1 am not in the confidence of these young men, nor do T care to admit that my mind runs in the: same groove with theirs. But as it was my business for over a half century to guess what people were thinking and their motives Public actions, I can seo very satis-fact riy reasons for this rejection the thing for which they have amoured so long. These young ender'! (he gave a pecutior stress te the word), In my offc: a} life T always set myself a goal—an isredocible minimum—and though 1 started out with far greater demands T was pretty sure of getting in the end just about what I wanted and the main point is that I wa perfectly satisfied. These young! men to-day in their hearts do not really expect to get any of their demands, and when they do get them they are so unprepared to receive them that they begin to find fault at ence.
"In this particular ense of the Council they have suddenly di covered that membership in simply impossible for them. The Settlement is rapidly fling with foreign soldiers and thousands more are soon to arrive. Every government that has nationals here sending troops for their protec-jon. America has made a grest!
of landing no men but her war-vessels are hero and large forces are ready for an immediate ending. The Srst question that the Ipstlie wil ask of these Chinese ™*niin€ an answer. Nien Ching certainly ought not tobe dificult of Chinese soldiers everywhere it to. procure enough for merely de+ fensive purposes fo, whom then would they, apely!" There being no answer, the cld man continued:
"These myriads of soldiers in our distressed country, irresponsible ad they seem to be, are yet one and all enlisted under some one of tha great military chieftains to whom application would have to be made, To which one of them would your apply? I presume that the psonld, of Shanghai would hardly make sich a request of Marshal Chang Chungs chang or Marshal Chang Tye-Uin"=—which even his melancholy, grandson smiled quite cheerfully.
"Wu Peiefu would be in the samd lass and the choice would he nar rowed down to Marshal Sun Chiane feng and Marshal Chiang Kai-shek, Let us deal with the latter first, The Nationalists would be delighted te have q large force of their ows safely "ensconced within ott boundaries and contributing to our defence, but there are several practical difficulties. First, how. would they get, here? They have been endeavouring to get belo in full force for quite a bit but are still quite a way off. Their cnemiss control the Yangtze from Kiukiang down and the most adept smuggle could hardly hope to get a force off soldiers slipped through. But let us wave away that difficulty and take up the second: Granted that they might be secured, how could they be expected to ce-operate with the British soldiers who are coming in force? Think it over! 1
An Awkward Dilemma 4
"Our councillors would be forced turn to Marshal Sun Chuan-fang and let us imagine the form the would take or rather the Marahal's answer. If they say WW is for defence, the Marshal will reply that for the best of reason jie is already defending Shanghai to the best of his abilities and will continue to do so. Suppose they should be so-tactless as. to hint of hie possible defeat "and to Stanghai from his straggling soldiers, the Marshal will reply the question: Then you are asking me to lend you soldiers to protect you and the foreigners against mys self?" Tt would require considerable more ability than any of they young men have yet showed to giv@ tactful reply to this question."
M—Foreign Aid for Which Chie nese Secretly Long "Let us suppose" Lao Goo cons tinued, "that the foreign members of the Council would good-humouredly, excuse their Chinese colleagues from all protective responsibilities, what further offices could they perform ab this critical juncture in our affairs, "It might be suggested that they. would be invaluable as negotiators between the Municipal Council and the Chinese rulers of our countrys Here we are faced again with come Lunt facts: chief of which is thab the de facto ruler of Shanghai, this province and its environs is Marshal Sun Chuan-fang. I have looked over the list of those who have been Prominent in the Chinese Ratepayerd and it is an open secret fe a few of those mentioned would find the task of negotiating with Marshal Sun Chuan-fang bit embarrassing. While the Mare shal's eye would gleam with delight Jat having a visit from these gentles men it is quite probable that they would be indisposed to make such a visit at the present He might insist on theb longer than their business interest, would permit. Tam quite sure thead firmly on with Marshals Sun, Chang and Chang. Even then, are ther any, jeandidates for such an office?
"There is no particular need fox larly negotiations at present with the Kuomintang. Nor is there much likelihood of such need in the fne ture. If the Kuomintang armies jover get here, it will be because [they have triumphed in the field, and in that event we. may very, cately count on the probability that neither foreign nor Chinese memo vere of the Municipal Council will
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.