May 14.
On April 7 General Chiang. Kai-shek, speaking at the weekly memorial service, "declared that Nanking meant to rema strictly on the defensive against the North, Her barriers be considered impregnable many discordant elements in the rebel ranks would certainly fall to quarrelling among themselves, if given time enough; it would be sheer waste of money and strength to go attacking them. But on May 2 an oath in writ ing, by General Chiang, to lead 4 punitive expedition against the Northerners was given out for publication; and Kuo Min added that "with" the issue of this Since the guns have begun to speak and Nanking has comitted itself to a punitive expedi jon, it only remains to pray thet the battles anticipated by Reuter's "informers may duly come off and may both vides so much for further fighting that they will pause and take thought of the cally pitiable state to whicl china is being reduced. That say fighting can prove decisive it appears hopeless to believe, in the sense that it would enable one side permanently to subdue the other. China cannot be unified by force. She is far too huge. Peking fell in the early summer of 1928 more because there were so many people on the Northern side who symp-sees nothing but swift collapse. Never were the Chinese people calling so loudly as now to their leaders, to break away from trivial points of principle and precedence, and to face realities.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.