Everything is quiet in Nanning at present, but the city is full of rumours and fears of coming troubles. The Canton officials are not in favor of retaining this place as the provincial capital. For them it is too far from Canton, vad they would prefer Wuchow or even Kuaipeng.
We have certainly been very much "cut off," but it is Canton's inefficient rule of the province that is responsible for that. Robbers and disbanded Kuangsi soldiers control the country and hold up traffic, robbing, killing, or holding to ransom travellers, postal couriers, junkmen and any others falling. into their hands. The districts round Kueilin and Lungchow have been laid waste by these loving bands, and other parts of the country, such as Moming and its villages have been razed to the ground by Canton troops. ing—one is the post office, the other a yamen. For miles the whole country is dead—not a vestige of life te be seen.
It seems to have been definitely decided that the Canton troops will evacuate western Kuangsi. Old Kuangsi soldiers are moving in; and Lan, the Kuangsi official who surrendered Wuchow to Chen Chiung-ming, is expected here shortly, to take over charge. Lu \ung-ting and the former military leaders of the province, however, are against coming to any sort of terms and it is to be feared that this arrangement will make for still more trouble. The Cantonese residents are in terror of reprisals, and numbers of the leading merchants are leaving with their families. There is nothing certainly to keep them here, business beimg conspicuous by its absence. Governor Ma, himself, is departing in a few days.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.