Seldom indeed do Chinese leaders treat us to manifestoes of so much interest as the three we published yesterday, Marshal Chang Tso-lin appealing for a truce, General Huang Fu's a count of the Tsinanfu outbreak and Mr. T. V. Soong's demand for "clear thinking and fearless facing of facts on both sides." Naturally Marshal Chang's appeal attracts first attention, because it so much accords with the wisdom of the situation, as long apparent to. detached observers, Civil war has been going on for several years and Marshal Chang has always appre hended that it "might impair the friendly relations between China and other nations. Unfortunate incidents have happened at Can ton, Hankow, Nanking and Tsinanfu." He goes on to emphasize once again that his only quarrel has ever been with the om the hegin= ning I declared that I would re= gard my personal foes as friends if only they concurred with m: in the suppression of Bois vism." This is an obvious appeal to Nanking. Since you have thrown out the Bolshevists, he implies, what have we to fight about? And here is another clever touch: "As regards national polities, I will not be insistent if our people can agree on a fair and impartial decision, The question of right, or wrong rests with the people." This is not the voice of warlord or dictator, but a frank submission to the democratic principles of the age and the essence of what Nanking has alw And to prove his Marshal Chang says twice that he has ordered his troops to cease hostilities, As support for the Chinese contentions against Japan, it must frankly be said that General Huang Fu's report, tem-berately as it is written, is not convincing. He admits that the barriers were removed by the Japanese but of the subsequent clash he can only say that "ae cording to reliable information received by us the Japanese troops were the first to open fire." It is hardly conceivable that the Japanese should first have removed the barriers, which they must have done solely to relieve tension and appease public feeling; and should then act as the aggress-cre. They may actually have fised the first shots. But in all
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.