Nor. 8.
Tue situation as between the different parties and combatants is so wildly complicated that it may be useful to recapitulate, recent events, in order to see, possible, whither they lead us. The flight of Marshal Lu Yung-hsiang on October 13 appeared to leave the decision to a straight fight between Wu Pei-fu and Chang Tso-Jin, with the former largely reinforced by the Chihli armies hitherto held up in Kiangsu. The betting was distinctly on Chibli. But on October 23 General Feng Vu-hsiang, ally of Wu Pei-fu several years standing, played the traitor, seized Peking under the pretext of putting an end to hostilities, and thus placed Wu Pei-fu between two fires. The latter, with characteristic prompt titude, hastened back to Tientsin with his best troops, but on November 8 he was defeated at Laofa (on the railway from Tientsin to Peking) and is now a fugitive, where no one, at the moment of writing, knows, Deprived of their chief, his army at the Great Wall was routed by the Fengtien (Chang Tso-lin) forces, which are now reported to be concentrating in Tientsin, presumably with a view to advancing on Peking, where Feng Vu-hsiang dictator, with a so-called Cabinet headed by Dr. C. T. Wang. President Tsao resigned on November 2.
While Feng reigns in Peking, Chang Tso-in is supreme practically everywhere else in the north.
was at first thought by some Chinese that he had bribed Feng to commit the corp, but it appears clear that the two are in opposition. Chang's purpose seems rather to bring out as President the veteran Tuan Chi-jui former chief of the Anfu Club, who, nevertheless enjoys great prestige among Chinese all complexions. In an interview given at Mukden on October 26, Chang Tso-lin said: "The Peking Government will be taken over by Marshal Tuan Chi-jui and I am now making arrangements with General Feng. Vu-hsiang for the purpose of supporting Marshal Tuan." So far, these arrangements show} no sign of having any result, perhaps because Feng was unwilling to share the honour of Marshal Tuan's cooperation with anyone else. He has repeatedly urged Marshal Tuan to come to Peking, but this the latter has steadily refused to do—for sufficiently obreasons. It may be- that incipall reason for cruel and indefensible attack on the young Ching Emperor,. whom he now holds a prisoner. possible: hoping to use His Majesty as a lever in his bargainings with Chang and Tuan, 'The apologia offered by Feng's' creature, Dr. C. T. Wang, as reported in yesterday's paper, makes matters worse rather than better, for both the adventurers.
Wang, lifter some hypocritical] sympathy—Heaven save the mark with Wu Pei-fu, speaks of "the dictates of our (his and Feng's) conscience." One is reminded of Huckleberry Finn's. pithy _remark: "If T had a yalier dog that, didn't know more than a conscience, I'd poison it." Plain men. will neither envy nor respect Dr. Wang's conscience. His. statement that, military mandarin cliques for the ast few years have do nothing but engineer private feu: to promote their personal interests, —though doubtless accurate, searcely comes well from one who owes a transient notoriety to nothing but the rifles of his patron's troops. And when he volunteers a promise that "we (sic) shall live up to the letter and spirit our Treaty engagements: it is bounden duty to promote a better: understanding between the Chinese people and the friendly Powers," he must not be surprised if the said Powers remain politely' inattentive. The consciences of General Feng and Dr. Wang are! too peculiar for understanding by} ordinary folk, And men who! cannot be true to engagements with their own countrymen are likely tobe over-particular ith foreigners. Dr. Wang's statement makes one feel a little One explanation has been sug gested above of General Feng's expulsion of the Ching Emperor and seizure of the palace; another, reported by Mr. Rodney Gilbert} to-day, is that it is due to the fluence of Karakhan, the Red Ambassador. But it is difficult to believe that any Chinese, however tender his conscience, could be prevailed on by outsiders to make so unjustifiable and provoked an assault upon a young, man, who has nothing whatever to do with the present civil war, whom large numbers of Chine respect and of whom none can say that he has ever tried to harm the Republic or voluntarily been a. threat to it, The excuse that his! allowance is too much and that his treasures shall be spent on building factories for the bannermen is rank hypocrisy. one knows that the Emperor has had to sell many objets dart, to make both ends meet, because the Republic did not pay his allow), ance; and as for palace treasures, no one is likely to get anything out of them but the inventory makers. In justice to Gen Feng, he has never allowed his soldiers to loot. But what match is he for the practised harpies of Peking, with the treasures of the Imperial City exposed to their, claws? General Feng's treatment of the Emperor has outraged the feeling of every decent man and utterly put him out of court for consideration in the reshaping of China Thus, at the moment of writing ive at this broad outline of China without even the: semblance of a Government; Peking only worthy of attention in 0 far as the man who controls its periphery possesses an unfortunately powerful army; Chang Tso-lin, more commanding figure than ever before; Wu Pei-fu invisible, but, we may be certain, by no means done for; and along the Yangtze an understanding between eight—provine which circumstances are likely te weld into something stronger and closer, with Marshal Chi at their head. The three outstanding figures are still Marshal Chang, Marshal Chi and Marshal Wu.
From all points of view then re putation and their ability—ar2 rove those of ay other leader it impossible te: them te sink their differences and come to-guller?
The great obstacle to such an understanding.is the personal enmity between Chang and Wu. But are they: not big enough to agree that "honours are easy" and to cooperate for the sod of China? In 1922 Chang's troops were defeated by-Wu's and Mukden says it was done by treachery. To-day Wu is a fugitive from Chang, and may surely plead the same excuse. What earthly good can come of pursuing the quarrel, what but loss of life and poverty. and stricken homes? And what will Chi Hsieh-yuan do in this galore? He, certainly, has no love for bloodshed and indeed dreams of great things to be done for China, when at last political discords can be resolved. Again, place and power are big temptajons to men of any race; but we honestly believe that they go for nothing with these three leaders.
What does Chang desire more for himself than Manchuria, or Chi more than Nanking and its demesnes? They have so much that surely their worst detractors need not accuse them of seeking more. As for Wu Pei-fu, we do not think that personal ambition counts for much with him, There ix: to-day some kind of niadness abroad in China, Men ery that their system alone righteous and all others illegal; they go on and on in jealousy and intrigue and war because, somehow, having begun they cannot stop. And in the end what comes of it but ever new divisions and hatreds and China sinking lower and lower? Force will n avail to mend or end this wretched confusion, Only will that be done men, whatever thei are great enough to say, "We will fight no more and we will insist on our own theories more, but we will meet each other frankly and try to see whether a new start cannot be made, not by this party or by that, but for the welfare of all the Sons FAILING to get_an assurance of the Reds in Canton and vicinity that they will refrain from interfering with relatives of Merchants Volunteers, who are non-combatants, it is understood that the Volunteer authorities contemplate advising: Dr. Sun Yatescn and his Kuomine tang following that, unless the Reds confine themselves to civilized warfare, the Volunteers may declare that all' and any person who has been, is now or will be connected with' the Red regime in city, civil or military, wil sidered an accomplice' in connexion with the massacre committed by the Reds in Canton, on October 15, and that any person knowingly purchaying personal or real property formerly belonging to the members of the Volunteer Corps, but now in the hands of the Kuomintang Party or individual Reds, will be treated as receivers of stolen property.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.