Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-03
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL y. COLLINS.

Uneasy lies the head that wears an
inherited crown of deceased dictator.
even in wild Manchuria. The spirit of
self-rule prevails in the Far East as
truly as it does in other parts OF the
world The dictatorship over Manchurla
of Chang TSo-lin covered many years,
but when the conquerlng army OF
Southern China, the Nationalist, ar
rived at Picking and threatened invasion
of Manchuria, less than a month ago
Chang Tso-lin seeing defeat ahead OF
him, undertook to flee. by special train
and the train was bombed, with fatal
results to the dictator and several OF
his chiefs.
Immediately the falling scepter was
seized by his son, Chang Heuch-liang,
but now 1t transpires that his authority
is defied by revolving subjects in the
greater part of his domain. and, instead
of recognizing any dictator. the people
demand that a commission be set up TO
represent Manchuria in a federation
with the Nationalist TO govern all
China under the Kuomintang. Eacn
governor Of the three Manchurian prov
inces would appoint representative,
and the government at Marking. the
Nationalist. would appoint fourth
representative: these four would repre-
sent Manchuria in the Nationalist kuo-
mintang, the southern, or central, gov
eminent of all China,
Manchuria, once the ruler OF China.
and the autocrat which compelled Mon
eolians and all Chinese other than
Manchus to wear ''pigtails," as tokens
OF submission TO Manchurian DONNA
ton, has ceased TO be paramount IN
power; she was overthrown in 1911 by
the new Republic Of China. Still, Man
churia has remained part OF emma,
though autonomous in local affairs I'M
der the Dictator Chang Tso-lin.
The Province of Manchuria covers
80. 900 square miles. almost entirely
mountainous. with one great plain IN
its northeastern region. The boundary
is extremely irregular. forming a sort
OF law opening westward, with Mon
golia and Chill resting within its open
laws. More than half the total area is
the Province of Heilungkiang, con-
shutting the upper jaw. but 1t IS so
mountainous that II contains popula-
ton of only 10000 South of 1t lies
Kirin. with population of $500 600.
and in the extreme south lies Sheng-
king sometimes called Feng ITEM
with population of 1000 600. The late
dictator and his son and heir, Chang
Heuch- liang. belong to this southern
province of Shengking. and 1t is pro-
posed by the other two provinces that
If his own province is satisfied To ac-
cept him as their governor there will be
no objection thereto. but that the two
other provinces will not accept his die
tatorship. The Manchurian capital,
Mukden. is located in Shengking Prov
ince the most southern. and IL Is
planned to retain 1t as the capital of
Manchuria under the new federation
OF all China.
Through what influence the new re-
bellion throughout Manehuria against !
the SON Of the late dictator has come |
about cannot be known. BY some 1t Is
attributed To Japan, but the preponder /
ant evidence points To the machina- |
tionS OF the Kuomintang itself, for If ii /
proves successful it viii mean re- |
union of all China under one repub- |
lican government. That may mean |
pacificatlon of The war-torn country |
and an early recognition OF the govern /
ment by foreign nations Then prob /
ably there will be a remaking of the !
foreign treaties. with the recovering OF |
home rule and complete sovereignty. as |
contrasted with humiliating extrater- /
ritoriality with foreign courts To try |
foreign offenders That last reform is /
one of the primary aims OF the pa |
triotic Nationalist,
China has been in state of unrest |
and civil war almost continually since /
the rise of the republic in 1911. That |
peace Is now within sight would be too
strong and Sanguine a statement yet. |
Other military victories have come, !
from time to time in the last II years,
but none has been strong enough TO /
unite the military deSpotS ruling by
force of arms the Semi-independent
provinces. There remain strong mill
tariSts. like Feng Yu-hsiang, the So-
called Christian general, To be reck-
oned with. Feng Joined the Nationalist
drive into the North after 1t had united
the South. but his LOYALTY Is not beyond
question in test of reorganization o!
the entire government
The Kuomintang had its beginning
IN many secret patriotic societies, some
80 years ago. formed with the purpose
Of overthrowing the Manchu conquer
orS, whose dynasty had ruled China,
AS an empire. since the middle OF the
seventeenth century The leader OF the
organized kuomlnmng was sun 1at
Sen Who also had previously organized
In Hongkong the Hsing Chung Hui
Raising China Society and out OF
that had grown the T'ung Meng Hui
tGet Together Society and hnaliy the
Nationalist partvl, All
that was the work OF IS or 80 years
ago, but IL led un TO the overthrow OF
The Manehu throne IN 1911 and the /