Evening star., 1923-10-14

may be passing in the mind of their
owner.
Himself 4 protege of great men.
one of the chief elements in Tsao
kun,s success has been that he. too,
has been able to place himself in the
position Of a benefactor of others.
Gen WI Pei-fu. undoubtedly one OF
the most capable military StrategistS
of China owes his rise to fame to
Marshal Tsao and dares not break
openly with him because of the force
of Confucian ethics. year and a
half ago Gen. WI succeeded in de-
feating the armies of Marshal Chang
Tso lin. powerful governor general
OF Manchuria, and so wrestling con-
! troll of the Peking government from
the northern war lord. At the last
minute Tsao Kun sided with his
nominal subordinate.
With Wu's victory, the president of
; China was forced out of office and
Lii Yuan-hung, former president. re-
called to the post. Tsao Kun coveted
the office for himself, but he realized
| that he was not strong enough to
usurp il and that he had no oppor-
tunity then of establishing claim
with even the fainteSt trace of
/ legality. Not until Tsao Joined in
urging Ii Yuan-hung to return, how
ever, would the former president re-
sumo Office.
Started Intrigue.
At once there began an intrigue
within the Chilli party. of which both
Tsao and WI are members. to shelve
wu Pei-fu and place Tsao Kun in
the presidency. Tsao Kun himself sat
back and let his adherents manipulate
the curiously intricate politics of
China, politics that consist, unfor-
! tunately, principally of dollars. bull
lets and personal bargains. Tsao Jul.
the younger brether of the new presi-
/ dent. is possessed of real ability ana
| is utterly unscrupulous as to his
methods. Wu ousted him from a
! lucrative office, thereby earning his
| undying hatred. The present election
of Tsao Kun must be credited to the
cleverness of Tsao Jul and a handful
| of fellow workers.
AS time went on, WI Pei-fu was
pushed more and more into the back
ground and the TSao brothers clique
gained in power. They succeeded in
erecting a cabinet of their own ere
alton last January. The flight of Pres
iident Lii Yuan-hung from Peking last
June was their work. Tsao' Kun re-
allied the fuSility of attempting to
become president until and unless
elected to that office by parliament
Money was spent with a lavish hand
| in an attempt to buy over majority
! of the NJ. P.'s. The speaker of the
| lower house became Tsao Kun's un-
| official henchman in the government
executing his dirtiest work for him.
! AT any time during the past twelve
months that Tsao Kun would have
| been able to control majority in
parliament his election would have
been assured. There were members
| of the national Legislature. however
/ who refused to be corrupted, so that
| the flight Of President Ii with GER
| tain of his supporters from the cap
| ital was considered necessary to
bring about Tsao Kun's election. In
bringing about this flight. Tsao Kun
was ably seconded by the so-called
christian General of China.
Built Fences Carefully.
| Tsao Kun has built his fences care
fully, and has more than one line
out to leeward. His son and one OF
/ the daughters of the powerful Mar
shall Chang Tso-lin of Manchuria have
ibeen united in marriage. Nine. Chang
visited Nine. Tsao about year ago
which was followed by a visit from
Marshal Chang's son, the Little Mar
shal," youth of twenty-five or TWEEN
tty-six years, who has become an i'm
iportant factor in Chinese politics. j
can scarcely be doubted that Tsao anS