June 30.
So much was expected of the conference between Marshal Wu Pei-fu and Marshal Chang Tso-lin in Peking, that one is somewhat amazed at the levity of the great warlords, who came to the city, shook hands, as it were, tiffined politely, and went their several ways. It had been antijeipated that Marshal Wu and Marshal Chang would have much to say to each other: only a few lof the outstanding questions need be cited: the Tariff Conference, the organization of a substantive Government, the independence of Canton' and their Northern Expedition, the campaign in Shansi, the position of Sun Chuan-fang, the unwillingness of the Powers to recognize the present de facto Government. These matters cannot be settled in twenty minutes nor even in twenty hours; yet Marshal Wu did not find time to spend even a twenty-four hours' period in Peking. He came, the imperial yellow sand was thrown on the Republican ground, and he went he came.
The fact of the matter is that Chinese great men do not like to talk to each other face to face.
They prefer intermediaries. They. like the system of delegates running all over the land, construing and misconstruing, interpreting and misinterpreting. Neither Marshal Wu nor Marshal Chang was prepared for a test lof intellectual strength, for it is more than reasonable to presume. {that their policies are not determined by themselves but by their individual extourages, and that the Marshals are not sufficiently. well-informed with regard to the realities of the situation of. China to discuss questions facts For instance, what a spectacle it is, for one of the two onstanding figures of China's political life coming to the capital for less than a day to consider the state of the country and rushing off to the front to inspect his troops. trivial One hears in Chinese political circles that the only purpose for the meeting of these otherwise irreconcilable generals is to convince the Legations that there is a possibility of their working together to exterminate mutual enemies, and that the Legations will become sufficiently softhearted to authorize the loan, which has already been discussed in these columns. In other words, in spite of the perfervid patriotic expressions of all political leaders, Peking hopes to get the foreigners to create a Government by recognition and to finance that Government by a loan, Were there any possibility Jof union in the land, were there an assurance that the master of present independent or quasi independent territories, would agree to abide by the decisions of a national Government, there might be some moral justification in the Powers taking a hand in ithe situation, although we doubt whether in the present temper of the Chinese people, a policy of strict neutrality, stricter than jover before, is not the wisest policy to pursue.
However, as China is to-day, there can be no question as to the course the Powers should follow: China must now work out her own salvation without foreign assist-lance; China must show an ability Jand an impulse to establish and maintain a Government which shall have provincial and popular support, without the foreigners providing funds to carry through the programme.
It need only be pointed out again that one of the contentions jof the opponents of the Peking Government has always been that an impediment to the unification lof China has been the recognition of Peking as a Government land the financial assistance afforded that Government by the foreign Power During the past few months, since the failure of the Tariff Conference, we have held that the Powers owe it to their self-respect no longer to recognize the Peking Government, until that Government is n some organic manner recognized by the provinces and people of China, In this connexion, it has been suggested that China is now regionally divided into several factually independent kingdoms, which function practically as independent and sovereign states. We have asked, Is it not to the interests of the foreigners and the benefit of China to deal directly with these independent groups which actually control the power over these regions than with a theoretical centr? Government which exists only by and for foreign recognition? Inthe course of these discussions, it has at times been suggested that, the conference between Marshal Wu Pei-fu and Marshal Chang Tso-lin would lead to such results as would justify the eonfidence of the Powers in the Peking Government, Again, we felt that such a conference would be valueless unless all the controlling Powers of the country participated in it. Sun Chuanfang, Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yvhsiang Chang Chung-chang and Li Ching-lin, not to mention some lof the lesser militarists would have to join with Wa Pei-fu and Chang Tso-lim to make such a conference effective. What has jattually happened is that the principal warlords, recogniz~ ing the force of public opinion, particularly among foreigners, paid party calls on each other. Nothing substantial can be expected from such a fiasco; nothing good can come to China from such insincerity.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.