Evening star., 1937-04-18
The Kidnapping Of Gen. Chang

eralissinno, but We tried to do some
thing which We thought Wa for the
good Of the country. But the gensral-
tssino would not discuss things With
us. He was 20 angry after We de-
tanned him that he would not talk ct
all. Please. you try to make the gen.
eralissimo Be lees angry and tell him
We really do not want anything, not
even for him to Sign anything. We do
not want money, nor do We want ter
ritory."
I told him I believed him, because
If he did he would be no better than
the old-time militarists However, he
had to prove that to the rest Of the
world by Immediately effecting the
generalissimo's release without obligins
him to make any commitments.
Madame" he repeated. Il know
! have done wrong, and I am not try
ing to Justify myself or this action.
The motive was good and 1t would
never have happened II you had been
here with the generalissimo as you
usually are. I tried again and again
to speak to the generalissimo, but each
time he shut me up and scolded me
violently"
You do not understand the GEN.
eralissimo." I said. THE seneralissimo
only scolds people In whom he has
hopes. II he thinks people are use
less, he just dismisses tfem-he won't
take the trouble to scold them. You
always told the seneralissimo that you
looked upon him as I father. and he
took you At your word"
you know have always had great
faith In you," the young marshal
said, "and my associates ali admire
you. When they went through the
generalissimo's papers. after he was
detained, they found two letters from
you to the generaltssimo which caused
them to hold you in even greater re-
spect. They saw by those letters that
you were heart and soul with the peo-
pie and therefore they know, "a
know. you can adjust this situation, 20
far as the generalissimo is concerned,
20 that he can quickly leave Sian. We
wish him to leave safely and well be.
cause We do not wish in any way to
interfere with the generalissimo's work
or warfare, since he A our leader and
We wish to follow him. II he will only
let US explain our ideas, everything
will be satisfactory, and that you can
get him to do"
Moved by Letters.
I asked him what he meant when
he mentioned two letters from me to
the generalissino and he said one was
the suggestion referring to the raising
OF funds for the defense at Suiyuan.
In the other letter." he said, you
said something to the generalissimo
about your joint work for China, and
that you felt that you both had fallen
far short Of your duty and that the
nation should have made greater
progress. And you said that, in order
to be worthy Of the confidence of the
people placed in you both, you should
strive more to fulfill the VOWS you
made on your wedding day to work for
the people. These words moved us,
especially when you wrote that it was
by Gods grace that more mistakes
were not made than had been made,
and that you felt you should pray
more for Divine guidance"
Han-chen replied that, as far AZ he
was concerned, he would be willing to
release the generalissimo Immediately.
Others were implicated in the affair,
he explained, and he could not make =
decision without getting their consent.
Well, then you had better go and
tell them what I've just said" urged,
and II any Of them want to see me,
or II you think I can influence any
OF them, just send them here and I'll
see them. will wait up for your
reply" Now 1t was late at night.
I waited until IL o'clock, and, as he
still did not return, I sent 4 telephone
message to inquire OF his whereabouts.
was told that he was at a meeting.
gave instructions that, after the
meeting, he should come to see me.
BY 2 O'Clock In the morning, he still
did not appear. and so I telephoned
again. A few minutes later he came,
looking terribly harassed and heavy
eyed. He explained that, as the meet
ing ended so late, he thought I had
already retired and did not want to
disturb me.
What did they say?" I asked.
Yang Opposes Release.
Yang and his men are not willing
to release the generalissimo. They
say that since T. v. and madame are
friendly toward me, my head would
be safe, but what about theirs? They
now blame me for getting them into
this affair and say that, since none
OF our conditions Is granted, If they
released the generalissimo now they
would be In a worse fix than ever.
There will be another meeting to-
morrow"
I saw that he was worn out and
that nothing could be gained by pro-
longing the conversation. said, 1T
Is already nearly ! o'clock. Well talk
this over tomorrow. You'd better get
some rest"
CONTINUED tomorrow.)