With the expulsion of the Canton armies in the spring from Kuangsi (except for a small area round Wuchow) there was great jubilation in Nanning and other centres, and hopes that at last the -poor distracted province was to enjoy the blessings of peace. The citizens of Nanning, not content with hanging out banners and firing crackers, organized a huge process sion which must have cost at least $1,000, money that the city could il' spare. There was a recrudescence of native piety and anxious inquirers who had crowded into Mission chapels during the time of stress and strain seemed to evaporate.
Last month, the writer travelled several hundred miles on the West River without meeting with any incident; and a revival of trade seemed imminent.
As soon as the novelty of peace had worn off and merchants began to make plans for the future, they found that there was no real security outside a limited radius round Nanning. Diffevent sections of the! West River were controlled by dif-! ferent generals, only loosely connected with one another and owning no allegiance to any central authority. ' The military leaders, who had driven out with much skill the hordes under Sun Yat-sen, possessed no genius for government and couldn't be bothered with the details of civil administration. Here was an inviting field for restless and ambitious spirits!
Lu T'ou, the discarded tuchun of Kueichow, and a partisan of Sun Yat-sen, found himself stranded near Liuchow with a Kueichow army several thousand strong. He put in a claim for the military ernorship of the province. In this he was opposed by Lu Yung-ting's former' lieutenant, General Lin Chen-ting, who had above all others successfully engineered the expulsion of Canton, Nanning invited Gen. Lin with much enthusiasm to come to the capital and assume office. This he "ahd early in August.
Too many cooks, however, have spoilt the Kuangsi broth. Communications between Wuchow and Nanning are now again interrupted and the motor boats have stopped running. A merchant writes, "It is reported that about 20,000 Kueichow and Yunnan soldiers have come down the Liu river and captured Kueiping city. As you know the Kuangsi men are incapable of driving them out. I am afraid they will come down to Wuchow and will cause another dislocation of trade in the province. Such is the condition of affairs in Kuangsi and there is no prospect of a settlement'.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.