The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-09-15
ONCE PRESIDENT OF
 ORIENTAL REPUBLIC
 IS NOW A PRISONER
Prince Wu-Yi Now Confined In Capital Stripped of
 Power

Peking, September 15. Lii Yuan hung, once President of the Chinese Republic possesses today less power here than the 1owliest coolie. He is a prisoner in the capital of the land over which he once ruled, and for the first time in many years he holds no
 office; and except for that of Prince Wu Vi, he holds no title.
 It is Ii Yuan-hung's desire to leave : Picking and seek rest in Tfen-tsin, but the government has repeatedly denied this request. Premier Yuan Chi-Jui and acting President Feng Kwo-chang apparently have no intention of allow l ing the veteran warrior to depart for
 any settlement where he would be in | a position to communicate with the revolutionists in the south. The gov ernment is said to realize how potent the name of Lii Yuan-hung would be were he made President of a south 1 ern republic. such as Sun Yat-sen, Tang Shao-yi, c. T. Wang and other Kuomfntang leaders are endeavoring g I to establish in Canton.
 | Since he surrendered the presiden-
 cy month ago and allowed General lChang Hsun to take over the central government, Lii Yuan-hung has divid- l ed his time between the French Hos i pftal and his home in the Tartar City,
 without the walls of the Forbidden City. He also took refuge for short i time in the Japanese Legation, and he handsomely rewarded the Japan
 ese soldiers and officers who protect
 ed him in the trying period when the Republicans were busting the boy emperor, Hsuan Tung, and over
 throwing the, short lived monarchy set
 up by Chang Hsun.
 I ', sx,c of
 ous enough to make his retirement to the hospital necessary. But the French hospital is in the Legation Quarter. It is under the protection | of the foreign guards. And Lii Yuan hung was not the only Chinese who was ailing at the time conditions were tso unsettled outside of the foreign set tlement. Hotels, hospitals, legations ;: and private houses within the Lega- 1 ton quarter were filled to overflow ing when Yuan Chijui's troops moved tagainst Peking on July 12.-
 ] During the years that Ii Yuan hung served as vice president under
 Yuan Shih-kai his position was much
 the same that it is at present. It. is
 true he then held the title of vice. president, but it was a shallow honor. He had no power. He had no free-
 dom. Most of those years were pass l ed in an isolated palace on an island l in the Forbidden City. He was sell
 dom permitted to leave the walled
 compound. No visitors saw him with
 out the permission of the all-powerful Yuan Shih-kai, who lived on the mainland in palace Lii Yuan hung could see across the Undiscovered lake.
 1 The central governments power to-
 day apparently grows stronger every hour. It has the support of the great
 foreign powers. They have no thought
 of recognizing a struggling band of parliamentaEians in the south who
 have only the 1ukewarm support of the provinces south of the Yang-tze. All hope of reconvening in a legal way the parliament which L-Yuan- hung dissolved under pressure has apparently disappeared. The Kuo min tang, or party which is opposed to
 Premier Yuan Chi-Jui and President
 Feng Kwo-chang and their govern
 ment, controls far less than quorum
 of the disbanded parliament Conse-
 quently. even if they could muster their complete strength at Canton un-
 der Sun Yat-sen and Tang Shao-yi
 they would not. it is declared, have
 enough to satisfy their demands for
 government strictly under the condi-
 tions of the Nanking provisional con-
 stitution.
 Compromises have already been
 suggested by various leaders who are
 endeavoring to harmonize the north and the south. Guilds. chambers of commerce and other commercial or ganizations are tired of the political
 strife. Overseas Chinese are not lib- eral in their gifts to the southern leaders and lack of money may rre- vent the southern movement from taking on great proportions.
 ! The action of the Japanese banks
 In advancing the Picking government s10,000,000 Mexican r,oney on a pos sible loan of $1oo, o,G30, ,000 Mexican, to
 be made by the old auintupie group
 Of bankers, has relieved the tempor- ary financial embarrassment of Pre-
 mier Tuan Chi-jui and steadied the political situation in the north.
 Within two months President Feng kwo-chang is expected to be able to convene provisional national coun-