While the soldiers are but little better than robbers, taking anything they want, often without paying for it, and increasingly resorting to capturing ''fat pigs'" dor ransom, they are greatly to be pitied. It is generally true that they receive hardly any pay and they often resort to robbery' from necessity. Some commanders in Szechuan are reported to have forwarded fabulous sums to Shanghai banks for safe keeping.
While other parts of the province have seen more or less fighting, our county has been fiee, largely because General' Ch'eng in command of the sth Division has remained neutral throughout the struggle. Bands of soldiers outside his command have passed through but his own men have refused to take sides with them. One fighting general brought pressure to bear on him
of money and ammunition. Later' and was appeased by a present Yang Song called Ch'eng to task for this but was apparently pacified. It would seem that the struggle has now settled down to the game of using silver rather than bullets to tamper with thd divisions of the two main forces, fcr a number of leaders have refused to fight in critical situations or turned over and attacked their erstwhile companions.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.