Peking, Dec, 12.
The political situation ly now such a tangle Uthat no one understands it, not even those most ye in creating it. For many ys there has been virtually no! government: just a Premier with! nominal authority to sign the! Shantung agreements. Yesterday Dr. C. 1 Vang, now Minister of Foreign Affairs, returned from Tsingtao presumably to accept his recent appointment to the Premiership. At Paotingfu there has been a great convention of dele-{ gates from most of the factions which contributed to the—over: throw of the Wang Chung-hui Gov-; ernment. Ostensibly they went to songratwate Tsao Kun on his birthday, which was celebrated on December 9. Actually great political developments were expected as a result of the convention. These have not yet materalized. For one thing, contrary to report, Wu Pei-fu did not go to Paoting as was popularly anticipat-For another Wa—Ching-lieu, speaker of the Lower House, and principal agent of the Tsao Jui clique in the conspiracy against the Jast Government, has broken away from the tsao Jui element, has betrayed them according to their account. So too, it would seem, the so-called Christian party. The gathering at Paotingfu was apparently mach disconcerted recent developments, They gathered at their chief's headquarters expecting to encounter Wu Pei-fu, have it out with him, tell him that if he did not support Tsao Kun for the Presidency, they in their strength and ang Tso-lin hal a delegate there—would—eliminate him aitogether. But he did not appear.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.