Jan. 13.
'The presence in Shanghai of most of the leaders of the new Government of China and their' absence from Nanking naturally' arouse considerable anxiety. Nanking seems to be an empty shell. It might almost be suggested that any group which cared to walk into the offices to-day and assume the duties of government might be presented at once with full permission to do so by the men lately installed there under the auspices of the Kuomintang, The predecessors. of the new Government were understood to have given their successors a clear field. They paid up the army and the servants of the Government with all arrears due up to December 31 last. This reduced the amount of cash in hand but it inly saved the incoming administration from the embarrassment of being dunned by soldiery and minor officialdom, The proceedings of the Plenary Sessior enabled the process of forming a cabinet and putting the President ship on mon-partisan lines to be smoothly brought to its assigned conclusion. The Government took office. They made admirable statements and livered themselves of excellent intentions, Nothing happened. Buoyancy seemed to give way suddenly. The desire to retain alien on the advice and experience of the displaced administrators began to find expression, Now it would seem as it the elect of the long-drawn-out peace conference are eagerly seeking the former President on some inaccessible mountain top, the ex-Finance Minister in some unknown corner of Shanghai, the invalid Mr. Wang Ching-wei in a hospital and the not too robust Mr, Hu Han-min in Hong-Kong in order to obtain some hint an to the policy they should adopt, It is even suggested that those' elusive and once much criticised figures are required to reveal the open sesame which enables the secrets of administrative machinery to be mastered and applied, Meanwhile there is little doubt that general deterioration of the situation in the country is. pro-coeding apace. The communist control of vast areas may be expected to expand. Canton has shown that, although a Canton-
imparted to the new Ministry, it tinge nag. been emphatically is not inclined to surrender its recently renewed ideals of dependence. Tt has, certainly, disbanded its own special Kuo: mintang organisation, but as, the gathering storm are deal heard cries that the Kuomintang is finished, it may consider that to be appropriately equivocal. The shortage of funds inthe Government's possession is not likely to be proved by local action which, in one province at least, has withheld from central revenues the salt collections, Moreover banking support of the Government is shy. The state of political uncertainty is enhanced by the financial effect of the exuberant Bond policy of recent years. Marshal Chang Hsueh-liang, in the North, has, in the short space of less ' than a fortnight, experienced the frowns and the entreaties of his new colleagues. Marshal Feng Vu-hsiang may be expected to consider the possibility of securing fresh opportunities in Peeven if his journey to Nanking' has not been particularly fruitful. Tt has at_any rate enabled him to see Shangha', to f make a speech or two to students and to confer at Fenghua with his old: opponent in the field, It is possible that these cliff culties. merely mark the natural embarrassments of a change of government, under. the revolutionary system. It does seem odd, however, that Mr. Sun Fol and Mr. Eugene Chen, so soon} jatter their installation, should appear in Shanghai bearing all the signs of distressed _non-plussage. They are men of re-Source and, hitherto, have shown no special doubt of their own jeapacity. Yet, as they contemplate the empty shell and the! urgent need for filling it, they may usefully bethink themselves: of the danger of leaving the filing process to others, whether] from Moscow or nearer home. The device of leaving a clear field! Jin order to demonstrate the impossibility of dispensing with! their services may have occurred to' General Chiang Kai-shek and] some of his more intimate col-Teagues. Even for them thei device is dangerous. It depends [so much on speculation and speculation in these days is al barren occupation. If, for exam ple, the distraught' state—of China's finances inspired—the hope of a foreign loan, the notion would be at once scouted by anyone even imperfectly seized of present world-conditions.—The trouble seems to be that no-one can face the present gravity' lof China's economic position. The attitude is understandable. It does not encourage the belief that the new Government will speedily be able to put into practice the plans outlined. by them for the better enforcement of the people's inarticulate will. Indispensables, before now, have asserted their indispensability by a gesture of temporary withdraw They have performed this manceuvre with success when their posses~ ion of the requisite quality has been reinforced by outstanding] ability to act and, in action, to achieve. China may, for the moment, be plodding stolidly on without a Government, with that patient, philosophical, phlegm characteristic of her. She is not likely long to remain oblivious to the yawning gap at Nanking. Like Nature she must abhor a vacuum. How will the vacuum' be filled? That is the question which many are asking to-lay.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.