Feb. 4.
Taking into account all the surrounding circumstances, it must be said that the speech General Chiang Kai-shek at the Preparatory Conference on February 1 was a notable event in the history of the Nationalist movement, He had been elected Chairman of the Conference by the group of twenty-five delegates whom his patience and perseverance had brought together at Nanking. Some who were entitled to seats in the Conference were on their way to Europe, others had been frightened away by fours of legal pro-coedings; and still others hid themselves in Shanghai, seemed a few days ago that it would be impossible to collect a quorum for the meeting, and it was no mean achievement on the part of General Chiang to secure an attendance of several more than the required minimum. nuthber. Among those present all shades of party affiliations were presented—the Canton, Kuangsi, Hunan and Chekiang groups.' There were even some members who had been active in the machinations which had forced General Chiang into rein yet at the meeting differ wore dropped for the moment while the, leader who had brought the victorious Nationalist armies from Canton through Hunan and the Yangtze Valley to Shanghai outlined his plans for the Plenary Conference which was fixed to open on Thursday, China is a land of paradoxes, but never has the unexpected happened more suddenly and with greater possibi ility of hopeful changes than the kaleidoscopic events at Nanking during the last fow days.
The outstanding feature of General Chiang's speech is his recommendation that the policy of destructive tacties—p'o huai—ndopted by the Nationalists when they were in alliance with Communist Russia should be definitely abandoned. All of the slogans of that period, all of the encouragement of independent activities on the part of labourers, peasants, students and merchants, all organizations of local bartizans, be swept aside as useful only during the period of military achievement, The sec-and period—that of training for orderly government must ushered in at once. There must be a new era of internal organization, of propaganda on a scientific basis and of trai for productive enterprises. tention must be given to economic developments, to education and to all the arts of peace, The provinces which are now in the control of the Nationalist Party must encouraged to resume a normal life of. peaceful pursuit of industry—an song loh yeh. All of these recommendations come with refreshing encouragement to ears that have been filled for the last eighteen months with the jargon of swashbuckling military leaders whose demands for money from the, tax-ridden provinces have drowned all the cries of misery from the starve jing, homeless refugees. We cleome this declaration of policy so. clearly enunciated by Hankow are resuming their former list of sailings with calls at the small passenger stations on the route.
This will make possible intercourse between thi open ports and interior place which has been too long interrupted. There is now little danger of these ships being fired upon from the shore.
With the good crops which have blesse: the Yangtze Valley provinces this last year there must be a large volume of produce await ing shipment to Shanghai exchange-for goods which thei ie holders are only too anxious 0 sell. If strikes and destructive agitations are to be prohibited those provinces can soon return to some degree of prosperity and such an outcome, we admit, is of much greater value to the Nationalist Party and to thi country as a whole than any further military conquests, In continuation of our wish expressed a week ago we still urge all parties to stop fighting and to carry out the programme for the period of training so ably outlined bj General Chiang.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.