Even now it is impossible to] gauge accurately the full significance of the amazing coup effected mutinous doments of the Chinese Army under the nominal direction of General Chang Hsuchliang in detaining at Sian no less a person than General Chiang! Kai-shek and other important military and civil officers of the Central Government. It has long been known that General Chang Hsueh~
Jiang's troops resented their transfer fo Shensi and that the General himself preferred Hankow to Sian Whether the grievance was accent tuated by a feeling that in Shensi they were out of direct contact with Nanking and that consequently they were liable to be neglected in the provision of funds and equipment, cannot be judged, It is known that. a month ago General Chiang Kai-shek was impelled to pay 2 visit to Sian "because of reports received regarding the effect of Red propaganda among the former Manchurian forees, It was alleged that General Chiang Kai-shek had drawn attention toa round robin 3 ye been circulated by 1 Hsueh-liang's_ men desire to "fight their The interpretation n was that this was merely an expression of the national hostility to Japanese aggression which had originally evicted them from thei Manchurian territory. That explanation was accepted, but there were some orities who believed that the demand was more domestic in scope and looked rather to the south than to the North-Bast.
However, in the enthusiasm attendant on the celebration of General Chiang Kai-shek's fiftieth birthday. plausibility was welcome. The settlement in the south had added to that enthusiasm, but the Government, not unnaturally, were unable to give full attention to the danger of the Generalissimo's enhanced reputation. He was carrying a burden too great for one man efficiently to perform, He was therefore exposed to risks to which giving birthday greetings this Journal ventured to draw attention: it is vital that General Chiang Kaleshek should be well served bY those around him and beyond him. Systematic measures are required dlcernad ang) teem sennaes 6g een iterance of mani cee not give way to driving force, "He who. works for. the economic development of China, saves Chins and justifies his own' manhood ax a Elaborate " expositions unaccompanied by a determination fo ensure results leat to self-delusion and ultimately: self-stulti-Neation, ernment to give orders to General Chang such-liang for the sup pression of Communism—or banditry—in Shensi,—Measures should have been taken to ensure fulfilment in the same. thorough fashion us was effectively applica by the Generalissimo in Kiangsi and Szechuen, where he put into tice his view that the Com-rust problem was mainly: economic not military, although action had to be taken to get to first grips with ft, Thus default of definite evidence. it is not unreasonable to the recal mend their personal grievances some sort of critic lam of cone ins prevailing in Shensi, desp the orders of the Central Government and the Generalissimo himself How General Chang Hsuehing, the motive force in the rebellion cannot be ascertained. he assumption by those who claim to know him best merely the mouthpiece acti the pressure of strong among whom may be numbered General Liu Tou-chuan, formerly commander of his guards in. the Manchurian regime and now Commander of the 105th Division. The text of the telegram attributed to the rebel officers irresistibly recalls the manifesto common caLtse against Naning on the ground that the ni interests had been betrayed face of Japanese aggression. alleged that there has been some communication between Kwangsi and Shensi and the source of inspiration may therefore not be far to seek. Whether the situation can be composed by that form of bargaining which has been both the salvation and the bane of internal relations in China for many years, must be left for events 10 @etermine. General Chiang Ki shek knows well that that system is directly inimical to the ultimate establishment of national unity one it is possible therefore that, regard less of his own personal safety, is in full accord with the uneom-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.