Changsha, June 17.
Recent doings in Hunan and Changshu have been somewhat petty and parochial. For this very reason they are of interest to the country in general. When Hunan announced her "independence" she distinctly hoped that she was giving an example to all the other provinces. It is well that any who wish to tolley the example of Hunan. should understand the close connexion there is between "'independence?' and parochialism. A province which deliberately cuts itself off from the national life, necessarily becomes less important as a unit than_she had been and might be as a fraction of a larger whole.
The provincial feeling towards Gan, Wu Per-fu 1s largely based on the utter defeat he inflicted on the provincial troops a year ago. As far as the ethics of war are concerned, it may be fairly acknowledged that Hunaa's position was.weak enough to deserve the thrashing she got; but Wu Pei-fu's ethical position was not one whit stronger, and certainly gave him no right inflict the thrashing. Theve is no need to postulate a double dose of original sin in the Hunanese to recount for the fact that they have no great faith in Wu's geod-ness.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.