The past week has been one of considerable excitement, owing to more student troubles. For the past week, all the Government's schools have been closed because of the teachers going on strike for back salary. Latterly, the students have been taking up the quarrel for the teachers. Last Sunday, they paraded the streets with banners and literature, and made speeches calling on the citizens to help them redress their grievances.
On Wednesday last, they took matters into their own hands visiting the residence of Hsiong Hsiao-ngai, the acting President of the Assembly and demanded that he call an immediate meeting of the members and divert the meat] tax (yuh li) to the cause of education according to Liu Hsiang's commands. He replied that he would bring the matter before the houses as soon as he could in the regular way. The students demanded an immediate meeting. The President replied this could not be done at once, as all such matters were in the hands of a business agenda The delegation retired, but returned in an hour over 200 strong, led by teachers, all armed with mattocks, axes and clubs, and commenced to destroy the building. They broke the windows and doors, pulled up: flooring, smashed boxes, porcelain and furniture, slashed the books and clothing with knives, and generally demolished the property. The police were called, and attempted to mako an arrest, so the students turned their attention to the southern branch police office and quickly destroyed all the furniture and windows there. They then marched in a body to the Legislative Assembly and demanded the return of the meat tax for education, which here was being used for military purposes. (It should here be explained that Liu Hsiang at Chungking coolly ordered all the theat tax to be used for education, while he took all the salt tax for his own military purposes, leaving the Chengtu governor no recourse but to use the meat tax to pay his soldiery.)
On being told this could not be done, the students immediately renewed their work of demolition in the Assembly building. The rmembers ordered their chair-bearers to defend them and as there happened to be about as many chair-bearers as students, the husky coolies started in earnest and gave the students all they wanted. The students were eventually driven out, leaving more than 10 seriously wounded, who were carried to hospital, two dying during the night. Some of the chair-bearers ere also taken to hospital, but ere were no fatalities The ringleaders were caught and handed over to the authorities. General Liu Vu-chin published a proclamation stating that the military would be used to quell the next disturbance, regardless of the results, The situation is now quiet. The schools remain closed, and will most likely not Te-open until next term,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.