Little Hope from Political Situation—Peace and Unity Still Remote—Japan and the Anfuites Judging by the utterances _published in the Chinese Press during! the last week or two, the majority] of the Chinese people are not at all satisfied with the present turn of political affairs in this country. Unity and peace seems as remote! as ever. The vernacular press has continued to sound a pessimistic note in its comments on all questions relating to the Government.
The good faith of Gen. Chi Tso-lin is much questioned, while! the assignment of the two most important portfolios in the present, cabinet, most important from a financial point of view, to members of the old Chiaotung clique, notorious for their monarchical] activi ties during the regime of Yuan Shih-ksi, has called forth a chorus of protest. The declared policy of the new cabinet is analyzed, but doubt is expressed as regards. the! possibility of executing such glibly' talked of measures as the restoration of unity in the shortest time possible, the disbandment of superfluous troops, the cancellation of the Sino-Japanese Military Pact, ete, Speaking of Japan, her action in according official protection to Chinese refugees charged with treasonable as well as criminal offences has, of course, considerably irritated the Chinese people. But, on the other hand, the Land fide intention of the Chinese Government itself to punish these traitors in real earnest is much doubted, for, as the Chinese Press points out, even charitably! exonerating it from all blame for; having failed to effect a single, capture of the first batch of 10 proscribed Anfu leaders, it would still appear incredible that with all the resources at its disposal, the Government should have been unable to prevent any of the offenders mentioned on the second list from leluding its grasp and making good their escape.
The Canton Military _Government is said to have decided to attack Fukien, and to have completed elaborate preparations in equipping and despatching an expeditionary force, with the support of the Navy, to launch this campaign which' is characterized by the Chinese Press as an _unjustifable and foolhardy adventure, with the object of seeking unrighteous conquests, regardless of the people's suffering.
Other questions that have engaged the attention of the Chinese scribes include the dissolution of the two parliaments, abolition of the tuchunate and the disbanding scheme, huge—_ embezzlements of public funds, aftermath ripples of the recent conflict, financial problems, unattainable' unity, a citizens' convention, Kiangsu Assembly and the Governor's obcuracy, taxation outside the Set-|long-hoped for Shanghai and the violation of, their own price-limit by the rice hongs.
Exprprrion Acatxst Frxren, The Military Government at Canton, or rather the predominating influence of the Kuangsi faction there, has decided to despatch 2 strong force to invade and sei Fukien, of which Admiral Lin Pao-yueh has long been the nomina a] Tuchun of the South. Previously, reports of a conflicting nature had appeared in the Chinese Press regarding the uncertainty of the attitude of General Chen Chiung-ming, a Cantonese who is Commander-in-Chief of the forces occupying several southern counties in Fukien. Later reports indicate more clearly that Chen, after tem-borizing with the Canton Government, has recently thrown off his mask by joining forces with Gen. Li Hou-chi, the Northern Tuchua at Foochow, and his troops, gar-risening the outlying districts bordering on Kuangtung, have come into conflict with the advanced troops of the Kuangsi Army at Tapu, Meihsien, Tsiaolin an Jaoping, near Swatow.
According to a telegram to the "Shunpoo," Chen Chiung-ming has the advantage of possessing 16 aeroplanes of the latest type just acquired from America; and the General solemnly held a review of his forces and declared war against Canton at the Public Garden in Changchow on the 12th instant, when he himself assumed the duty of Generalissimo and Commander of the Third Army Corps, after appointing Gen. Hung Chao-1in and Hsu Sung-chi to be Commander of the First and Second Army Corps, respectively, Scrprise To THe Usrsiniatep.
Commenting on this subject, our senior Chinese contemporary asks, "Was it not quite a surprise to the uninitiated to learn, just at this moment when the Anfuites were downed, when North and South seemed to be nearer to a reconciliation than before, when the change of the Northern Chief Delegate to the Peace Conference was cordially welcomed by the South, when the moral support pledged by the South to the Chibli Party in their recent struggle was gratefully acknowledged by the North, and when Premier Chin Yun-peng had just announced to the people that the new Cabinet would regard it as its foremost duty to restore unity and peace in this country, that such an anti-climax as the attack on Fukien should have been decided on by. the South and winked if not actually connived at by the North?"
The paper goes on to show that the South is evidently bent upon enlarging its territorial holdings before consenting to talk of peace. "If our surmise is correct, the reunion between tlement, dangers and murders in|North and South will continue to
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.