Sept. 8.
Honours go to all concerned in the arrangement of the settlement between the Central Government and the two Kiwangsi leaders. General Chiang Kai-shek has no reason to regret his restraint or even his readiness to allow the weight of compromise to fall on his shoulders more heavily than on those of the admittedly weaker parties to the dispute. Dr. Wang! Chung-hui has once again proved his diplomatic ability as well as his faculty for judicial assessment the two sides to a question. Another civilian has again served China well: Mr, Chu Cheng, a veteran Kuomintang counsellor and President of the Judicial Yuan formed with General Cheng Chien, Chief of the General Staff and General Chu Pei-te of the Military Affairs Commission, an effective trium-pirate of peace. It was feared last week that they would have a difficult tasse in their mission to Nanning, When a deadlock was reported shortly after their arrival, shrewd observers noted that, at the same time, General Huang Shao-hsiung resigned the chairmanship' of the Kwangsi Government—a post to which he had been appoint~ ed but which he had not assumed—and remained in Canton for the time being. That suggested a deadlock susceptible to treatment. So the event proved. General Li Tsung-jen remains—Pacification. Commissioner for Kwangsi, General Pai Chung-hsi accepts the high post on the National Defence Council formerly offered to General Li Tsuny-jen and it is hoped that his proved military experience will greatly strengthen the Government's hands in dealing with national de~ fence. The post of Deputy Pacification Commissioner goes, as. originally arranged, to General Li Ping-hsien, the former Chief of Staff, in whom General Li Tsung-jen should have a colleague fully capable of maintaining the admire able administration which has re~ ceived a special tribute of appreciation from the peacemaking triumvirate, With General Huang Mu-sung at Canton and General Li Tsung-jen at Nanning the Central Government may feel that it has able lieutenants in charge of provineial affairs in the South, and an -awkward hiatus in the national polity has been satisfactorily eliminated, The Central Government has evidently formed the opinion that 0 long as the principle of nation alized defence is given due weight by the promotion of General Pai Chung-hsi to the Military Affairs Commission, the status quo in Kwangsi_may well be accepted, General Chiang Kai-shek probably made that point clear and thereby showed his characteristic recognition of work well done. He could not out be moved by the reports on. the success with which General Li Tsung-jen's administration had made Kwangsi a province modelled on the principles of the New Life Movement. He is now relieved of preoccupation with affairs in the South to return to Nanking for attention to certain momentous issues which will arise from the forthcoming meeting of the National People's Convention, He will also be at hand to support General Chang Chun in the delicate negotiations in which Mr. Shigeru Kawagoe will have certain proposals to make on behalf of the Japanese Government, primarily in regard to Sino Japanese economic ce-operation, and also on the subject of the deplorable tragedy at Chengtu, for' which the Chinese authorities have shown a prompt readiness to make Proper reparation. Those who Imow how valuable has been Madame Chiang Kai-shek's devoted support of her husband will feel it appropriate to express the hope! that the Generalissimo will not have his anxieties increased on her account and that, she will soon have recovered her health in the restful climate of Hongkong.
Apart from the great achieve ment of relieving the country from the menace of internal strife, the statesmanlike solution of "the Kwangsi dispute should give special encouragement to China. The prominent parts played by Dr. Wang Chung-hui and Mr. Chu Cheng in reconciling the differences between the Central and the Provincial Governments showed that China's responsible military leaders are not disposed to ignore their obligations as members of a national Government which it is hoped eventually to base firmly on the support of the people. The mere fact that Mr. Chu Cheng could find in his col-Teagues, General Chu Pei-te and General Cheng Chien wholehearted collaborators in peace construction is creditable to him, to them, to General Chiang Kai-shek and the two Kwangsi Generals as well. It gives a useful precedent for the discussion of the basis on which the new Constitution and, consequently, the reconstructed Government may. be firmly rested when the National People's Convention has assembled, next November, General Chiang' Kai-shek, endowed now—with greatly enhanced authority as the result of the unity now established between Canton and Nanking, can make an effective claim to confidence in his leadership by the proof which he has given of his reliance on the virtue of friendly compromise and mutual concilia tion rather than on the power of military dominance. If he can persuade the Convention to authorize the future organization of the Government with those principles in view and so enlist the services of China's best brains for the solution of China's problems, he wi" have immeasurably increased hus re~ putation as a statesman and his standing with the people. The sage forbearance which has facilitated the settlement in Kwangsi, with honours equally divided, has happily and logically prepared' the ground for such a notable advance in the national system of government,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.