High Price the Fault of the Military From. Ous Own Correspondent, Kueiyang, Kuei., Jan. 7.
Owing to an alarming advance in the price of rice the Commissioner of Police has issued a proclamation accusing the crafty rice merchants of keeping up the price of the foodstuffs. He says they store all the rice they can get their hands on and at the same time spread ''false reports, and unwary ranted fabrications" to the effect that the authorities are responsible for the shortage in supplies because they commandeer pack animals and coolies, etc. The Commissioner gives them' warning that they will suffer if they persist in this practice. The public, however. know the reports are not altogether false for the military folk do ruthlessly commandeer horses and men even in this city. Toward the end of December a number of horses engaged by a government institution were taking goods to the eastern part of the province, but before they got outside the city the soldiers seized the horses and unloaded them in spite of the fact that the drivers protested the horses were working under the official flag. The gentleman in charge of the institution wrote a letter to General Lu explaining what had been done and asking for the release of the animals. The Commander-in-Chief wrote a letter of apology and said if they would apply at a. certain inn they might have the animals in question returned to them. When a representative was sent for the horses the soldiers told him he could not have them because the petty officer was not willing to release them. An appeal was then made to the Commissioner of City Defence and after several days the animals were released. If the soldiers take liberties like that with horses travelling under the official flag what must they do to animals belonging to simple-minded country folk who are afraid of the uniforms and arms of the "braves"?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.