should like to ask the foreign shipping people not to give Lu and Ho assistance. If they are defeated they will try to go to Fengtien with some of their troops. To aid them in this is only to help th make trouble in other quarters. 'They must be permanently put out of business. T have heard that because they could not charter a steamer elsewhere for their prospective flight, they have had to pay' the Japanese "$2,400,000 for a two months' lease on a steamer. I could buy two boats for that. I hope that the Japanese authorities will withhold' such assistance, We have formation that Lu has been able to buy Japanese arms and that 11 Japanese officers wore acting as advisers. It ix alo rumoured that many others of various nationalities have been giving him assistance, Tell these people that they are not working in a stood cause and ask: them to withdraw their support. T only ask what is fair. 1am willing: to fight without outside support and have done s0. "Lu should be forced "To the Chinese I want to say that they have been suffering for years under the burden of Lu Yunghhsiang's yoke and that when have won they will be free.
"Lu has exacted great sums of money from them and has imposed illegal taxes upon them. This I assure the Chinese community I hall not do. T hope that the Chin ese of Shanghai will not give him further financial help. If'he tries to exact money let them take re-Auge elsewhere for the hey Lean assure them that if they give further assistance to Lu I shall not easily forget it, Jarge, both foreign and Chinese, I want to say that I profoundly regret that in the prosecution of this war T have caused the people to suiter greatly from anxiety, inconvenience and financial loss. I was forced into it, however. Ho, as Defence Com-joner of Shanghai which is in Kiangsu, should have.been my subordinate, but as Lu's agent he joined pi with Lu to make war upon me. T had to meet them both and subdue them. There was nothing else to Reproduced Tusk low that Shanghai for a very little while longer when peace will bring renewed prosperity and renewed hope.
"We are, I believe, very near reunification of this country. 'There were three obstacles to it—Fengtien in the north, Kuangtung in the south and Chekiang in the middle. Tam now busy removing the middle abstraction, after which we think that it will' be easy to get rid of obstacles in both north and south. Once we got the country together under a central authority again, the task before us will be one' of recon: struction and I think we can look forward to peace, prosperity and commercial and industrial progress for both foreign merchants and our own people. T hope that when the opportunity offers, the foreigner will give us a hand in getting on our: feot again.'
'This closed the interview, as such, after which Marshal Chi began' to chat about his war plans and gave the writer a little news. He said that the big attack would commence to-morrow morning on all fronts, Yesterday he talked with Sun Chuan-fang on. the telephone and learned that he was in Kashing, would be half way to Sungkiang' with the main body to-day. and in Sungkiang in full force tomorrow. Sun is with Bei Pao-shan and the Anhui leader Wang Pu and their forces total 20,000. When they reach Sungkiang to-morrow they will at once advance upon Shanghai and at this front Huangtu will be encircled by the Kiangsu left wing and a heavy assault launched upon Nanziang.
But more of this in another letter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.