New-York tribune., 1920-12-12
Chinese at Last
Rising to Cast
/ Aside Misrule
Vigorous Move TO Abolish
Military Dictatorship of
Provinces and to Substi-
tute Self-Rule Gaining
Disarmament Demanded
Crusade, Brought to Open by
Suicide Of Cen. Lii Shun,
Destined To Be Long One
By Nathaniel PETER

PEKrNG, Nov. "a vigorous move
ment for the abolition Of the military
dictatorship Of the provinces and the
substitution Of local self-eovernment
.has begun to make Roadway in China.
It is the first outward sign Of tho spirit
Of rebellion that has been slowly work
ing through China against the ruthless
misrule Of the feudal chiefs who now
tsrrorize the country with their swol-
len private armies.
The movement has been brought to
the open by the dramatic suicide of
General Ii Shun, Tuchun of Kiangsu
Province and the most powerful mill
sary men of the Yangtse River. Gen.
eral Ii, who has been classed as ono of
the "better'-which means ruthless
military governors, ended his life in .
ft of dependency, leaving behind let
ters, attributing his act to the serious
state Of the country, its disunity and
decay.
Wants Armies Disbanded
While the other military men have
BET about manipulating for the nomina-
zion Of his successor, the people Of XII
sngsu Province. through their guilds,
educational associations and similar
public bodies, have asked the govern
ment not to appoint q successor, but to
In the civil governor and to disband all
Of Ii Shun's army not necessary for
police purposes.
The act Of Kiangsu has served as q
Fallying point The other provinces
have Joined. They want their tuchuns.
or military governors, removed, their
armies disbanded and the tuchun sys-
tenn abolished. Conventions have been
held in the provincial capitals and rep
Eesentatlves sent to conventions in
Peking. Petitions have been sent to the
central government and fat demands
made.
Except as another stage In the de-
velopment for the f,rst time Of a pub
lic opinion this will have no direct
result. Of the abolition of the tuchun
system in the near future. there is
no prospect. Such an act could be
carried out only by the central govern
ment and the central government Is
the creature of the tuchuns and Is
controlled by them. The last thing
they will do is to order themselves out
their power and moving themselves
from those lucrative posts which they
enter poor and leave in few years
worth many millions, all of it dis
honestly acquired.
With the Chinese genius Of settle
ment by changing names. it Is quite
possible that when popular sentiment
gets sufficiently menacing the tuchuns
will be abolished, new system being
Instituted in which the military gov
ernors are called tutuhs or hsiang-
changs or something else, as has been
done two or three times before during
the republic. But the armies will re-
main; the power will be in the hands
OF one man as before.
Where Solution Lies
1t is the armies that are Of i'm
portance So long as China has two
or three times as many armed men as
1t needs, and those men are put under
Individual military leaders who use
them as they will, with complete in
difference to the central government
and the interests of the country, gov
ernment by laws is impossible in China.
The solution lies in disbandment and
IN the control of the armed forces Of
the country, including police and gen.
darmerie, by the central government,
as in every other country.
And disbandment Is as far OF Gs ever.
The stronger generals recruit at will,
forcing the Peking government to pro
vide them with the necessary funds.
,.hey will continue to do 30. It becomes
increasingly evident that disbandment
ts impossible without external force or
nationwide revolution.
The first is, under present circum-
stances, impracticable; for the second,
which is the real hope Of China, the
time is not yet ripe. But there Is q
slowly accommodating popular impa-
ttence under shocking injustice and g
growth Of virile public opinion that
gives promise that the Chinese masses
Will yet assert themselves and throw
OF their oppressors. More even than
consortiums, that is the real hope for