Peking, Dec, 3.
Peking 1s uow profoundly interested in three issues, none of which is of the least fundamental importance. The first is the disposition of Wu Ching-lien, Speaker of the House of Representatives, who has taken matters into has own hands and has decided that, with a minority following of one-seventh of the membership, he will stay. he second is the question of the police chief in Shanghai which it is thought cannot ba settled without a fight between Kuangsu and Chekiang, and which Peking is therefore preparing to settle through a Fukien assault on Chekiang. And the third is the question of Chen Chiung-ming's loyalty to his salt, or his dollars, or whatever one likes to vall it.
In spite of Sun Yatsen's reoccupation of Shiklung (Sheklung), it is still assumed in all quarters North of the Yangtze that Dr. Sun will have to leave Kuangtung and that, once gone, he can never return. This' assumption is based chiefly upon Cantonese assurances from abroad. that Dr. Sun is discredited among Chinese in foreign countries and wil] henceforth be deprived of the liberal remittances which have hitherto enabled him to recoup after each defeat and to command the loyalty of a, great number of very clever people who have never been known to trade their loyalty for nothing.
It is assumed in the North that Chen Chiung-ming will eventually be the winner in Kuangtung; but where and how he will stand after victory no one pretends to know. It is said here that if he had dealt more tactfully with the Yunnanese _freebooters in his recent skirmishes the Kuangtung war would already have ended. The Yunnanese mercenaries long ago saw the cloud of failure settling upon Dr. Sun and his little desperate clique. Having no way out of Kuangtung they decided that it was about time to find a new Cantonese paymasters. During the battles about Shihlung they attempted to pro-vitiate Chen Chiung-ming by firing in the air and yielding the field. Chen Chiung-ming's commanders recognized the - signal clearly enough but also understood that if they killed off Dr. Sun and company by special grace of the Yunnanese they would have to pay the Yunnanese. No one but a very desperate man like Dr. Sun, who is ready -to conficate property to support the Yunnanese, is ready to take over Kuangtung while the bandits from the West are in occupation. Hence the Chen Chiung-ming. following decided that it was a better gamble to attempt an extermination of the Yunnan folk while they were -in retreat than to buy Sun Wen's elimination at the cost of their continued support. The Yunnanese therefore- caught the Chen fire in their backs, were properly enraged, and turned with unusual fury upon Dr. Sun's enemies. Hence' the -loss of Shih-lung. Governor Chi Hsieh-yuan of Kiangsu, in the northern interest, wasted much energy and much travelling. money upon delegates in persuading the Yunnanese to fire in the air at Shihlung so that the Chibli folk are duly disgruntled. fo come back to the question of the Chen Chiung-ming's probable allegiance, this is an even more disturbing question than the Yunnanese reaction, One has to review modern history to understand it. When Tutuh Chen Chiung-ming was evicted from Kuangtung he went to Europe, having escaped Yuan Shih-kai's heavy hand through the con-ni vance of a French priest and the guidance of a fellow Hakka, Mr. Huang Ch'iang, who had learned French in the Canton cathedral school. After some months in France and Italy, Messrs Chen and Huang: returned to China and proceeded to Peking, arriving after Yuan's death in 1916 when Tuan Chi-jui took over control of the northern army. Marsha] Tuan was then very anxious to rule Lu Yung-ting out of the South and to support Lung Chi-kuang. Lun, however eventually lost his hold and retired to Hainan, as we all remember, while Lu Yung-ting and Dr, Sun eventually combined to form " Kuangtang-Kuansi_ military government in Canton. Pending these developments Marshal Tuan had appointed Mr. Chu Ching-lan (now at Harbin under Chang Tso-lin) civil governor of Kuangtung; and one of his conditions in ratifying - the appointment was that the Lu Ying (later Hsun Fangchun), attached to the civil governor's yamen, should be turned over to Chen -Chiung-ming, then living with Mr. Huang Ch'iang in the Chang An Hotel in Peking. To thi, stipulation Mr. Chu Ching-lan agreed so all went South together and in Kuangtung, the Lu Ying, such as they were, were eventually turned over-to Chen and sent into Fukien with him, financial support being given. by Marshal Tuan Chi-jui. Chen Chiung-ming's later return into Kuangtung with 20,000 troops, in place of the 7,000 (20 ying) that he had led out of the province, was also financed,. in part at least. by Marshal Tuan. 3
The question now is Who's man is he?
Many: of the Chibli "people believe that General Chen Chiung-ming is at this moment in closer touch with Marshal Tuan Chi-jui than with any other political leader. It will be remembered that when. Governor, Lu Yung-hsiang of Chekiang recently sanctioned Chang Chih-ping's attack upon Chen's forces in Swatow, Marshal Tuan was 80 angry with Lu that a breach of relations was threatened and_ the Chihli folk talked of making Lu vice-president to complete the breach.
Meanwhile, however, the Chihli party has spent funds liberally upon General Chen Chiung-ming's campaign against Dr. Sun. The Peking Chihli organization has already spent $1,200,000 upon the campaign. Governor Chi Hsien-yuan is said to have spent, out of Kiangsu provincial funds, something like $400,000. Chen's allegiance is therefore - naturally a subject of excited speculation.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.