Evening star., 1922-05-02
Four I o. : F Forces in a.strugggle 9.
!. For, the Control Of China

pose. The, rise Of these.tnchuns marks
ian interesting development in- Chiness
history Following the overthrow
Of the Manchu dynasty, each of the
provisional governors proceeded to
organize separate armies and set Up
feudal governments. whose ties to the
Naturally these armies soon came into
collision in various parts OF the
country and the :. campaigning and
fighting developed military talent m
the cases of variouS~command1ng OF
lcers, of whom there were as many as
there were provinces. By process OF
elimination however, the weaker 'ofii-
GERS went under until finally 1t has
come to a pass where theEecare low
but two great military commanders or
.tuchuns," who are fighting a mighty
duel under the. wallis of Peking 4
WI PeI-fu, who commands the army
from central China, dominates the ar
mics from the nine provinces in that
section. comprising the most populous
and richest portions of China, and IS
said to- have the support OF 250,00e,0Oe
persons. He has had a meteoric ca
reer, rising in the course of two years
from an obscure company commander
to the supreme command of an army
Of $4,000 troops, with which he istad-
vancing upon Peking. His weakness
lies in the fact that in his rear and on
his TANKS are the forces of the south
merous at present, have great poten-
tial powers, as the people in that sec
~tion respond readily to the patriotic
appeals of the eloquent DIR. Sun fat
Sen.
That leader. according to latest
news dispatches is hostile to Gen.
'Wu, and is said to be on his way TO
the north to effect union with Cen
Chang Tso Lin, military governor OF
Manchuria. Gen. Chang began his
military career with a band OF
-brigands as a nucleus. AT present he
has an army of about $4,000 men ana
it was he who precipitated the pres
ent war by advancing from the. norm
on Peking. He denies. however, any
breach with the Pektng government
Both the contending generals as
well as Dr. Sun Vat Sen assert that
their only purpose in making war
Is to bring about new constltu-
tional convention and the election
of a new parliament. which snail be
truly representative of all China.
so that any beneficial result that
may be expected to follow this war
is the eliminatioR of one OF the
'.tuchuns" and the center ing. of all |
power in one of them.s promising TO
give China united and strong gov
ernment. =ss ..
There have been few manifesto
tions of an anti-foreign sentiment
among the turbulent younger ele-
ments in eastern China, but the sit
uation is not regarded as dangerous
for the legationers in Pekine. nor as
threatening any repetition. of. the
Boxer outrages of twenty years ago.
By treaty made after that affair, the
principal foreign governments are
authorized to use their own troops
in case Of need to maintain, free
Communication along the railroad
from the capital. Peking: to the
great port Of Tientsin. Not only
have they many troops on the
ground, including a contingent OF
american soldiers. stationed along
the railroad line, but several OF the
legations maintain strong guards OF
marines and soldiers at Peking, SO
that there is no real anxiety as to
the personal safety of the persons
and property of the foreign colony
in Peking. AS an additional measure
of nrotection, however, the different
puwers, including the United States.
have Increased their naval forces In
the vicinity