Imperial Valley press., 1926-12-15
TREACHERY IS
RESPONSIBLE FOR
CHINESE DEFEATS.
BY RANDALL GOULD
United Press Staff Correspondent

PEkING, Dee. 10 Treachery,
that incalculable bat ever present
factor in Chinese civil warfare. may
vet pave the way for Il sane solu-
tion. of China S troubles. in the opin-
ion of many close observers.
1t has been trcachCrv which for
months past has set at naught the
forecasts of foreign military eX-
pcrts and which has rendered ap.
parcntly simple campaigns impos-
Siblc to understand in the final GU
come. Treachery has reduced Chin
csc civil wars, in short, to Il phau-
taSmagoria wherein leaders and
troops shift sides at the sign of 1t
silver dollar.
SO long as these, civil wars con,
tinucd to be based purely ON the
personal equatiou-on the indiVid-
ual merits or demeritS of any Chin,
csc militaristic Tom, Dick or Harry
there could be no more sense to
the sight than to a waterfront brawl
among 50 many longshoremcn In
spite of brave talk concerning "th"
man on horseback who was to
unite all China by force. the fact
remained that no sooner did enc
man rise than all the others sturted
tc pull him down.
Wa Pei-fu preached ''forciblc
unitication, and WI today roams
tie wide open spaces with hand
full of rag-tag and bob-tail Soldierv.
hang Tso-ln sought foreign aid as
" the strong man of China, vet
now he holds Peking most prccari-
ously and has grave financial trou-
"le IN his own home provinces i'll
Manchuria.
Canton 5 army, whatever else may
I've said for it, hangs together ON
basis of something more than tn
! crsonaitv ef its leader Chang
kai-shek. 1t stands for an idea.
It's present drive northward is tn
: Northern Expedition of whiru
the late sun Iat-Sen dreamed
dream 50 intense that ii fastened
itself immoyablv in the mind Of all
Canton.
Because it stands for an idea
good or bad is open to de
batc-thc Canton army has thus far
t"cn immune to treachery withja
its ranks, And because opposing
armies have been based on the old
time personal equation, trcachery
Las been behind every one Of their
rcYerScS.
Capture Due to Traitors
Even the recent capture of VIZ.
chang after stubborn resistance i,
said to have been finally duc to an
opening OF the city gates by traitors
within. Whether truc or not. thi>
story finds is duplicate in many
tale of uudoubtcd trut1.
less than two Years ago, I'll.
= Christian .Gcncral.' Fphg 4H-
hisiang started Marshal Wa Pcifu
on the tohoggam slide which he is
still travelling through Feng'S ac
in abandoning the anti-Chang C,a-
I'm campaign and entering prkIn-,
city gates which were opened to him
from within.
The liankow Herald hes an inter
esting account Of thr chain o.
tlrachcrv which has attended the
present Cantonite northern d1ivo.
The Southcrnera were logically to l.
opposed by Spn Chuan-fang Of IT,,
Shanghai area, Wa Pci-fu around
I!ankow. and various minor leaders
notably including one Chin Yun-au.
Wa assured himself that sun
would work with him and, on thi,
assurance, drove INTO southern IIu-
rth province. Instead Of. taking
forces down into Human from Ki-
angst, as expected, Sun roasted on
the fence and declined to act-hav-
ing secretly agreed with Chin Nu-ao
that they would allow Wa to be de
foatcd and then, with WI ont Of
the political picture, would drive
the Cantonitcs southwark again.
Wa called for Sun help. did not
get it, and called for Chin. chin $
men took a look at the fighting
front and came back hot foot. So
Wa packed up and went north, de-
feated. The time had come for
Chin to help sun, but in matter
IF days he too was fleeing. since
sun gave him no support. Finally
sun, having "doubIc-crossrd - hotn
VA and Chin, finds himself in turn
lacking in support which he hoped
to get from Chang Tso-lin of Man
churia, and he in turn seems due
for elm nation.