"While for the time being certain aspects of the strike at the Lun Chang mills in Pootung cannot be dealt with as they ought, it is possible to draw attention to the strike itself and the factors behind it, for whatever may have been the reasons which led to its being called, there cannot be the slightest doubt now that this strike, and others which may be in contemplation are being fostered for what appear to be purely political ends. Without any qualification whatever it may be safely asserted that what is happening in Pootung is part and parcel of the Japanese inspired anti-British campaign which is being prosecuted with such vigour in practically all places which happen at the moment to be under Japanese control, and is one of the means by which the Japanese hope to drive British interests and traders out of China despite all the promises which have been given regarding the "scrupulous respect" which was to be paid to the rights and interests of all third party neutrals in China. The matter is one of considerable importance, not only to Britons trading and residing in China but all other foreigners as well, for they may be certain that what the Japanese are now endeavouring to do to the British they will seek to effect against those others in their turn. It is only to be expected that Britons in China would be the first attacked, for if the move were to succeed against them, the task of eradicating other foreign interests would be all the easier. The issue may for the moment be joined between the British and the Japanese, but there is every reason to believe that ultimately all foreign interests in Japanese occupied China will be similarly threatened. To make the matter quite plain the present strike in Pootung, and those which may occur in the future are not the result of the spontaneous action of the Chinese workers arising out of some fancied or real grievance, but has been carefully and sedulously fostered by Japanese agencies, as part of the general anti-British campaign, with perhaps some sordid financial end in view which it should not be difficult for the most casual reader to perceive.
With all the clamour which the Japanese make over alleged anti-Japanese activities their own conduct is open to very severe criticism. Parades of workers, such as that which occurred in Pootung on June 1 in an area completely under Japanese control, could not possibly have taken place without either the knowledge or consent of the Japanese. They could, if they had wished, have stopped it, but the fact that they allowed such a demonstration appears in a curious light when viewed in connection with other circumstances. The Japanese owned Chinese language paper, the "Sin Shun Pao," has been enthusiastically fostering the movement, as witness these following extracts from a recent number of that newspaper Workers of the China Printing & Finishing Ca., at Pootung who have been leading a life like cattle under, the devilish hands of British imperialists, are now engaged in a brave struggle against the management.
The only weapon which the workers possess is the strike, which is sufficient to deal a death blow to the capitalists.
Brave workers of the China Printing Finishing Ca, and members of the strike committee, this is a rare opportunity for you to struggle for your rights.
Go ahead! You are fighting for your own interests and for justice! We are looking forward to your glorious success.
Sentiments of such a nature as these, reeking with the spirit of communism which Japan is supposed to be wiping out of China, reads strangely in a newspaper owned by Japanese, and suggests that "dangerous thoughts" can, and do form tion of the weapons to which the Japanese inspirers of these disorders will willingly resort if it suits their book. It may be taken for granted that if the above extracts appeared in any other foreign owned Chinese language paper levelled against any Japanese industrial concern in Shanghai or the neighbourhood, Japanese indignation would be raised to fever pitch, though it seems to be perfectly all right so far as the Japanese are concerned if such sentiments are voiced against any of the third party neutrals trading in China. What may be perfectly good sauce for the British goose, is by no means a fit condiment for the Japanese gander, or at least that is how the situation for the moment presents itself.
But what of the innocent Chinese who are allowing themselves to be deluded by such propaganda? They do not appear to realize that, by striking in the manner they are, they are playing into the hands of that nation, which only recently detailed the millions of Chinese soldiers reported to have been killed during the last twenty-three months of hostilities. They appear to have forgotten that, only a very short while ago, death and destruction were rained upon them and their fellows in the very areas in which they are now living by these people who now seek to induce them to follow certain courses, not for their own benefit, but for the benefit of the Japanese who have wrought so great an evil in this country. They are allowing themselves to be made the catspaws with which Japan is endeavouring to pull those particular chestnuts which she fancies out of the fire, and are being seduced into a line of action which betrays the best interests of their own country. Were the Japanese able to drive foreign interests out of the country, and it is not to be believed, fortunately, that they will succeed, do these misguided Chinese believe for one moment that their lot would be any better? The designs for exploitation of the Chinese which the Japanese undoubtedly have in their mind, can only succeed with the removal of competition for Chinese labour, and if that is ever removed the Chinese worker will be reduced to the position of a sweated helot, on a bare subsistence wage and without a soul to call his own. The absence of competition in the labour market must ultimately mean the reduction of wages, and descent to an even poorer standard of living than even now prevails, and it follows that the elimination of existing foreign interests must in the long run militate against the interests of the Chinese workers themselves. That is a point which should be brought home to the strikers, and all other Chinese who may be induced to follow their example. They are, whether they intend to do so or not, in fact playing the game as the Japanese want it played, and probably quite unwittingly are assisting the enemies of their country who has brought about such destruction and destitution wherever their armies have passed. What is more they are pickling a rod for their own chastisement, a thing which not even the most misguided worker wishes to do.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.