July 27.
Ar the moment of writing it seems unlikely that General Li Yuan-hung—President or ex-President, whichever he may be—will come to Shanghai. At any hour, however, the probabilities may change in the opposite direction, and so great is the uncertainty of affairs that he might actually be on his way before these remarks can see the light of day. Rumours have been strong for several days now of his intention to come south, and they have been backed by statements of the purchase of 4 residence for him in the French Concession. No later than forty-eight hours ago the belief was held that he was actually on his way, and although a contradiction was promptly forthcoming, we have no guarantee that he may not at any time make up his mind to try his fortune here. In endeavouring to estimate these rumours, however, one point should always be kept clearly in view. A moderately large section of Parliament is here, but not a quorum, and the chances of obtaining one are not just now specially bright. Among these M.P.'s are certain ambitious men who see unlimited opportunities for the furtherance of their schemes provided that they can get this quorum together, and with this in view they are leaving no stone unturned to bring the necessary additional Members here. No better bait presents itself than the presence or even prospective presence of General Li Yuan-hung, and their efforts during the past few days have been in the way of dangling this before the hesitate ing ones. Hence the definite statements of General Li being on his way south, and hence, equally, the likelihood that no element of truth has sacoompanied them.
Tu view of how malters stand, we have ta consider the possibility of General Li Yuan-hung coming to Shanghai, and it is just as well to'recognize what it will mean. Since leaving the Presidential Palace he has been living as a private individual in the British Concession of Tientsin, and so long as he continues so there will be no more objection to his presence there than in a hundred other cases. But were he to come to Shanghai, it would surely be the first duty of the authorities to dispute his status as a private individual. The matter stands in this wise. No matter what their protestations of patriotism and the like have been, the Members of Parliament came to Shanghaj with one special object, to embarrass Tsao Kun in his bid for the Presidency. With' the inducements held out to them by other parties and political powers we need not bother; the greater they were, the less was it creditable performance on the part of any Parliament. So long as they are here in less than quorum strength and content themselves with attending tea-parties and expounding political philosophy, they count for nothing, but once they could acquire such a figure-head as the deposed President and with him quorum, they would be a menace to the peace of this part of China. While' they are geographically in the Province' of Kiangsu, politically they are in Chekiang and the border line where Chekiang and Kiangsu influence and power meet is only a mile or two from our Settlement here, and as these two provinces represent diametrically opposed political views they hold in their hands the possibilities of so serious a-climax as civil war. Again the point must be enforced—opposition to Tsao Kun is the real and only occasion for these M.P.'s gratuitously in-fioting themselves on Shanghai, and the moment they are in, a position to do something definite to put_an end to Tsao Kun's chances, that moment are they danger to the peace of the district. It really does not matter in which other direction they choose to move, so long as it is against Tsao Kun. At the moment the case is that hardly anything but the- advent of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.