Tue satisfaction felt on Sunday the terms for thg disposal " of the soldiers camped at the North Station and along the Settlement boundary was decidedly damped yesterday, by realization of the fact that there is no sign of movement among the men nor of any inclination to move. _Desertion and treachery among their chief leaders have put. them in a thoroughly suspicious mood, in which there is little doubt that they are egged on by adventurers] greedy of making something for themselves out of the opportunity presented. Promises will. not The men are quite frank ith anyone who questions them. Till they get their money, they, don't go. Even that, however, would not settle the matter. The money would very quickly be spent in a place like Shanghai and what are the men to do then? What is needed is a proper organation of trains to take them away and of responsible cashiers} to give them their money as they enter the train;. in addition, guards to see that they do not get out again. Of such organization there is no sign whatever, possible that some of the difficulties of the situation arise from the fact that the various Chinese generals actually in the Shanghai district ure somewhat! on an equality with each We hear sorts of of men being unable to} take up their posts, as instructed by one leader. because other are already in possession of them at the orders of another. What, truth there may be in these reports we do not know and wel should not wish to suggest any conflict of opinion or interests. But among the leaders present there may very well be some hesitation to take a decided stand, In all circumstances, the great, importance of Marshal Chi Hsieh-yuan coming here himself is plain everyone, As the Inspector-General of Kiangsu, Kiangsi and' Anhui, whose position dates from Jong before the war, he is the man to give orders which other _men cannot trifle with, and those orders would have vastly greater! force if delivered by word of mouth from, say, the Bureau of Foreign Affairs than when mere ly transmitted from somewhere up the railway by telegram, It! is not only the disposal of Marshal, Lu's soldiers which has to be settled, but the really far mor important question of the governance of the whole district. Every thing has been thrown into dis array by the war and by the flight of Marshal Lu; and the prizes which the Shanghai district holds out to a bold adventurer are too! great to leave the assignment them in doubt for a moment. The news received since the above was written that Marshal Chi has made up his mind to come here will be greeted with general satisfaction.
'Meanwhile as regards the soldiers who are to be disbanded and Paid off, may we emphasize for the fourth that foreign' mediation and assistance are absolutely indispensable if the problem is to be solved? Without such outside assistance, the present most unsatisfactory: state affairs may drag on almost indefinitely and will never be wound up so completely as not to leave the possibility of still further. trouble. We have excellent' reason to believe that foreign assistance would be welcomed on one side and we do not doubt it would be as readily accepted on the other. The task of off and shipping to. their own homes perhaps some thousands men is a very formidable une, for which, without discourtesy it may be said, the Chinese have no
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.