书城外语AShortHistoryofShanghai
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第99章 A GREAT CRISIS(2)

Before either of these bodies arrived, the Chinese organizations onJune 6th formulated several demands, which with slight amendmentswere approved by the Chinese General Chamber of commerce. Amongthese were the following: Punishment of offenders, compensationfor the dead and wounded, an apology, rendition of Mixed Court,all strikers to be reinstated and their wages paid during the strikeperiod, participation of the Chinese in the Municipal Council andRatepayers‘ meetings, the Chinese representation on the Councilto be in proportion to the amount paid to the Municipal revenue,the qualifications for franchise for the Chinese to be similar to thosefor foreigners, no roads to be constructed by the Municipal Councilbeyond Settlement boundaries and those already constructed to beSee Shanghai: Its Municipality and the Chinese: A. M. Kotenev, pp. 140–142.

turned over unconditionally to the Chinese Government, withdrawalof the proposed regulations concerning printed matter, increase ofwharfage dues, and licensing of exchanges, dismissal of the Secretary ofthe Municipal Council, Mr. E. S. B. Rowe.

International Judicial InquiryThe Diplomatic commission made its report which proved to beunacceptable to the Municipal Council. The respective Powers thenannounced their intention to establish an International Judicial Inquiryinto the Shanghai incident. This proposal, however, did not meet withthe approval of the Chinese, and on August 17th the Chinese GeneralChamber of commerce forwarded to the British, French, American,Italian, Japanese and Belgian Legations, a protest against this methodof procedure.

Chinese Government Refuses to Take PartIt appears that the Chinese authorities were aware of the terms ofthe report of the delegates of the Diplomatic Body, although up to thattime they had not been made public, and being on the whole satisfiedwith them, did not want the matter re-investigated. They gave as theirreason “the case has already been very carefully investigated by theChinese Government and the Diplomatic delegates, and its merits havealready been well established. To propose to conduct a judicial inquiryof re-investigation after the lapse of more than three months wouldseem to ignore the above facts in their entirety and would, it is feared,only serve the purpose of complicating the issue.“Findings of the Judicial InquiryThis Judicial Inquiry, however, was held, the Court consisting ofMr. Justice Finley Johnson (United States), Sir Henry Gollan (GreatBritain) and Mr. K. Suga (Japan)。 No Chinese Judge was present,although the Chinese had been urged to appoint one. Thirteen sessionswere held from October 7th to 27th, but no Chinese witnesses werewilling to appear and very little new evidence was obtained. Each ofthe Judges drew up a separate report. Although the reports differedfrom one another on several points, all exonerated Inspector Everson.

The American Judge criticized the commissioner of Police, Mr.

McEuen, both for his absence from the scene of trouble, and for hisnot having taken sufficient precautions against serious disturbance.

Action of the CouncilOn December 21st, 1925, the Council informed the ConsularBody of the resignation of Mr. McEuen, and Inspector Everson,renewed its expression of regret at the loss of life on May 30th, andrequested the Consular Body to forward to the commissioner ofForeign Affairs a cheque for $75 ,000 as a mark of sympathy withthe wounded and with the relatives of those who were killed. Underinstructions from the Waichiaopu, the commissioner of Foreign Affairsrefused to receive it.

Opinions of Justice Finley JohnsonMr. Justice Finley Johnson in his report went behind theimmediate causes of the local disturbance, and pointed out whatappeared to him the deep-seated reasons for the antagonism betweenthe Chinese and the foreign communities. In this connection hesuggested that the question of extraterritoriality, and the allegedinfringement of China"s sovereignty should be considered and settled.

He pointed out also the need of taking up the revision of the treaties,and called attention to the changed mentality of the Chinese in regardThe Chinese criticized the retirement of these two men on Pension.

to liberty and independence.

The Long Strike

As we have said, the May 30th incident led to the most seriousand prolonged strikes in the history of Shanghai. commerce andindustry for a time were at a standstill.

But by June 26th the situation was somewhat alleviated bythe reopening of the Chinese hongs and shops, in accordance with aresolution passed by the Chinese General Chamber of commerce. Theindustrial strike, however, continued, and shipping was almost entirelytied up.

The Municipal Council finally resorted to cutting off electricpower from Chinese owned mills and factories. This was greatlyresented by the Chinese employers, and although attempts were madeby them to furnish their own power plants, yet many industries wereseriously crippled.

In course of time the strike fund for paying the unemployedlabourers became exhausted. There had been considerable dissatisfactionamong the workers as to the way the fund was distributed.

Chinese Representation on the CouncilThe constant friction between the Council and the Chineseresidents made it perfectly apparent that harmony could only besecured by offering the Chinese representation on the Council.

Experience had shown that the Chinese Advisory committeewas not satisfactory either to the Municipal Council or to the Chinesecommunity and it was felt that a new step must be taken—a stepthat would radically change the constitution of the InternationalSettlement.