Sune 2, THE birth of a new Kingdom in east China is a matter of sup-rome importance to the whole leountry and beyond it, There have been declarations of Kiang-ssu's independence from time to time in response to threats of civil war, but these were of little more than local interest. The federating of Kiangsu, Kiangsi, Anhui, Chekiang and' Fukien—two complete Viceroyalties of the old days—under Marshal Sun Chuan-fang means nothing less than a new, autonomous state. Marshal Sun is said to have declared that the project does not go so far as first described. But that it does go-very far indeed there can be no doubt. It is the! logical development of all the Marshal has done since he drove Fengtien out of Kiangsu last, autumn and very astutely stayed his hand at the provincial border; it is in keeping with, if not an essential counterpart of, the consolidation of the Shanghai districts into one greater muniipality solely responsible to Marshal Sun; and a vital part lof the policy of the new federation is that it will brook no in-eigners nor will it take any part in wars elsewhere in China, Frankly one does not see who is going to interfere with Marshal Sun, His contro! over the approaches to the Yangtze gives him unique advantages, Marshal Pei-fu's power is too diffuse for him to try conclusions. Marshal Chang Tso-lin is too remote. Canton has enough to ido for the moment with the war in Hunan. Thus Marshal Sun has chosen his time wisely when everyone else is too busy.to tackle him and he will, therefore, have plenty of time to consolidate his forces. And really in the present state of China, there is absolutely no logical, moral or constitutional reason why he should not construct a kingdom for himself and, if he governs wisely, every reason, from the viewpoint of the people under him, why he should. The phrase about brooking no interference from foreigners reads curiously, Possibly there is some mistranslation, but further explanation is desirable. Read in the light of Marshal. Sun's recent speeches in Shanghai, the phrase may We intended as an invitation to the foreign authorlties to negotiate directly with him on matters chiefly of provineial interest. Speaking at the tea party he gave at the Bureau of Foreign Affairs on May 6, Marshal Sun strongly disclaimed any idea of violating treaties or of anti-foreignism, On the contrary, he pleaded strongly for foreign ce-operation. He went on to mention particularly the formation of a proper Port Authority for Shanghai and the return of the Mixed Court as questions that should be negotiate ed locally with his government.
No Central Government (he said) is likely to. sanction any arrangement without the previous consent of the provincial government, On the other hand, the provincial authorities can always use their influence to press for the consent of the Central Government to any agreement already made, 1 hope your will always bear this in mind When you carry on any negotiation with us There is an intimation in the last, sentence not to be missed. Technically, while the Powers through their Ministers in Peking continue to recognize something as a Government, though not one of those Ministers nor anybody else can say what it is, questions of Mixed Courts, har-hours and the like must ' drag through all the weary wasting delay of northern negotiation. Practical wisdom points all the other way, provided Marshal Sun keeps his promise of respecting the treaties, as we see no reason why he should not do, One result, already long overdue, this formation of a new state in east China should have.
Tt must surely convince the Powers of the monstrous and dangerous futility of according recognition to the empty name Peking. For there is no longer even the semblance of a Government in the so-called capital. There is nothing but one man insecurely perched in ithe Waichiaopu. In contrast, we have the wholly independent and uncontrolled power of Chang Tso-lin in Manchuria, Sun Chuan-fang in East China, Wu Pei-fu in the centre, Tang' Chi-yao in Yunnan, Chiang Kai-shek in Canton. The situation predicted by the late Mr. W. V. Drummond. in our columns in 1912 as the inevitable result of attempting to make a republic out of China, has come about with startling accuracy. There was only one mistake: the breakup of China into several autonomous states has come just ten years sooner than Mr. Druntmond forecast. Presumably the hope of the Ministers is that if, ike Brer Rabbit, they "lie low and keep on sayin' nuffin" some sort of authority will presently coagulate about the faded palaces of Peking, But the itications gre all against it," The
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.