La Tour, strikes broke out in Shanghai like a plague of smallpox. The foreign community here will be Nowy nobody: will suggest that the: Nanking Government should resort to medieval persecutic Nor.. would: any. foreigners ap. Prove.of. a promiscuous slaugh-_ tering. of innocents to settle an ancient. grudge. or to: mark the swing of the pendulum, but the fact. remains that the Communist Party of China and its Kuomintang adherents are fighting the Nanking Government as.they are fighting the Shanghai Municipal Council and all foreigners in: China. They utilize the industrial strike as their weapon. They stir up the work ers by vague but fascinating, promises, and having created disorders, they utilize. their party members and the criminal elements in. the community, to intimidate workers and employers and, we are begining to suspect, even officials. The Nanking] Government has issued orders that there-should be no such strikes during this period of] house-cleaning; yet, not a gle strike in Shanghai, which the Communists organized in thei campaign against Nanking, has boom ordered to be settled by the Nanking Government. In fact, the-B.A.T. strike is openly financed by a suclety: which is headed by Kuomintang leaders, while the tramway strike, which was started only to involve the Settlement authorities in dif-munist seizure of Hankow. They. would wish to accept Mr. Qua Tai-chi's address before the American. University Club: as a whole-hearted—pronunciamento of.a new era. But they must ask, what about the activities of the 'Chinese Communists? What about the political—strikes? What about the efforts to destroy' foreign business as a political weapon? What about the threatened return tu authority of individuals who in Canton, Hankow, and Shenghai have al: ways brought with them cha hatred, strife and a stoppage of trade?' Nanking would goa long way te establish itself as a real power in the eyes of the outside world if these questions were answered by deeds,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.