"KILL ALL ENGLISH."

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue LVI, 13 November 1925, Page 8

"KILL ALL ENGLISH."

•TURMOIL IN CHINA. HUE TO BOLSHEVISM. . U.USSLA.NS' ENGINEER STRIKES. ENGLISH COUPLE y S | EXPERIENCE. The.New Zcalander who has nevef. ventured .beyond the coasts of "God> Own Country,?', and 7 whose experience; of industrial troubles is conifined. to an OCCa.sional; Btrikc;of seamen, watersidcrs, or eVeri second division.jnen of the railway cannot even imagine what industrial trouble in the East means. • The mere iflf6rmatio.n tcontained, in .cablegrams from .time to. ti,nie that there is a Strike amongsfc" Chinese.. students in China, and, that Europeans in; Shanghai and Honckong' are inconstant, danger, can convey little of what really is happening.- and it is only when Europeans, have the-good fortune-to shake the : ;dust of the East from their feet and' come to New Zealand that .we vie able to learn just/what the' true position is. ' . "..

"-.Leaving for Dunedin this .evening are "Gnice jijid. Keats," artistes who have been Appearing at the Opera House during the, past fortnight unAr the Fuller management, and who in Slay last were in -when the CJiinWft employed atone of the went,ori :.str;ke, and the very;.cxisten,ce.pf. all-Eui;opcitn3 in settlement "was tbrea teried.. I luprivate -life, the; couple-are llt. .and Mrs,,, Keats, and when seen this morning,/Mr.'.JKeats qiy te readily .related some of their experience* ajt Shanghai, Hongkong and Kowl6on.\Kere:is . $J f

"You'>waTit to know something about the trouble in China? Well, let mc say that the experiences" of Mrs. Keats and I will-never be forgotten We -were showing:..there when , the. Chinese, em.'pibj'ed . at- one. of ..the mills went ■■out- ■• on We. did.! not .think .' : aV -the time .what -; this Would; develop-into, but we. had.' good cause,.tp realise , it before many hours had" passed. '- Several of the Chinese were brougiitJ before the British .Court and detained, which, : from" wliat '■ J I' could gather, is similar: to .'be sentenced to , imprisonment, say; in New Zea^a'iid. , The :Chinese ['considered that, the British Court was favouring -the; : Japtanese and,, showing antagonism -tpwards th^ '..Chjnameri, : -and three oi: ; foiir Mrs.-Keatl.: and I were -ivalking Nanlcing' Road when we , saw anything from 6000 to'• 7000 Chinese march up the road to the police station.' At the time only the police sergeant and a Sikh police were present, and the rebels began to bombard the station'with Stones and cry: '-'Kill the English!" This was also inscribed in large letters across" banners which the rebels carried. The crowd reached within 15yds of the station gates when they halted, and the sergeant of police advised them to go away, but not befo:e he had called up the reserve. The reserve is a volunteer corps numbering about 1500, and they must have assembled quickly, because it was no.t long before they made their appearance, and a "hand-to-hand fight, ensued. Armoured cars and machine guns were brought into use, and bayonet chargeis in the street' were frequent happenings for tlic next few days.- '* i< '. '. \ In a Bad Fix. "Orders wefe issued to all Europeans not to 1 leave their residences, and you can take it from mc that ' the great majority were not inclined to ventiiru into the streets. Things were- bad enough then'; but Trorse was . to- fqlUrfc because the whole of the Chinese'shops in the settlement suddenly closed their doors, and, as the English and American people in Shanghai relied upon the 'Chinese shops fer food, we were iri - a pretty fix, I can tell you. We dare' not go out looking for food, because anything might happen to us, and "we had to be content with home-made scones and the like. Massacres and shootings were reported frequently, and the Chinese even started fires with the object of burning the settlement out.

-{'There is no question that Bolshevism was at the back of the trouble, and it was well known that Russians were providing money to the Chinese students. Russia wants to get the Englishman and American out of China and the 'KeJs" are leaving no stone unturned to bring that about. The police and volunteers made a raid upon the colleges, schools, and quarters of. the students and secured a vast amount of Bolshevik literature. It's all propaganda. The general strike, amongst the industrial class of the Chinese ; was • declared - against all foreigners, but it was really kitting at the British in the Settlement. There is the border line around the Settlement, and it would he foolish for a European to go ovrjr that line, because be would most likely be captured and one never knows what might happen then.

"It might seem strange to you, but the theatre carried on just the same. We lived next door; and each night would almost crawl to the theatre on the "tcp of which was a machine gun. It was the Carlton Cabaret we were showing at, and the audience would sit at tables with their rifles standing alongside. Everybody was in khaki, the doors were locked, and no unnecessary risks were taken. For ' three weeks Mrs. Keats never left the house in the day time, and we were not feeling too well pleased with the position."

Foreign Warships on the Scene. However, in the early stages of the trouble battleships' were sent for, and these came from England, America anrf Japan. To go into the street was to coiirt disaster, but we had to get away somehow. Several times we tried to book passages on a steamer bound for Australia, but all the accommodation was secured by Russians, and I am certain that Bolshevism is at the root oLtroubles experienced in shipping in AustraDa today. Bolshevism is sweeping across all European countries and unless the Governments realise the position, serious trouble is ahead. Strikes will be common, and the people and country will suffer. • *'• .

"Although' we are here in your fine country, make, no mistake both Mrs. Keats and I feel we are lucky. When we were eventually enabled to book passages on a steamer we had to leave our residence in a motor car. We lay- on the fleer of the car covered with rug?, suit cases, and other luggage, and you c-an ..imagine' what, we foit like on reaching the wh.nrf. when wo found that the hqod .of .the car had .been wrecked-on t!ie way by.-Snipers who threw, stones. But even after leavJng'Shaiighai our troubles were not over, because thc'frcneral strike had been declared against all foreigners, and the ferries would not take us across from Hongkong to Kowloon. which is just"like going from Auckland to Devonport. We Lad to get assistance from the garrison and be taken over in a a launch. '

"li the Chinese suspected a foreigner was in a car they would not think twice about wrecking it. At night time they would dig trenches in the roadway, and it was common for a tramcar to".be thrown off the line arid many people injured. And don't forget the Russians. with their Bolshevism is the root of all the trouble. Russians are coining to Australia by the j boat load, and what has happened.-in Shanghai, and the places I have mentioned is possible in Australia or Xew Zealand. The Governments want to prevent Bolshevism getting a footing in these ideal countries, otherwise they will gradually become Russianised just as Shanghai is to-day."