All of this is clearly recognized in Peking throughout official circles, The telling of it here takes much space but it is simply preliminary to stating what the real question of the hour is in the capital. It is this: Will Wu Pei-fu seize the opportunity to attack and defeat Chang Tso-lin's forces here and now and give the Tuchun ate its death blow, while his colleagues Li Kuei-yuan' and Feng Vu-hsiang hold the Kin-Han railway and protect his rear, or will he be deluded by promises into waiting until his enemies have organized their forees and have again outlawed him?
There is little doubt now in the minds of either Chinese or foreign students of Chinese affairs that some sort of a clash is coming between the Fengtien dictator and the man who overturned' Tuan's exalted throne. The only question is when and how is it coming? When Wu first came to the north he was taken at his own public valuation of himself and was believed to be a sincere but simple-minded soldier. When the fight with the Anfu forces was imminent there were scores of his well-wishers among the Chinese and foreigners in the capital who were fretting to get to him and give him advice, each of course having his own wnigue pian. While generally conceded at this juncture that Wu Pei-fu is fairly capable "fF taking care of himself there are still a great many who would like to submit their ideas and as one goes
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.