Dr, Sun Yat-sen will review the' Municipal. Police, the Provincial Gendarmerie and the Merchants' Volunteer Corps on June 20.
'The Merchants' Volunteer Corps of Kuangtung, a military unit of Civilians for local defence, which the only organization "of thi character outside the foreign concessions in China, came into exfstenee In Canton' in 1912 after the Revolution. The troops at that time were beginning to be autocratic, and the merchants had to ce-operate in order to protect their property. One of the chief promoters of the movement was Mr, Shen Chu-pak, fan insurance agent, who later became the first commandant of the corps. Mr, Chan Lim-pak, the compradore of the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation in Sha-moon, was also one of the. prime movers. He is now Commander-in Chief of the allied corps of the whole of Kuangtung. The charta to form the corps was issued by the Peking Ministry of War in the first year of the Republic. Since then the strength of the corps in Canton alone has risen from 400 to 19,000 men, More than 160 leading cities, towns and villages have organized similar forces, each community having a company varying from 36 to 126 men. Some towns, like Fatshan, ihave several regiments, On May 26 this year delegates from more than 100 Volunteer organizations met in Canton and perfected the provincial organization, making the headquarters of the Canton Corps at Water Melon Garden, Sane Kuan, the provincial headquarters, and elec ing Mr. Chan Lim-pak, the commandant of the Canton unit, Com: mander-in-Chief of the Provincial supreme control of is vested in a conference of representatives of the various units, which meets annually, A council elected by the members of the conference has charge of the affairs of the corps, but on active service the Commander-in-Chief, his staff and officers have full command, Conditions of Joining.
In order to be admitted to the corps in Canton, a candidate must be a member or have a guarantee from a responsible firm. He must be able to pass a literary and physical test and to contribute more than $300 for his uniform and arms. He has to be willing to attend military drills for a period of six months. No one is allowed to carry arms until he has obtained a certificate of efficiency after a period of regular training. At the headquarters in Canton a staff of eight instructors, all regular military officers holding commissions from the Government, holds three recruit drills daily in' the morning and evening and at noon, when business men can get away fiom their work for an hour.
The Canton corps is 13,000 strong, but not every member is fully equipped owing to the difficulty of purchasing arms. There are 10 re-ssiments, each with its own barracks.
According to an officer of the: corps, the property of the organiza tion in Jand, buildings and equipment is valued at more than $2,000, 000. The organization is similar to that of the regular Chinese army, except for slight differences in the "The Merchants' Volunteers have been regularly on duty every day since the present troubles began Canton, assisting the regular police and have done much to restrain the mercenary troops, The Volunteers in the districts are not so well equipped, but are daily growing in efficiency.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.