Evening star., 1923-06-18
EAST is EAST
Article No. /.
By Frank H. Hedges.

to depend entirely on imagination for
plot: there Is always the republic OF
China
Borne into office as president on the
wave of great popular demand. but
really by the favor Of the then tri-
umphant Gen. WI Pei-fu. Gen. Lii
Yuan-hung held office as President of
China for year and three days. For
year and two days he'held office in
Peking and was honored as he passed
through the throbbing, picturesque
streets of the capital. His last day
OF office was spent under military
guard in one Of the railway stations
OF Tientsin. Today he Is once more
In his home in the French concession
there. safe under the tricolor. safe in
the elaborate nest which he prepared
after having been driven from the
PRESIDENCY six years ago, for this Is
not the first flight of Ii "Tai-tai," or
mrs. Married Woman" Ii. as he is
called by the masses of China.
Ihe political aspects of the return
10 power, first. and then Of the return
TO virtual exile of Ii Yuan-hung are
the complexity Of all Chinese politics.
Gen. Ii has been the pawn Of for
tune, opportunity and other peoples
plans more than has any other living
chinese. When the rebellion against
the imperial house of Ia Ching broke
out in 1911. LII was dragged from un-
der bed where he had sought refuge
and forced 10 lead the revolutionary
troops as their commander, hero and
-ngurehead. In fact. Ii has been a
ngurehead for the greater part of his
career, and ii Is because he rebelled
a N nDtt tirs@ u
to act on his own that he has met
disaster He has lost the presidency.
which would have come sooner or
later, but it may be that he has re-
gained much Of his own seli-respect.
Elected vice president in the only
experienced. Lii hung chose to
play a martyrs role under Presiden
Yuan Shih-kai. He went to Peking
and stayed there. virtually a prisoner
press dowager had once kept the en-
peror captive. With the death Of
Yuan. he succeeded to the presidency.
but in little more than a year the
monarchial fiasco of 1917 sent Presi-
dent LII flying to the Dutch legation
just as he fled to the French conces-
sion in Tientsin last Wednesday.
When the plot to restore the
monarchy failed a few days later, Ii
refused to return to the PRESIDENT 8
palace. offering his resignation in
stead. The years passed. and the for
mer president led a peaceful exist
ence In his country home and in
Tientsin
In the late winter and spring OF
last year the guns of Gen. WI Pei-fu
began to rumble. but above their
noise was to be heard Wu's voice,
demanding that the then president
quit office. that Ii Yuan-hung once
again take up the reins, and that
parliament be reassembled. The guns
of Gen. WI were more powerful than
those Of his rival, and the capital city
of Peking fell into Wu's hands. The
Peking politicians. ever watchful of
their jobs, and number of the mem
bers of the old parliament Joined WV
In the chorus demanding the return
OF Ii as president. Reluctantly leav-
ing the security and quiet of Tien-
tsin. Ii went by special train to Pc
king. The great gate to the Tartar
city, the gate that is called Chen
on June II last year TO admit the re-
turning president.
1t was not legal. Ii had previously
resigned the presidency; parliament.
in whose hands lies the presidential
election. had been twice dissolved,
bers had expired Lis return was not
legal. but it was the nearest approach
to legal government that China had
seen for five years
Ii refused to occupy the presidents
palace. living. instead. in a private
mansion on which he spent a fortune.
He is democratic-too democratic to
be the ruler of a people to whom SYM
bolism means much. I have often
seen President Ii astride his great
white horse. riding about the streets
of Peking attended only by two or
~
emperor in the old days. when the
streets were cleared and the blinds
drawn that none might gaze upon
the Son of Heaven. had far greater
effect in increasing the power and
prestige Of the ruler than had Presi-
dent LIS democratic actions.
Ii Yuan-hung. who had always
played the part of a flgurehead, de
veloped a streak Of stubbornness last
fall. stubbornness that led to his own
undoing. He went into office pledged
to fight militarism, and fight 1t he
has, albeit his power as a fighter is
not of the highest order. He rebelled
under the tyranny of his patron. Gen:
WI Pei-fu. For time it seemed
that he would range himself under
the banner of Marshal Tsao Kun. but
instead he opposed the schemes of
that militarist and his willy politician
friends. This was not to be tolerated
1t was preposterous that mere
1reSlOent OF Snlna SnOulO oppose the
Will Of militarist. and above all OF
a militarist who controlled a large
section of parliament. most of the
cabinet ministers. a rather formidable
army and a well filled war chest. The
most recent cabinet resigned, the mu-
nicipal police struck for their back
pay, and the President OF China made
sensational dash for the special
train waiting to take him to the
safety of Tientsin.
All we'll and good. 1t is proha Bile
that no attempt would have been
made to stop President LIS flight
except that the seals of state were
missing. The troops that surrounded ID
the train at Tientsin were unable to
find them, and then it was learned
that Mime. Lii Yuan-hung had taken
them with her to the French hospital
language secretary at the American
legation, WHY'S Peck, had crossed
the street from the legation to the
hospital and assured Madame Lii of
her husbands safety, would she sur
render them.
There are other political ramifica- :
tfons of the most recent farce in
China, but they are details of persons.
Offices and money. The presidents
fight will make no great difference
in the future Of China, either inter-
nally or in her foreign policy. 1t is
one more episode in the great
pageant of Peking, pageant of am
bition. of greed. of sensation, of
pathos and of humor. the pageant OF
a great people struggling to catch
beyond them.