General Chiang Kai-shek evidently does not intend to disguise his conviction that th' campaign against the Commu bands is the most pressing tas! which "his Government has to face at the moment, His dec sion to defy tradition and give his personal attention-to the campaign is wise. It accords completely with impressions formed of. the prestige which he enjoys in the Army. If. the regular forces are to be employ ed against the Communists with any chance of success their: enthusiasm and their discipline must be unquestioned. - Genera? Chiang Kai-shek from the army as a whole can command personal obedience to an " extent denied to his lieutenants in the field. Moreover, a most neces of the plan devised ith the Coromunists when it has once been launched is expedition. - The Government will do well to exert every possible effort to avoid long-drawn out operations in which, by rea of their very weariness, will in the long run give too great an advantage to the guerrilla bands. Swift action, indeed, has many points of merit in such an enterprise. It helps to maintain the morale of the regular forces and to weaken the confidence of their opponents; it also limits the field from which the Communists can re-emit further adherents. The longer the day of reckoning is postponed the greater opportunities are given to the Com munists to play upon the despe:- ation of the peasantry and enlist them on the anti-government side, If, on the contrary, the Government forces are able to give the impression that their avenging hand is already striking hard, the chances of the people rallying confidently to their support rapidly increase.
During the Inst few months there has been little inducement for the people to take this cheerful view. In despair many of them have swelled the ranks of the Communists. It is to be hoped therefore that, with the news of the Governmen cessful emergence from the Northern imbroglio a healthy reaction will occur. The danger is that the Communist plague has carried with it some. thing very like the disease of pernicious anaemia which has wasted the vital tissues of the people and made them unable readily to respond to the call for which they have for so long looked in vain: It should not be forgotten that the travail of the Yangtze Provinces during the last year has been tragically real. The tale alone of the harassment of the shipping which maintains the communications of the Provinces with the coast is eloquent of this plight. The suggestion that wave of a magician's wand can immediately restore peace and order is too fantastic to be accepted. Any pretence would do nothing more than incense sorely-tried people who look upon ruined crops, deserted roads, and looted villages.
General Chiang Kai-shek is not likely to be misled by the over-glowing reports of his subordinates in the Provinc He may sometimes find it di ficult however, to check the zeal of some of them but that he will discourage belittlement of the gravity of the problem may be safely assumed, in the light of his decision to take a direct part in the conduct of operations. One of his early. tasks no doubt will be to ensure the closest ce-operation between the military commanders and the Chinese gunboats which, although at times kept in the background for reasons not altogether clear, have a working knowledge of Communist methods and, in conjunction with the soldiers can expect to make 'a good show of sweeping the valley. Reports from travellers returned from upriver suggest that, so far, this ce-operation has been lacking. The: sailors
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.