The New Militia: A Significant Movement: Yang Sen a Popular Governor Frost Our Own Connesroxpent, Kiating Sze.,. Apr. 8, Srechuan first in war and last in peace. One wonders if Szechuan Jwill be the first province after all to solve the most grievous problem lof the military oppression of Chit There are signs of it already and lone with the ear to the ground ca not but feel that things which are happening now in this province are but the shadows of what will come fin the very near future.
From time to time, we have mentioned the organizing of the loca'
tio in certain places of the pro-ince. In one letter we specially' mentioned ihe case in which a special trip of: investigation had been partly made with the purpose were old oe that time. that there twere some 40,000 of such troops about here, who were hsing assis fed into organization by Divi Commander Cheng. The daily pap-appearing, with, lof cities which are banding together, Jagainst the so-called bandits. The Chinese gentry will openly tell any-Jone that they would prefer to der end upon the local "Twan" than Jupon the military for protection, Reports of Famine these Inst few days there he been much comment in the daily Papers of Chengtu and Chungki with regard to the famine which occurring in parts of Szechuan. Such a condition of affairs has not been known about here for many many years and now the people laponly say that the re that they are compelled to plant so much opium that there is not enough land left for the production of rice. In some places as much as nine-tenths of the fields are under the cultivation of the poppy. Christians Jare known to have paid the ta stead of planting the poppy until the tax has been put so heavily jupon them that they had no other way open but to plant in order to leseape the military tax.
Rice has reached an unprecedentprice. The military issued a Proclamation that certains kinds of silver coins are not to be used on the market and then they flood the shops with that very coin, Some days ago at a river port Jjust above Chungking the military. were attempting to load some rice for Chungking soldiers. The peo-appealed to the officers them that they had not enough ice for their own use, but in vain, 'A riot arose and the' people, even the expense of two or three lives, seized the rice and carried it off, The soldiers lost.
These are but a few of the signa that militarism in Szechuan is on the wane and the people will ere long come to their own.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.