Evening star., 1925-12-06
For Four Days Finds Place Next to
Seat of Power in Oriental Country.
Story of an Effort to Kidnap an ex-
President Back Into Office Abrupt
Overturn Under Dictatorship of Gen.
Wu-Japanese Report of Fist Fight"
With the Chief-Prophetic ''Program"
of State.

mounted the generals car without in
vitation. l was called to interpret.
a. too, am military man." he said.
II congratulate you. But ! must de-
mand your departure. My superior in
this matter, the Japanese general,
who Is senior commandant here, orders
it. 1t Is the protocol. have no choice
/ but to deliver the message. Bon jour"
1t left WI and his staff officers
little breathless.
by what protocol does he order me
out OF here?" he asked.
The treaty of peace following the
| punitive expedition of 1900" eX
planned, prohibits the use of Tientsiu
as military base by any Chinese
! army. and authorizes the allied com
nIandants to enforce it's sanctity."
! 'Eut Chang Tso-lin was here
"Ah, yes. but Chang Tso-lin is
! Chang Tso-lin and the senior com
mandant is Japanese"
! :; = !; y
"IIOR the sake of Tientsin itself
can't leave here for some days"
| said Wu. Il must round up and dis
arm stragglers or there will be loot
ing"
Can you not transform yourself
into a civil officer and your guards
into police?" l suggested. Lets see
the civil governorship of the prov
| ince is vacant, and your recognition
as dictator by Peking can be quickly
| formalized."
III l must be dictator Of China
you'll have to be temporary minister
OF foreign affairs" said W.
And so began my fourday diplo-
! matte career. was 'astride the
tiger
We sent over to Chief Yang and
borrowed some police uniforms. Then
issued a statement TO the allied com
mandants that WI Pei-fu had trans
ferred supreme military command to
the head OF his fourth division, Wang
Shihdjen. and assumed the civil gov
! ernorship of Chihli, but that for pur-
poses of convenience, the governors
yamen would remain on wheels in the
central station for the time being.
| And everybody was Satisf1ed-except
ing perhaps the Japanese.
To sit next to the seat Of power in
, China was interesting, but not exactly
! comfortable. Wu'S mail brought
! many letters warning against me. He
had habit of turning them over TO
me with the remark that here was one
more thing to hang up the heart"
Yours to the general received. re
ferred 20 me, and contents noted"
I replied TO the letters.
One who rides the tiger runs a
Chinese proverb, should give careful
thought how to come down" Accord
Ing to the fable, the danger obviously
is, that once you are off his back your
mount Will eat you up. 7 was to feel
the weight of his paw. but FOOLS for
tune saved me from the crunch of his
Jaws.
Gen. WI soon tired of Tientsin
Worn and ill-humored, he ordered a
return to Paoting. leaving command
| in the field to his man Wang Shih.
djen.
Wu's ambition is not for personal
! prestige or wealth. The driving de-
| sire of his heart is TO build from the
! spurned human material of his coun-
try a force capable Of pushing the
japanese out of the ancestral land
He would remove the stigma of 1894.
WI saw little use in driving Chang
Tso-lin out of Manchuria only to leave
1t to Japan, and he knew that his
army and funds were unequal to at
tempting the settlement Of the Man
churian problem at this time.
So. when he had the Redbeard chief
surrounded instead of finishing him,
he dumfounded us by ordering: Let
him get away"
There was a near-insurrection on
the staff. Our Pacific Asian world be-
gan to laugh at the Little General. l
was hard put to justify him before
those accustomed to conducting wars
in the Christian way.
He addressed me one day. Did you
ever read in the Tso.Chuan" "a COM
mentary on China's history in the
first millennium before ChrisD 'the
story Of the duke who rebelled against
his king; and the king besieged his