Evening star., 1933-08-06


drove from the party the Lsftist ele-
ments which till then had dominated,
and among whom were Nine. Sun and
Wang Ching-wei, authentic ideologist
Of the party.
Under the military direction OF
Chang Kai-Shek the Kuomintang un-
fortunately alienated most Of the mass
support which it had won on the basis
Of DR. Suns broadly socialistic
principles
The process was fatal 1t definitely
broke the early power and impetus Of
the revolution. Numerous rivals sprang
up against Gen. Chang Kai-shek and
the country was torn with private wars
of regional militaristS.
Gen. Chang Kai-shek bent as far to
the Right as possible. The more
vital revolutionary elements presently
in central China, which throughout the
last four wears has made Intellectual
Chang Kai-sflek's attempted steward
ship of the nations affairs.
Had the Kuomintang abided by It's
original purposes. 1t Is possible that the
recent Sino-Japanese events might have
evolved quite differently. Unfortunately
when Japan struck at Manchuria, pub
lie affection for the Kuomintang was
practically nil, while the spirit of
nationalism was at a low ebb. The
people could not be rallied. the national
resources could not be organized.
Nanking Support Failed.
The Nanking government failed to
assist the North China troops in re-
siSting the japanese; not a Nanking
gun nor airplane participated in the
struggle to save Manchuria and Jehol
Meanwhile, however, something like
800 900 Nanking troops have remained
concentrated in central China. About
| $500 900 900 has been spent, and up
| ward of 20O,000 Chinese peasants have
been killed or injured in an apparently
futile attempt to suppress the Red
! government there.
nese. except those organized in secret
political parties, have until recently
| dared to protest. But one woman
! Soong Ching-ling, has never ceased tc
| rebel She has stayed on in China, ano
under the most disconcerting hostility
! has attempted to restore something o1
! the original genius of the revolution.
People who do not know her vel
| have characterized Nine. Sun as g
Sentimentalist. That sentirnentality doe:
not seem to extend to her own family
| for among those whom she castigates
for failure to carry out the revolutionary
! program are her brother-inlaw, Gen
Chang Kai-shek: her brother. T. "
Soong, minister Of finance, and H. H
Kung. another brother-in-law, presi.
dent of the Central Bank of China and
member of the Central Executive Com
mittee. Nor does this Sentimentality
! appear to affect her Judgment of the
great political vehicle organized by the
man whose memory she reveres. She
is convinced that the Kuonintang. to-
day corrupted beyond repair, is mort
bund institution doomed to extinction.
Under the Kuomintang." she tolc
me. taxes have passed into the cate
CORY Of plunder Schools have decreased
illiteracy has actually increased, educa,
ton has lapsed to a low not touched
since the days of the empire. Famine
reconstruction has scarcely been COM
menced The nation is burdened with
a million new soldiers drawn from the
ranks of peasants disposSessed Of theh
land by militarists.
"If DR.. Sun were alive today ne would
disown this Kuomintang and see 1t dis
solved rather than have its name ap-
piled to the administration Of feuda
militarists He could not be a partner
to this useless murder Of Chinese farm
ers and patriots under the guise oi
| fighting communism while nothing Il
done against the japanese steadily an
nexing territory In the north. He would
welcome every true revolutionary into
| the party.
| Not Yet . Constitution.
1.-THE Kuomintang militarists stand
| condemned for their failure to give any
! guarantees of freedom of speech, free
/ dom of press and freedom Of assembly
! Right of organization is denied the
| farmers, the laborerS, the workers, who
make up 80 per cent Of the population
! Justice remains farcial mockery con-
| trolled by politicians and militarists
After six years there is not even sim
| pie bill of rights for the people. There
is not yet any kind Of constitution"
These are opinions which not many
would dare voice so strongly but which
| although there are mitigating circum-
stances, it would be impossible to con-
flute completely. Undoubtedly millions
of Chinese think the same. But SoonG
| Ching ling Is woman Of action; she
does not merely criticize. The funda-
mental root of all political struggle in
China is the complete subjugation OF
! civilian voice by the military. Enlight-
ened law exists in the new Chinese legal
code, just as enlightened men exist ir
the civilian membership of the Kuomin-
tang: party decisions have rendered
certain guarantees to citizens; but these
are nullified by the predominance oi
guns everywhere and the unscrupulous
individuals who control them. Public
| opinion is not sluggish, but fearful oi
death, few have ventured to oppose the
military power.
Striking directly at the feudal con.
ception Of justice which this situation
entails, Soong Ching ling recently or.
ganized the China League for Civi
Rights, somewhat comparable to thu
American Civil Liberties Union. Under
a system where merely to study com.
munism is crime frequently punished
by death, and where any political
liberalism is likely to be interpreted a.
communism, no one heretofore hao
ventured to head such an organization
The China League for Civil Right.
quickly won popular support. Its de-
mands, to the Western mind, appear
quite moderate. 1t aims first of all tt
win liberation for something like
$4,000 political prisoners and to secure
the rights of freedom Of press, speech
| and assembly, which in practice are
denied undfr militaristic rule. Failing
| that, 1t concentrates on securing trial In
| civil ro,trt for overu y,n1ifiroI y,riennar