New-York tribune., 1920-04-19
Grips
China as Bic
Powers Wait
Continued from page enc

dressed and more richly bejeweled con-
cuolnes from Soochow, and retainers
oy the score. And in the fashionable
restaurants and sing-song houses of
the new white Way" outside the main
gase o. lhe CITY wall, the ivory domi-
.os iaeOie nightly to takes in FIVE fig
ures at the favorite official pastime
known as ma chang" The govern
lnent is perpetually so near the edge of
bankruptcy that soldiers go unnaid for
HVe and SIX months, and bef8re the
iast lunar New Year even the clarts
ID 5he Presidents office had not heen
pai1 LOT tnree months, and a loan had
n,oat .Io"tracced at usurious rates to
meet the New Year salary roll Rnt
r,eklng is nevertheless an Eldorado for M
'he rightly placed
Student Movement Sole Hone
such IS without overstatement tho
piesenC political state Of China Nnr
- chere prospect of bettermen+ Tn,
piovement can come only from tho
etpmplete and permanent pureing nf
cIos"a ci.oae now IN power, of the Official
$685. win their weight of military
iensoh and the ancient prestipa os
the mrandarinate. And there is no foroa
~ onlna capable of ACCOMPLISHING that
n potential force has DEVELOPED IN tbe
lasc year in the embryonic nnhiic
oplnIoh created by the student move
nent' the banding of the students
throughout the country with the snn.
por1 OF the merchant classes. This Is
=; lHe most promising development in the
nhls'ory OF the Chinese republic. 1t is
u. S.e o"iy lorce that stands in the way
OF complete military dictatorshi0
and complete betrayal to japan II is
the force that has arrested the process
SION of loans and the forfeitnre hv
Chinese officials of China's RIGHTS ~
Shantung. 1t is force not to bo
underestimated, but it is vet embrv-
onlc and It's strength is still onIv
emotional and imponderable 1t is the
nope OF the future, but the present
must be dealt with, and dealt with
drastically, if there is to be future
for China
II 1t cannot come from within If
must come from without 1t must come
from the foreign powers. 1t can come
1hly through an international concert
rof one thing, no one nation can un-
dertake so great project For an
other only an international concert
can avoid the national rivalries. ieal
ousles and intriguings that have PLAYED
SO great part in bringing China to its
present pass
The root of Chinas present political
SOlNCl0n
those difficulties, lies in the one word.
Loan. Since China first established
diplomatic relations with the West
foreign loans have been its curse.
Through loans it has bound itself now
10 one set of foreign adventurers and
now 20 another, pledging it's resources
for the support that the borrowed
money can give to the party in power
which contracts the loan. And with
loans as weapons also has been fought
the international duel which again and
again has threatened the peace of
Asia and will threaten it even more
ominously in the future
international Action Necessary
But there must be more loans now.
II there is to be genuine reconstruct
ton; large sums viii be needed And
there Will be loans whether they are
needed or not. The question is only
whether the loans shall be made from
individual powers, with the diplomatic
duelling that implies, or from the pow
ers organized in definite group with
detlnlte agreement as to their privi- +
leges. No argument is necessary to
prove that 1t must be the latter If it
is the former, with the consequent bat
tie for concessions and spheres and
the Like, then China is doomed and
eventually there will be war for the !
snoNs. And IN the meantime China
VIII Internally sink deeper and deeper
in its slough. With the proceeds of
the sale of concessions the corrupt
militarists will only strengthen their
clutch on the country.
The first precondition to reconstruct
ton Is the disbandment of the army.
nominally million men, of whom the
majority are bandits, not excluding
their officers. Until the plundering
mandarlnate is deprived of its military
support, 1t will continue to plunder.
Put if the dem mobilized army is not
merely to be converted into rowing rob-
Der bands, provision must be made for
the employment of the disbanded |
troops on productive public works, such
as roads, food prevention and af-
forestation.
In addition to disbandment, there
must be thorough reorganization of
the administrative branches OF the
these cannot be understood by those (
who do not live in China. Every de-
partment of the Cabinet, every reve-
nue-collectlng agency, every public |
utility must be cleansed and reorgan-
lied. This, Of course, will require
huge sums of money But it is not
enough merely to provide the money
II iOanS are 10 De made on the scale I
demanded and their proceeds are to be
protected from finding their way into
the pockets of officials, they can only
be made with provision for rigid for /
eign supervision. There must be not
only foreign auditing after expehdi-
turc of the loans proceeds, but foreign |
approval before expenditure and for
eien supervision during expenditure.
And inasmuch as there must be protec-
ton of the security for the loans, there /
must be supervision over the collection
and disbursement of the ordinary Yeve-
nues of the government. And this !
means an international financial trus-
teeship.
Consortium Makes Little Progress
The need of such program has been
generally recognized by thinking Chi
nese as well as foreigners, and q step
was taken toward its realization at
Paris last yehr in the formation of the
new consortium by representatives of
American, British, French and Japa-
nese banking groups. But the con-
sortium is as far off now as it was
then and there is not much optimism
here as to the likelihood of its coming