Student Agitation Dwindling: No Answer for Volunteers to Dig Trenches row Our Ows Peking, Dee. 12 ing is, now experiencing" a calm after last week's storm, The school-children of Peking have reined to their studies, satisfied ith their victory over the authorities by forcing them to despatch 2,000 patriots to. Nanking. And the public is now graciously permitted to enjoy once more the Denefits of a regular and uninterrupted. train-service, The local authorities, on the other hand, seem to have become mo daring, for the police at the rai Way stations have been provi with rattan canes, with instructions to make use of them on future occasions, This belated act of courage is doubtless due to the fact that the Inst "student" riot that
the Holy of Holies, the local took place heve was directed aga quarters of the Kuomintang, That the students, as the Press and News Agencies somewhat flatter-rely call them, have for. the moment lost their desire for al free trip on the railway may also be due to a wily move of the Marshal, "He recently appointed a) committee to draw up regulations for enrolling recruits to help to] dig. trenches and perform similar]
ful mon-combatant service proclamation] has been issued inviting the students and other patriots to enrol. So far there does not appear to have been any rush on the recruiting offices, nor have I heard of any] shortage of railway transport, owing trainloads of volunteers being des itched in that direction.
ightly calmer atmosphere!
see to be prevailing in the churian dispute.
For the moment the flood of propaganda and mutual recrimination has noticeably. slackened. Doubtless the Breakup of the Paris Conference, without' providing any practical solution, ix partly responsible, as the veil of talk" has been torn atlues leaving the we. antagonist Sond ton face. stank ealitien. The change of the government in Japan Sha Rlsg tended to slow down' the Mahon. "The. Japanese here. aay That the' change po nothing to 29 With, the Manehutlan question, but Bar" been cnued solely by the eco Rome'stuntion te apan" And onl neem to be borne out by the Yecent madden fell m the Yen, That The" totter fade on both side are Decinning for reaioe that some way rvolherta elution must be found that behind the scenes an ofer Whang made to find odic Scene or vather aegotiendl Shown bythe fact that the: dopas ive "chdeyt atfairen, Mee Ya Jan' had several private. conyers tons withthe Young Marsh ven if guch conversations a have: so far proved fruitless, they ataws, showing that's more pencelul wind is Slowing," which reap matt the ship. into the" har Boge of negotiations, if only the Saady gentlemen on one side, and The halts, schoo! children and the Pret on the emer, cam keep gue fora ide while "adler Hatening to leading ner, sons fu both eomaps, the one pretaon ove' veceiven. "la that. the Uispute" goes moh deeper than meta nteepretation of any 'Treaty Mehta: He" you can, cnchpe Une iolched fromthe embodiment. Meumenis about Milly: Henout aetRighte, Preatige or Inperalim shout' Treaties "of Portsmouth Washington amt the rest, "about Theale "agreements, Brotocae Ginuren' Asttles, and" what these rainey all gre, on will calve that weir "baton of all is racial diake, or in other. wordt, sheer capot on ath side That a Wet inten all v0: dfinlty Gore lain it ie that neither ide the Innocents tatchalred boys Ut eric dito ber As met' have" bee a by noe the command, ana Sraniptebontetate belanee theme fe lead amoch toot easly and the SCONE may be fally. Sacceed Ini aigpete at sty.
By people on both sides T was ask Wider T Rad rely stated no., My answer was received with) Making, of header and' Twas ployed to do so, and several, no-ofa de and satd smell to mes] remain ipenttent nnd gnitpressed: "The network, Teddi "erteemcnts covertations and_s0 forth atour Manchuria is so complicated that, if the question, to be solved by going through them jelause by clause, the Mancharian dispute is not likely to be settled for many years, if at all. There fare, I should imagine, scarcely dozen persons in the East, and in America and the West probably fewer, who really understand this question in all its intriency. One fof these few, a foreigner, told me that the only possible wey that, Jeould see to arrive at a satisfactory settlement, would be for the two countries to agree to cancel all outstanding treaties and rangements and to start afresh with a blank sheet and draw up one ile, Rew treaty covering all the points in the dispute.
Bat whatever may be the final method of settlement, the immediate and pressing problem is. to jeommence negotiations without further delay. Not on account of the fear of war which seems to me re-for the simple reason that the North, ow, the ies which could put a fight. Bue on account of the
both countries. The economic situ-dangerous condition of] ation in Japan is admittedly ser-fous, and a long-drawn-out military foceutpation of Manchuria and mi fry operations will make ita good deal worse. On the other hand, the internal situation in China is getting steadily worse from day. to day. Up here the Young Marshal's position ix considerably" weakened, that of the Nanking government is probably none too secure! ther.
'The air is full of rumours of the movements of the disgruntled War} Lords, Feng and Yon, and of semi-independent generals,' such as Han Fu-chu, who are all' of them only] waiting an opportunity to get into power again. There is talk of {fresh combination here in the north and of the formation of an me Jdependent government for North China. The. students no _longer love the—Nanking government. (There was a notice chalked up in two-feot char the railway undisturbed after the trouble was reading: "Down with the tang government in Nat Every day's delay in settling. the Manchurian question underminex the authority and the power} of the present rulers of China, makes it more difficult for them to negotiate at all, and brings nearer fresh civil war and collapse of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.