The situation in the north is one Jof the most complex that has arisen for years and readers who fare trying to follow developments and find that they cannot understand what is going on need feel no sense of inferiority because they can make neither head nor tail of it; for not only are the "authorities" in the same boat, but the biggest figures in the straggle are in precisely a similar dilemma. Almost all that-anyone can do is to get accurate information upon the status of each of the chiefs, which is by no means easy, and then try to figure out the' most likely upshot as one would a chess game. Something of this sort we shall try to do, for we believe that we have sound general information jon the relative positions of the numerous factions, bet we do not invite the public to put too much faith in our prognostications, The unforeseen is the commonest element In Chinese polities and the wood is full of dark horses.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.