Ma Ch'ao-chun, o p . c i t ., p-37^.
^ T e n g Chung-hsia, op.cit., p p . l 4 3 “ 9; N o r t h China H e r a l d
53
h e i g h t e n i n g of f e e l i n g s . 30 O n A p r i l 7, a d e m o n s t r a t i o n a g a i n s t ' i m p e r i a l i s t a g g r e s s i o n in the f i e l d of e d u c a t i o n ' , w h i c h was p r i n c i p a l l y d i r e c t e d a g a i n s t Japa n , w a s f i r e d on by tro o p s of the local F u k i e n w a r l o r d , w ho w a s r e g a r d e d by p a t r i o t s as b e i n g h a n d in g l o v e w i t h the J a p a n e s e . O n this o c c a s i o n s e v e n w e r e k i l l e d and a n o t h e r s e v e n s e r i o u s l y
3 1 w o u n d e d .
In the first w e e k of May, C a n t o n saw the 2n d N a t i o n a l T r a d e U n i o n C o nf e r e n c e , at w h i c h it w a s r e s o l v e d to set up a n a t i o n a l G e n e r a l T r a d e Union. R e s o l u t i o n s w e r e a l s o p a s s e d
to the e f f e c t that the e c o n o m i c s t r u g g l e s of the w o r k e r s be t u r n e d into p o l i t i c a l struggles, a n d that the w o r k i n g c l a s s m u s t take the lead in the n a t i o n a l r e v o l u t i o n , as o n l y they w e r e f u lly c a p a b l e of c a r r y i n g it through; a n d they c o u l d o n l y do this by p u t t i n g t h eir own c l a s s i n t e r e s t s first, and t a k i n g them as t h e i r g u i d e a l o n g the r e v o l u t i o n a r y p a t h . 32 T h e C o n f e r e n c e ended, a n d the S h a n g h a i d e l e g a t e s r e turned,
to be con f r o n t e d , s o o n e r than they h a d expected, w i t h the o p p o r t u n i t y to c a r r y these r e s o l u t i o n s into p r a c t i c e .
O n M a y 4 w o r k e r s in N a i g a i W a t a K a i s h a n o .8 m i l l s t r u c k f o r a w a g e increase, but f o l l o w i n g n e g o t i a t i o n s , w o r k was r e s u m e d on the 7th. O n l y a few h o u r s h a d e l a p s e d w h e n the d i s p u t e a g a i n erupted, a n d the s t r i k e r e c o m m e n c e d . F a c t o r i e s nos. 3 and 5 i m m e d i a t e l y struck in s o l i d a r i t y , and they w e r e
C h u n g - k u o C h ' i n g - n i e n , no . I 2 1 , 30/5/26, p.557. Liang, o p . c i t . , p.11.
32
s o o n j o i n e d by w o r k e r s f r o m the T ' u n g H s i n g a n d J a p a n - C h i n a s i l k com p a n i e s . O n the l4th, the s t r i k e s p r e a d to N . W . K . n o .12 factory. O n the I5^h, n o .7 m i l l wa s c l o s e d d o w n b y the m a n a g e m e n t , on the g r o u n d s that it c o u l d not f u n c t i o n fo r
3 3
l a c k of m a t e r i a l from the o t h e r mill s . T h e w o r k e r s who a r r i v e d f o r n i g h t shift d i d not a c c e p t this, a n d f o r c e d t h e i r w a y past a p a r t y of S i k h p o l i c e a n d J a p a n e s e foremen. T h e y a r m e d t h e m s e l v e s w i t h sticks, i r o n bars, a n d o t h e r we a p o n s , a n d s u r r o u n d e d a g r ou p of J a p a n e s e , w h o m they g r e a t l y ou t -
34
numb e r e d . ' A y o u n g w o r k e r w h o m we h a v e a l r e a d y e n c o u n t e r e d , K u C h e n g - h u n g , led a r u s h a g a i n s t them, w h e r e u p o n the J a p a n e s e
o p e n e d fire w i t h pistols, i n j u r i n g some ten C h i n e s e , i n c l u d i n g Ku, who d i e d of h i s i n j u r i e s on M a y 17* F o u r J a p a n e s e w e r e
3 5
a l s o s e r i o u s l y w o u n d e d in the clash. M o s t of the s t r i k e r s t h e n withd r e w , but some, who sou g h t r e f u g e in M i l l n o . 5 » w e r e l o c k e d in b y the J a p a n e s e , w h e r e u p o n they w r e c k e d the
m a c h i n e r y , w h i c h r e s u l t e d in f u r t h e r d i s c o n t i n u a t i o n of o p e r a t i o n s .^
F o l l o w i n g this incident, the s t r i k e s p r e a d further, a n d the J a p a n e s e r e q u e s t e d a l a r g e f o r c e of M u n i c i p a l C o u n c i l P o l i c e to m a i n t a i n o r d e r in their f a c t o r i e s . T h e r e q u e s t w a s granted, a n d a r r e s t s w e r e made, a l t h o u g h no e n q u i r y wa s m a d e into the shooting, w h i c h not s u r p r i s i n g l y s e r v e d to c o n v i n c e
C h ’en Ta, o p .c i t ., p.200. 34 W a n g C h e n g - s h e n g 1s r e m i n i s c e n c e s in W u - s a Y u n - t u n g P ' i e n - tuan H u i - i , p.4. ^ ) K ’o Fang, o p .c i t ., p.18. ^ P o l i c e R e p o r t ; Sh i h P a o , 16, 17/5/25» S h e n P a o , 16, 20, 24/5/25; N o r t h C h i n a Herald, 23/5/25, P-327-
55
the C h i n e s e workers still further that they could not expect 37
justice from the Settlement authorities. The J ap a n e s e Consul, Mr. Yada, also advised the C hi ne se authorities in
Shanghai that unless they put an end to the s t r i k e r s ’
activities, he would be forced to send for Ja p a n e s e soldiers
o Q
to do the job. As a further precaution, Chinese newspa p e r s were wa r n e d by the S.M.C. not to publish anyt h i n g favourable
to the strikes, or that might stir up bad feeling, on pain of expulsion from the Settlement. T h e s e threats were, by and large, effective, as a number of papers had been severely fined for similar 'offences' earlier in the year, and the shooting of Ku C h e n g - h u n g remained un k n o w n to many people for
39
some days. It was this press ban that led the students to adopt the tactic of public speaking in the streets, and was thus a significant factor leading to the eventual outbreak of violence.
37
In fact the J apanese probably simply hired the police, as any individual requiring their services was entitled to do: the going rate was 25 yuan per day for a white mounted policeman, 16 yuan for a white on foot, 8 yuan for a
Japanese, 6 yuan for a Sikh and 3 yuan for a Chinese; an inte r e s t i n g index of racial worth in the Settlement. See Chesneaux, o p .c i t ., p.125*
n Q
J Shih P a o , 21/5/25; all Chinese sources consulted agree on this point, which clashes somewhat w ith Iriye's claim, based on official Jap a n e s e sources, that 'Yada had beli e v e d at first that the student demonstrators were m o t ivated by pa t r i o t i s m and that labor unions should be recognized as legitimate organs by the foreign c a p i talists so long as they did not aim at the overthrow of the e x i s t i n g industrial
s y s t e m ' . It was only after May 30 and conversations with Li L i -s a n that he decided that the l a tter was precisely what they did aim at, and accordingly changed his attitude towards the unions. See A. Iriye, A f ter I m p e r i a l i s m , p.66.
On M a y 16 a m a s s m e e t i n g of s t r i k e r s w a s h e l d u n d e r the l e a d e r s h i p of the u n i o n e s t a b l i s h e d f o l l o w i n g the F e b r u a r y strikes. A str i k e c o m m i t t e e w a s set up, as w e r e p i c k e t groups, p r o p a g a n d a squads, a n d a b o d y to h a n d l e p u b l i c r e l a t i o n s . S t r i k e c e r t i f i c a t e s w e r e i s s u e d to e n a b l e w o r k e r s to r e c e i v e str i k e p a y f r o m u n i o n funds, a n d eight d e m a n d s w e r e raised: 1) S a c k a n d p u n i s h the m u r d e r e r s . 2) C o m p e n s a t e the d e a d a n d wound e d . 3) F r o m n o w on no f i r e a r m s to be c a r r i e d in the f a c t o r y by .Japanese.
4) R e s t o r e the jobs of all s a c k e d worke r s . 5) R e c o g n i z e the a u t h o r i t y of the u n i o n to
r e p r e s e n t the workers.
6) P a y w a g e s for the s t r i k e period. 7) Do not a b o l i s h f i n a n c i a l rewards.
8) P a y w a g e s a n d r e w a r d s in s i l v e r d o l l a r s [i.e. not c o p p e r | .40
T h e s t r i k e c o m m i t t e e w a s in t o uch w i t h the A l l C h i n a G e n e r a l T r a d e U n i o n in Canton, a nd on M a y 20 the c e n t r a l