Sept. 26.
The policy of the new Nanking] administration, issued in the form of a sworn manifesto, which we reproduce in translation on another page is not 'a very satisfactory document, from the foreigner's point of view. It does not convince us of being altogether sincere and honest, in the first place, and! then it restates with more then. usual emphasis the hackneyed charge that the unequal treaties are the root and source of all China's troubles, whether internal or external. In the long] preamble to the six definitions of policy it is claimed that the victories of the "Nationalist" armies during their advance into the Yangtze Valley were due in large part to the help of the people, who looked forward to their coming as the people in a parched land look forward to "the all-soothing" rain. They] fail to add that what the hopeful people got was a devastating! flood, as so often happens in. China, They also add that in their military successes, the victory of Dr, Sun's Three Principles was made manifest. We are certain, and our readers who. have read even a little of the Three Principles in ti coninns, will be equally cer that the men who wrote the not believe them, This insistence upon keeping the Three Principles in the status that Russian advice made for the book, the status of an infallible scripture lighting the way—a pillar of fire by night—brands the intelligent leadership terminated; fourthly, as an annex} to the above, it is sworn that} discipline will be maintained so that Communism can be effectively suppressed and the gospel of the Three Principles exalted; fifthly, industries are to be subsidized and supported along the lines laid down by Dr. Sun in his various works; and sixthly, all administrative abuses, ex-tortious, and other official crimes against the people are to be suppressed. In this last pledge special mention is made of wicked Jgentry and "denationalized compradores" which reads as though it were meant for the consumption of some of our most distingnished local citizens.
Naturally the part that inter-lests us most is the second pledge in which the abrogation of the unequal treaties is promised. the corruption of the darinate, the poverty of the people, loss of sovereignty, and abuse of Chinese abroad are all said to be traceable to treaties: imposed upon China by Impe ism during the past eighty yea Dr. Sun is then quoted as. having} instructed his following to wipe} out these blighting agreements as soon as possible and the new Nanking regime pledges itself to} wholehearted effort in the direction of their complete abrogation Now unless the drafting of this manifesto was left to some fanatical school boy, we know that its author did not believe that any of the charges brought} Jagainst the unequal treaty could be substantiated before group of rational and imparti Jjudges. This is political eyewash for the million. The leaders know perfectly well that the only feature of the © Thre Principles, as purveyed throug! lout China by Russian trained agitators, which took hold upon. the popular fancy and now binds the Kuomintang following together, was the anti-foreign character of the book.—They' know that most of the charges brought against the foreigner and his treaties are thoroughly! absurd, founded upon an appalof the Kuomingtang as insincere|ling ignorance of history and at the outset, and it is discourage-)economics, but they feel that} ing to have the now administra-|anti-foreignism is the strongest, tion, which has an opportunity! to turn over many new teaves, start its career with insincerity. In assigning credit! for the success of the northward! expedition, no reference whatever} is made to the help that Soviet} Russia gave in money, munitions, nstruction, expert propaganda work, and actual leadership and control in the field, and no honest review of the campaign up to the time of the capture of Nanking and Shanghai can possibly omit these factors. It might not be politic at this moment to give credit to the Red political and military agents for} all the help they gave, but it it not honest to try to account for the victories of the "Nationalist" forces without giving such credit, and the omission is in itself enough to discount the good faith of everything that follows, After the preamble, the new "Nationalist Government of the Republic of China," proceeds to pledge itself to six different likes of endeavour and. at the} end calls upon the spirits of Dr. Sun and the revolutionary martyrs, as well as the 400,000,000 Chinese people, to witness these pledges. Firstly, the nation is promised more war in the prosecution of the campaign against the North; secondly, the abrogation of all the unequal treatie~ is promised and apace is given to prove that these treaties are the fountain head of all woe; thirdly, the Communist party is to be ex-tie that binds the organization together so that for policy's sake they have to reiterate all this nonsense about the evils brought} jupon their otherwise immaculate ation by alien Imperi Here again the manifesto brands itself as dishonest and insincere, for it certainly was not written and promulgated by an assembly' lof students but by the mature leaders of the Nationalist movement.
If age were to approach these leaders and ask them whether this was to be taken by the major' Powers as a challenge these same leaders would hasten to} assure one that this was meant for internal consumption only, jas a political appeal, and that} the "Government's" most ardent] desire was to deal fairly and justly with foreigners and avoid friction with the Powers. Yet, og an official document it is a challenge, and it also takes the form of a solemn pledge to the people, so the authors of the manifesto will have to make at least a showing of anti-foreign fervour to demonstrate their sincerity. This means further persecution and annoyance, it means that further demonstrations of some sort will be staged and further damage done to} trade. We trust that our diplomatic representatives have taken note of this.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.