Evening star., 1925-04-12


Manchuria," is man of little or
no educa ton, but of sound horse
sense" He is reported to have an ad-
viSer-an American of the name of
Baker. 1t would be interesting to
know just how much of his success is
due to this man. Chang stands
well with the Japanese, on whose
side he fought in the Russo-Japanese
war. Not yet so years of age, he has
risen from the position CT bandit
chief to the unchallenged ruler of
Manchuria, and, at the present mo-
ment, the most influential man in
China. Having settled things as he
wished, he has returned to Man
churia. wisely taking no chances of
losing power in his stronghold
Rise and Fall of WI.
Meanwhile, WI Pei-fu, the victor
over Chang in 1s22-the vanquished
in 1924, is maintaining a significant
silence. OF the crushing defeat of this
powerful man there can be no doubt.
But in China, truly, a man may be
down, but never out. WI, after the
first bitterness of betrayal, had a
dream of setting up a rival capital
in Wuchang. At first, the Yangtse
Tuchuns seemed to favor him (they
were all his men) but public opinion
was too strongly evident, and they
saw that the merchants, who must
pay the bills for everything, had been
too thoroughly bled. They could not,
and would not, support another revo-
lution-or counter revolution. WI, in
and up to September, 1924, was the
iron man of China. With a fair edu-
cation, little money, and no particu-
lar influence, he worked his way up
ward-gaining military prestige, i'm
menSe wealth, supreme power. he
wanted more-more of everything. So
he deliberately began, through his man
Chi, the war to acquire Shanghai, and
Chekiang Gan independent province).
He calIously chose as the time to
launch his drive, the moment when
the plains of Chilli were flooded, and
he thought it would be impossible
for his enemy Chang to unite with
his foes. Such hard-heartedness is
difficult of comprehension, but while
the country was endeavoring to raise
millions of dollars for the relief OF
the famine stricken, plague-swept
victims of the yellow tides, he was
plotting to profit by those very
waters; to spend more money than 1t
would have taken to alleviate the
suffering that was, in causing more
misery and death with gunpowder
real sympathy for WI. Chi, or Tsao Kun,
the ex-President, who bought his way
into that office. Yet there is always
something sad in broken strength. There
is no doubt that Wu's lust for power
has turned to a morose broodfng for re-
yenge,. which BODIES no good for China
He is at present supposed to be some
where on the Yangtse In gunooat,
with a few loyal troops. 1t is said that
n n Z n
mental disorders. Yet the intermlna-
BILE scheming is going on, and he is
hoping to be able to unite with some
generals on the upper Yangtse. He
has been offered, it is said, 100000 to
take a trip abroad
DeEeneracy of Sum Yst-Sen.
One of the most surprising things
in the recent turn of events was the
rise of Sun Yat-sen to place OF i'm
portance. He had made such a mess
of things in Canton that the people
were getting together to drive him
out When he found his power slip
ping from his grasp he began to I'LL
the air with cries against the for
eigners, and a bid for popularity
through anti-Christian propaganda.
Even this might not have helped him
any had not the turn OF the wheel
put a friendly party in power In
Peking. 1t was rumored not long ago
that there was a plot on foot, In
spired by the Soviet, to make Sun
the President of China. His enemies
feared that his regime in Canton was
typical of what his rule of China
would be-a reign OF terror and
bolshevism at it's bloodiest With
about $4,000 mercenary soldiers under
him, he held Canton. He bled the
merchants financially, broke all his
promises, burned their stores and bled
them physically. He claimed to be
for the people, yet the people found
no peace, no prosperity, no security
under his jurisdiction. In the light
of past performances, there could
never have been any enthusiastic for
eign support of nor confidence in Sun
Yat-sen. Yet he was invited to take
part in the reconstructive conference
in Picking, and was in that city when
he died.
In the beginning of the republic the
father of the revolution" and the
trusted first provisional president, he
degenerated and in the end died the
broken tool of the Soviet government.
Sorrows of Tuan.
Poor old Tuan Chi-jui! 1t can be
seen that his task is not an easy
one-with all these personalities to
weld into a great common ambition
the reunification of China. Add to the
individual selfishness of the leaders
the large number of soldiers under
arms (roughly estimated at 1,500,0001
who must be disbanded and given
some employment to keep them from
taking to the hills" or turning
bandit; the absence of communica-
tions, all the railroads suffering from
lack of cars confiscated and ruined
by the military, or congeSted with
cars used as barracks for. soldiers,
completely blocking the lines; the
financing of a government, and the
enforcement of his mandates without
any army that he can really call his
own.
Generals Now i'm Control.
To summarize. the country is alb
solutely in control of the military,
the present successful group COM
prising Tuan Chi-jei, the chief exec
utive;> Chang Tso-lfn, his angel;
Feng Yu-hsiang, the Christian gen.
eral, whose coup" brought this
party into power; Lu Yung-hsiang,
the once defeated, now victorious con-
tender for Shanghai. The defeated
generals are Tsao Kun, ex-president,
now a prisoner in Peking, held for
trial; Wu P'ei-fu. the ex-super war
lord, now waiting an "act Of God"
which might restore him to power,
with his loyal troops living on gun
boats on the Yangtze; Chi Hsieh-J Juan,
Wu's man, the deposed and defeated
tuchun of Kiangsu, now reported to
be taking a hurried trip to Japan.
Since 1911 these men have been all
powerful in different localities and
different combinations; since 1920
their battling has racked their coun-
try. And there Is no permanent peace
in sight, nor will there be, while
miIitarism runs amuck.