Evening star., 1921-12-19

boy emperor" whose mother COM
mitted suicide in palace of the
Forbidden city on October l. seems
hardly probable. The chances are
better for q. struggle between Chang
Tso Lin and Tsao Kun, the two war
lords who control north China, the
Peking government being merely
| their puppet figurehead.'
Complain of Finances.
The resignation of the cabinet in
itself is little more than "the mag
nlhcent gesture" SO essential to ori-
entail craftsmanship. Members of the
| cabinet have been resigning as in
dividuals for weeks. The substantial
reason was that there was no money
| in the treasury to pay them. and
while they might have been willing
to serve for the honor alone. they
| realized that more substantial emolu-
| ments were necessary for the officials
and employees under them. Most of
| the designations were of the usual
! "face-saving" type, with substan-
tial string attached so that the cabi-
net minister continued in office. the
| resignation serving to register pro-
| test and encouragement
Gen. Tsai Chen Hsuan, minister of
war. rendered his resignation, ex-
planning that he was unable to satisfy
! the demands of his subordinates for
their pay. Admiral Lii Ting Hsin,
minister of the navy, did likewise, fol-
lowed by Pan Flu, No. vice minister
| of finance, while Niu Chuan Shan. No.
| l vice minister of finance, announced
| a threatened resignation. WI Chi
Sun. chief secretary to President Hsu
Shih Chang. upon whom devolved the
| task of keeping the cabinet intact,
resigned with the declaration that he
found no way to appease the unpaid
officials"
| Effort to Avoid Crash.
| Sir Francis Anglen, the capable
Englishman who is the head of the
Chinese maritime customs. has been
| the financial mentor in the trouble.
His trip to the Washington conference
| Pekins in the hopes that he would
! be able to ward off the crash. The
Bank of China and the Bank of Com
munfcations were threatened with
| financial difficulties. and the cabinet
| demanded that the surplus from the
customs be turned over to assist the
banks. Sir Francis refused, his prin-
cIpal contention being that the Chi
| nese domestic loans which have been
| fioated in the past ten years mature
in 1922, and the surplus has been
pledged to pay the 100000 taels
! (S12.500,0O0) which falls due.S The
| cabinet insisted on a reconsideration
! of this decision.
That the days of the cabinet were
numbered seemed obvious last month.
The october drawings for the first
year internal loen were postponed in
definitely. 1t defaulted on principal
and interest. due November i, on the
| $5.5O 900 foreign loan from the Con-
| tinental and Commercial Bank of Chi
| cago. 1t defaulted on the principal,
due December 1. and secured a ninety
! day extension, but paid the interest
on the $5.500.000 foreign loan from
the Pacific Development Corporation
of New York. Both loans had been
| made in 1919.
! Charges are made that the cabinet
| aggravated the crisis. Employees
| either were not paid or were given
| checks on the government treas
| ury. which the banks refused with
the rubber-stamped explanation mo
Foreign banks delivered 100000
| Mexican to them to pay the Pc
king police and soldiers. They ham
died the crowd. The fronts of the
banks were barricaded with planks
and for days long lines slowly passed
through the doors. one at time. to
| get a maximum of ten silver dollars
| in exchange for notes. Despite the
| cabinet, the panic was STAYED off.
Chang Tso Lin nc came m to ood the he rescue
In return he suggested that the re-
! ceipts of the Peking-Mukden railroad
be turned over to him as security and
| that he appoint certain officials in the
! banks. His hand-picked cabinet was
| willing, but the bank officials refused
and struggled along without the
! 100000.
! Gen. Chang's friends say that he is
heartily in favor of the present con-
| ference. having contributed 100000
Mexican. tothe expenses of the delega-
! ton. His oldest son, Brig. Gen. Chang
Hsu Liang. passed last month in
Japan, one Of the guests at the an
nual army maneuvers. He speaks
English and fyan active member OF
! the Mukden Y. NJ. C. A.
| Chang Tso Lin's army and the
Hunhutzu bandits that he formerly
commanded hold undisputed sway
! over Manchuria and a good share OF
Mongolia. In China he is denounced
as an agent of Japan and in Japan he
is looked upon as the greatest OBJ
north China. He is for whichever is
best for Chang. He is young, about
iforty-f five years old, intelligent, shrewd
and energetic, and unless sudden
death interveneS is destined to con-
tinue the strongest man in China. II
! has frequently been said that he will
found a. new dynasty or at least a
separate kingdom of Mongolia.
| When he comes to Peking officials
tremble, the streets are. lined with
his soldiers. ordinary trains stop run
! ming and everything halts for hours
until he passes. With Gen. WI Flu
the best and most popular leader OF
his rival, Tsao Kun. and most of the
troops of the north busily engaged in
fighting the armies Of south China
pelrinC ia easy picking for Chang