Εικόνες σελίδας
PDF
Ηλεκτρ. έκδοση

Foreign News-[Continued]

Summer and wanted to go home by the Majestic. But we could not get decent accommodations on the Majestic, and at the last minute decided to go on the Berengaria.

"My opinion of the Prince of Wales as a dancer? I think he is the most wonderful boy in the whole world, and as a dancer, he lives up to my loftiest ideals about him."

the

He

In

On board the Berengaria, Prince lived a hectic athletic life. outwalked everyone in his party. a tug-of-war match between the Prince's team and a team composed principally of Yale and Harvard men, with one short, sharp tug the American team hauled the Prince's team across the line and down the deck. In a potato race, he was disqualified. A pillow fight on a boom proved irresistible sport. "Here," said the Prince, "I want a shot at that! Get me somebody about my weight. I am 150 pounds." A lanky American lad was found. The two went at each other with such vigor that they both descended to the mattress with dull thuds.

"Come on again!" cried the Prince, vaulting back onto the pole. The lanky lad landed him a good, solid wallop, but the Prince kept his balance, and as the other came to the defense, he hit him with such force that he unbalanced himself.

The Prince also proved his ability as a boxer. In the ship's gymnasium, he had a friendly round or so with the ship's instructor. "You want to shoot that left out sharper, sir," said the instructor. The Prince did, and caught him a good, stiff biff on the jaw. He apologized profusely, but his mentor replied, touching his face tenderly, "I deserved all I got from you, sir."

Com

Radiograms began to come in. Boy Scouts of America: "Six hundred ninety members Boy Scouts of America extend heartiest welcome. mand us for any service. Hope you will grant little time at reception of our world's champion Jamboree Scouts returning steamer Lancastria Sept. 6 or 7. Warmest greetings. Colin Livingstone, President."

Many other messages were received.

As the Berengaria stopped to let the Prince off, an army of reporters besieged the royal quarters. To them was handed a typewritten statement.

Interviews followed on Deck C. "Are you engaged?" asked a woman reporter.

"No, I am not engaged."

"How long are you going to stay?" "I don't know. I am most happy to be back in America. I like your coun

try very much. The fact that I have come here for a holiday is about the best that I can say."

"Will you be here for a fortnight?" "I wish you would make it as easy for me as possible and let me alone."

"Are you likely to marry an American girl?" queried another female newsgetter.

"That question can't be answered. That's a secret."

"Have you been studying poker?" "Cut that out!" rapped back the Prince.

The Prince stepped off the Berengaria, and Lord Renfrew stepped on the Machigonne, then onto the Black Watch, then, owing to the low tide, into a small launch which whisked him away to Glen Cove, L. I. Thousands and thousands of people who had assembled to see him were disappointed.

The magnificent suite which the Prince engaged on the Berengaria cost him $5,490 for the trip.

In the early morning following his arrival, a train rolled its way under the island of Manhattan. It was taking Lord Renfrew to Washington. On his arrival, he had gone around New York; on his way to Washington, he went under it.

¶ Soon after 1 p. m. on a hot August day, the Prince of Wales alighted from the train, was met by Secretary of State Charles E. Hughes and Colonel C. E. G. C. Charlton, Military Attaché at the British Embassy. Thousands of people assembled on the concourse leading from the station, hoping for a glimpse of the British Heir Apparent. Their patience was scantily rewarded, for the Prince walked quickly through the President's Room and entered the President's closed automobile, at the door of which stood Assistant Secretary of State J. Butler Wright. As the Prince passed through the Capitol grounds and down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, the people made themselves still hotter by cheering lustily the speeding automobile.

Arriving at the White House, the Prince leaped from the car and was ushered into the Presidential mansion by the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary of State. President and Mrs. Coolidge and their son, John, were waiting to receive him in the Blue Room. After introductions had been made, Mr. Hughes and Mr. Wright withdrew, leaving the Prince alone in the bosom of the reigning family of the U. S.

Luncheon was served in the State Dining Room, and lasted one hour. The entire meal was one of great simplicity

-a luncheon "such as the Coolidge family often shares." The President was dressed in a gray suit with a mourning band on one sleeve. Mrs. Coolidge wore an all-white dress. The Prince was attired in a grey-blue lounge suit with white pin-stripes, a white handkerchief with a blue border stuck in his breast pocket.

After luncheon, the party moved to the residential part of the White House, where conversation was continued for 15 minutes. After this, President and Prince repaired to the former's study, smoked, and "may have discussed matters of interest in world affairs." Seated in the President's chair, the Prince asked permission to write a message to the people of Washington in response to a request from the White House correspondents:

The White House Washington

To the People of Washington:

I would like to express my very deep gratitude to the people of Washington for their kind welcome to me on this hot day. To have the chance of paying my respects to the Chief Executive of the United States has been eagerly anticipated by me, but I did not expect the affectionate reception which the citi zens themselves have afforded me.

My present visit to this country is pure. ly a holiday one, but the charm of it is enhanced by the manner in which it is being received in all quarters. I thank you all EDWARD P. very much

30, VIII, 24.

At 2:30 p. m., the President, his family and the Prince returned to the Blue Room, where a number of Cabinet members were presented. At 3:00 p. m. the visit was over. The Prince left the White House in the Presidential car, the top of which had been lifted back. All along Pennsylvania Avenue the crowd, which had waited a solid two hours in the broiling sun for his reappearance, cheered him to the echo. The Prince doffed his hat repeatedly, smiled, and seemed deeply to appreciate the spontaneous homage of the people of Washington.

Shortly after, a train steamed out of Washington's station. Lord Renfrew was returning to Syosset.

a

Sunday was to be a great day. Syossetians and others crowded local church; for Princes are good church-goers. Great disappointment: Lord Renfrew played polo in the morning and danced in the afternoon.

Labor Day found the Baron of Renfrew at Belmont Park, sitting in August Belmont's box over which fluttered a Union Jack. He betted not, so said a report, but he was seen in the paddock and on the judges' stand. Although there were 60,000 people present, not all knew that the puerile* Baron was present. But, for

*Puerile is here used as a synonym for boyish, which has been done to death in connection with the Prince by the daily press of the world.

Foreign News-[Continued]

example, when God Save the King was played, the Union Jack run up on Mr. Belmont's private pole, and the Baron appeared in the paddock and on the judges' stand, many thousands of gullets manufactured right lusty and hearty cheers.

Lord Renfrew's hat created so much sensation that reporters forgot to mention the rest of his attire. It was a Panama with the brim turned down all the way around-as they are usually worn in the Isles of Britain. In every other respect it resembled other Panamas, but even this last distinction was effaced by the Belmont multitude which was seen furtively turning down Panama brims. Occasion was taken by reporters to inform the plebs that the Baron has two Panamas, one senescent and one neoteric. The new variety caused the commotion.

Tuesday activities for the Prince inIcluded the writing of a letter to his royal parents and participation in a polo game at the Phipps estate, where he played at No. 1, made a goal for his side.

The Balance of Power

On Oct. 1, French and German delegates will meet in Paris to negotiate a treaty of commerce between their respective countries. That fact is of tremendous importance to Britain for two reasons:

Political. Before the War, Britain's influence on the Continent of Europe rested snugly upon the doctrine of the balance of power. In those days, the Continental Great Powers were Germany, Austria - Hungary,

Russia,

France. "Balance of power" meant to Britain the equal division of these Powers so that she could, at a given time, exert a decisive influence.

After the War, the application of balance of power was more simple, but less efficacious. France and Italy were the sole Great Powers on the Continent; but national animosities kept them apart and thus played into the hands of Britain. Alone of the ex-enemy States, Germany remained a potential Great Power. In the manifold disputes which from time to time arose between France and Germany, Britain was able, although not always successfully under the new economic conditions, to exert considerable pressure upon one side or the other.

With unmistakable evidence, France and Germany began to display a desire for an economic rapprochement which is to take definite form at Paris in October. It is freely predicted by political sages that Britain's balance of power plans are to be forever upset.

Economic. In London last week, political circles were thrilled by a speech from Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Snowden, "Enemy of Capitalism," as some still like to call

CHANCELLOR SNOWDEN

"In that sharp, rasping voice—" him. His words were prophetic, revealing, in the present, a rift within the Labor Party and, in the future, the shoals of dangerous commercial enmity. His utterance, issued in that sharp, rasping voice that verges upon the disagreeable, implicated the Free Trade platform upon which Labor stood at the last election (TIME, Nov. 26 et seq.), and gave shape to a political crisis that may, some predicted, involve the country in a general election next December.

It has been said that Premier Ramsay MacDonald is a politician and an opportunist before a Socialist. Philip Snowden is a Socialist before all else, yielding nothing, "consumed with one passionate purpose," "a Robespierre of concentrated and remorseless purpose."

When Mr. Snowden became Chancellor of the Exchequer, enemies gazed upon his crippled form-the result of a bicycle accident when young—and declared him an idealist, a pacifist, a radical, a man without training for the high office of Chancellor. To them he was a despicable figure. Then came his budget (TIME, May 12). People were forced to change their views. When that "pallid, hatchet-faced man, small, leaning heavily upon his crutches, dragging one foot helplessly along the ground," took his place upon the Treasury Bench in the House of Commons, made his budget speech, they recognized

him as a master of finance and economics, an outstanding Chancellor among the outstanding Chancellors of Britain. Even Conservatives cheered him to the echo.

The words of such a man are not to be taken lightly. At London, last week, apropos of the Experts' Plan and the jeopardized future of British trade, he said in effect: "By the Experts' Plan it was hoped to expand British trade and find work for our million unemployed. But a Franco-German trade agreement may well offset this expected result." The Chancellor went on to make a veiled attack upon the Premier which was construed as meaning that Mr. MacDonald must rely more upon his Ministers and less upon himself; for it had become known that the Cabinet was not consulted upon the Anglo-Russian settlement (TIME, Aug. 18).

[graphic]

Philip's

Conservatives interpreted speech as a plain statement in support of protection, which means preferential tariffs for Commonwealth products. The prophets heralded a new general election in which the following problems would be paramount:

1) Future British trade, implicating a revival of the age-old Protection versus Free Trade controversy;

2) The Irish boundary dispute (TIME, Aug. 11);

3) The Anglo (TIME, Aug. 18).

[ocr errors]

Russian Treaty

Significance. The economic situation on the Continent gave poignancy to Snowden's speech. What did he mean by saying that a trade agreement between France and Germany "may well offset this expected result?" This: By the Treaty of Versailles Germany's Ruhr coal was separated from her Alsace-Lorraine iron ore. The coal remained in Germany; the ores went to France. France has not enough coal; Germany has not enough iron ores. The logical thing for France to do is to follow the advice of that ex-Premier of France and economic genius, M. Joseph Caillaux, and seek an economic association with Germany. This can have but one result: The close coöperation of the two industries will form the largest steel combination in the world. Germany and France will be enabled to control many world markets to the complete exclusion of the British; and their combined power will, until Russia becomes once more a Great Power, be ever a standing challenge to British influence on the Continent and an unremitting foe to British commerce. It must be remembered that Joseph Caillaux's scheme of things was to end British interference in Continental affairsa policy which Premier Herriot of France is following while paradoxi

Foreign News—[Continued]

cally clinging to the Entente Cordiale. British miners besought Premier MacDonald to prevent Germany from paying any more reparations in coalFrance, to a large extent, and Germany, to a lesser degree, have in recent years been the largest coal customers of Britain-and generally warned him of the effect that the London Agreement (TIME, Aug. 25, INTERNATIONAL) will have on the industry. Political leaders are beginning to growl; for British trade and British influence were being threatened on the Continent by a likely combination that is to give a new meaning to the doctrine of the balance of power.

FRANCE

Alsace-Lorraine

Premier Herriot announced in Paris that in October he would pay a visit to Alsace and Lorraine (those two long-lost daughters that were returned to the bosom of La Mère Patrie in 1918) in order to study how legislation can be modified progressively and French law introduced into the restored Provinces.

Behind this innocent little statement lies a wealth of detail, much burning resentment, the most difficult of French domestic problems, principally religious in nature.

From 1918 until the present, the Government of France has supported Roman Catholicism. Relations were established between Paris and the Holy See. The congregations (religious bodies) excluded by laws passed at the beginning of the present century, began to return. Catholic Alsace and Lorraine were permitted to retain their own laws and customs which had been granted to them under the Hohenzollern régime.

Not even the most rabid Nationalist dared to foist French laws upon the people of those Provinces; religious privileges, denied to French men and women in France, were freely exercised in Alsace and Lorraine.

Then came the election of May 11, 1924 (TÍME, May 19), and the political face of France was radically altered. Anti-Clericalism had supplanted Clericalism. In a ministerial statement M. Herriot declared:

"The Government is persuaded that it will interpret faithfully the wishes of the dear population at last restored to France by hastening the day on which will be effaced the last differences between the legislation in the recovered departments and the rest of the territory of the Republic."

A hue and cry was raised throughout the liberated Provinces. People

who had enthusiastically acclaimed the French as their long-lost brothers after the Armistice, were now driven to unconcealed dismay. On the one hand was the clear impossibility of maintaining German laws in French Provinces; on the other hand was the fervid determination of the Catholic population-a large majority—not to submit to anti-Catholic laws of the French Republic.

The situation is best summed up by the people of Colmar:

"The Catholics of Colmar, gathered together to protest against the religious war that the present Government has declared upon them, raise their voices against the project of unchaining religious strife in Alsace and Lorraine, without taking heed of the extremely difficult political situation of France both in the interior and in the foreign domain.

"They declare that the project in the most brutal fashion ignores the inalienable rights of the members of the Catholic religion and the imprescriptable rights of believing parents. They consider it as the shameful breaking of a pledge given by France. to the Alsatians and Lorrainers to respect their liberties and their traditions.

"They energetically demand the maintenance of the laws which governed the schools and the relations between the Church and the State at the moment of their return to France. They demand the withdrawal of the teaching personnel and the withdrawal of the scholastic books which do not respond to the spirit of the confessional schools. This personnel and these books have been surreptitiously introduced in the schools by the educational authorities.

"They demand, in place of the decisions of certain municipal councils which are in flagrant opposition to the will of the parents, to be allowed to make known what is the will of the people in the questions which concern the Church and the schools.

"They declare that they are firmly resolved to use all the means which are in their power to obtain the immediate realization of their claims, and are resolved to defend with an inflexible energy their rights, their liberties and their traditions."

Those who have gazed at the tall spire of the Strasbourg Cathedral, shrouded in Gothic mystery, remember that this is the place where Goethe received his education. They will remember that the Provinces were, until the time of Louis XIV, a part of the Holy Roman Empire,

that from 1871 until 1918 they were part of the old German Empire. Gazing around the streets, these people will find German signs faintly obliterated by French; they will become conscious every now and then that German is being spoken by the passerby. The opponents of M. Herriot ask: "How can a country so impregnated with German customs be assimilated to France in the twinkling of an eye?"

Premier Herriot was forced to see the point. He announced last week that any project designed to modify the present status of Alsace and Lorraine would be submitted to Parliament before being put into effect. This statement was taken to indicate that the Government had abandoned its plan to alter immediately the laws of the Provinces in favor of a progressive assimilation to La Mère Patrie. M. Herriot's proposed trip to the Provinces gives additional corroboration.

RUSSIA

Battle for Life

In the days before the Revolution, one man haunted Russia-he was the arch-conspirator, Gen. Boris Savin

kov.

One snowy day in Moscow, the Grand Duke Sergius was blown to pieces at the Kremlin gate-one Kalayev threw the bomb; but the man who engineered the plot was the arch-Terrorist, Gen. Boris Savinkov.

Three Ministers of the Tsar died violent deaths; and three men were hanged for their deeds. They and the girl, Fanny Kaplan, who came within an ace of killing Lenin in 1918, took their orders from the arch-fiend, Gen. Boris Savinkov.

One gray morning, the body of Father Gapon was discovered on an island in Lake Ladoga, near St. Petersburg. He has been strangled to death, so the police said, by the strong hands of the arch-murderer, Gen. Boris Savinkov,

Then came the Revolution of 1917, with Kerensky at its head; the active support of his régime was the archrevolutionary Gen. Boris Savinkov. When Kerensky was ousted by the Bolsheviki, Savinkov fled to Paris.

In Paris, a Russian was told that his country was enslaved by a tyranny surpassing that of the Tsars. Others told him that his Fatherland was at last free. Recently he decided

Foreign News-[Continued]

to go to Russia and find out the truth for himself.

At the frontier, the Bolsheviki were awaiting him. He was imprisoned and brought up for trial at Moscow, scene of many of his assassinations. The opening days of his trial were held in camera. He told his judges that President Masaryk of CzechoSlovakia had contributed several thousands of dollars to a murder plot against Lenin, Trotzky and other Bolsheviki. He told of his disagreement with Lenin-how he had advocated murder and Lenin had advocated the organization of the proletariat to oust the Tsar from his throne. He told of a plot to kill Rakovsky (now Chargé d'Affaires in Great Britain), and Foreign Minister Tchitcherin in Berlin as they returned from the Genoa Conference in 1922. He told of many more interesting things.

The final day of the trial came last week; and the Soviet Government opened the courtroom to the public. There was the Supreme Judge of the Military Tribunal, Ulrich, guarded by three stalwart soldiers. There was Kamenev, Acting Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, sitting with his beautiful wife. Side by side sat Krassikov, President of the Supreme Court; Kursky, Commissioner of Justice; Minjiniki Elyava, Head of the Trans-Caucasian Federation; Karl Radek, famed diplomat; another arch-devil, Bela Kun, quondam Red Dictator of Hungary. In the dock was a small man, quite bald, about 45, dressed in a cheap doublebreasted grey sack suit and a thin black tie. His face was reminiscent of a youthful Napoleon, but "cadaverous and drawn with deep shadows under the eyes." He was unafraid and viewed the spectators lazily. He was the arch-desperado, Gen. Boris Savinkov.

The trial began. "Make your final statement," said the Judge. Replied the prisoner, in a low, weak voice:

"I am not afraid to die. I know your sentence already, but I do not care. I am Boris Savinkov, who always played on the threshold; Boris Savinkov, revolutionary and friend of revolutionaries, to be judged now by your revolutionary court.

"I am here by my fault, my unwilling fault. You represent the Russian people-the workers and the peasants. Judge me for my faults, my unwilling faults, toward Russia."

After reviewing his ghastly life as a Terrorist, he pleaded with outstretched hands for his life; or, if he

was still impervious to his fate, his words belied him:

"I turned against you for four reasons: First, my life's dream had been the Constituent Assembly. You smashed it; and iron entered my soul. I was wrong. Our Russia isn't ready for self-government. You knew it; and I didn't. I admit my fault.

"Second, the Brest-Litovsk Peace, which I regarded as a shameful betrayal of my country. Again I was wrong; and you were right. History has proved it; and I admit my fault.

"Third, I thought that Bolshevism couldn't stand, that it was too extreme, that it would be replaced by the other extreme of monarchism and that the only alternative was the middle course. Again I was proved wrong and again I admit it.

"Fourth, and most important reason, I believed that you didn't represent the Russian masses-the workers and peasants. I have lived always in the water-tight compartment of the conspirator. I knew nothing of the feelings of the Russian masses. But I thought that they were against you; and so I, who have given my life to their service, set myself against you also."

He then told the court why he had come back to Russia. His reason was that he wanted to find out the truth, "to see it with my own eyes, to hear it with my own ears."

"Now I know," he went on, "and my life is cheap as the price of that knowledge. I say here before your court, whose sentence I know already, surrounded by your soldiers, of whom I have no fear, that I recognize unconditionally your right to govern Russia. I ask not your mercy. I ask you only to let your revolutionary conscience judge a man who has never sought anything for himself, who has devoted his whole life to the cause of the Russian people. But I add this: Before coming here to say that I recognize you, I have gone through worse suffering than the utmost you can do to me."

The presiding Judge announced a 15-minute interval.

Said Kursky: "I think he is telling the truth. And, what is more, our investigations have shown no attempt on his part to start Terrorist activities here nor to get in touch with anti-Bolshevik organizations. For one thing, there are no such organizations in existence, though he may not know that. Anyway, I believe he is honest."

Bela Kun dissented: "Savinkov is

a bold fellow, who has always carried his life in his hands. But he is a romantic creature, not a Marxist. He has been tracked and threatened a thousand times and has lived ever in an atmosphere of murder and sudden death. Now he is up against it and, like the true romantic, gives us a beautiful story."

The 15 minutes were up. Said Judge Ulrich:

"We have heard your statement. Have you anything more to say before judgment is passed upon you?"

The prisoner replied: "I know your sentence and I don't care. I am not afraid of it nor of death. But one thing I do fear-that the Russian people will misjudge me and misunderstand my life and its purpose. I never was an enemy of the Russian people. I have devoted my life to serving them. I have made mistakes, but I die unashamed and unafraid."

There was another adjournment, after which the court passed sentence upon the die-hard revolutionary, Gen. Boris Savinkov, but recommended him to mercy. Gen. Savinkov knew then that he would not die.

Karl Radek summed up the trial: "It's a perfect melodrama. Cesare Borgia in the rôle of Hamlet. What an amazing scoundrel is this Savinkov, drenched in blood, yet compelling us to believe in his sincerity, making us understand and even share his soul's agony! For me, I would shoot him out of hand. He is so utterly the plotter, so profoundly devoted to murder and destruction as to be incapable of anything else. And yet the man has elements of greatness. In his warped mind, I believe there is a genuine devotion to Russia, who needs the service of all her sons so much. Perhaps, after all, it is better that he live."

War?

CHINA

China was threatened last week by a civil war of considerable size. Troops were massed upon the border between Chekiang and Kiangsu, two maritime Provinces in the middle of China's long seacoast. Reports were issued to the effect that fighting had started, but no confirmation was obtainable.

Actors. Gen. Wu Pei-fu, Tuchun*

*Tuchuns are military governors of the Provinces, or, more popularly, War Lords. They are the republican prototypes of the old Mandarin Viceroys and hold much the same power. Officially, there is no such thing as a Tuchun, the office having been abolished in 1923.

Foreign News-[Continued]

of Chihli Province. He is the ablest military mind of China. Under his control is the whole north and centre of China, except Manchuria. He is the Lord Protector of Peking, which is in his province. Although a democrat, he aims at reunifying China by the sword, which policy has brought him into conflict with the Tuchun of Manchuria and Dr. Sun Yat-sen, of the South. One of the anomalies of the situation in Peking is that President Tsao-Kun was once an enemy of Gen. Wu. At the time TsaoKun was made President of the Chinese Republic (TIME, Oct. 15), Gen. Wu made no opposition and it was alleged that he had been "bought off." Apart from being a military genius, he is a man of culture, scientific and literary. He studies hard. Recently he began to learn English, employed a tutor, gave him his only spare hour-4:30 a. m. to 5:30 a. m. He is known as a "man who speaks softly and carries a big stick."

Gen Chi Hsieh-yuan, Tuchun of Kiangsu, friend of Gen. Wu.

Gen. Lu Yung-hsiang, Tuchun of Chekiang, once military commissioner of Shanghai, an enemy of Gen. Chi. He is about 57 years of age. After he became Tuchun of Chekiang, he had Gen. Ho Feng-lin appointed to the Shanghai post, although Shanghai is not in his Province.

Gen. Ho Feng-lin, military Commissioner of Shanghai, in the Province of Kiangsu. He is about 47 years of age and is under the influence of Gen. Lu. Marshal Chang Tso-lin, Tuchun of Manchuria, an avowed Imperialist-that is, a Monarchist. He is a young man of great brains and tremendous power, but no match for Gen. Wu, who once sadly defeated him. Manchuria is about the size of Texas and Colorado, forming enough territory in northern China to make Marshal Chang's title of War Lord of the North no empty epithet.

The Row. The cause of the present trouble in China centers in Shanghai. So numerous have been the reasons for the rumpus that they have varied with the political complexion of each sinologue interpreter.

The immediate cause is that Gen. Chi wants Shanghai under his thumb. As it is, he thinks the Military Commissioner in Shanghai ought to be a man of his choice. Having tried peacefully to oust Gen. Ho from the Commissionership, he is now resolved to do t by force, which brings him into con

Shanghai is an extraterritorial foreign ettlement situated at the extreme southeast f the Province of Kiangsu. Its great harbor sindispensable to foreign trade in China. ts poltical importance can be gauged when is stated that all Chinese political refugees nd protection within its borders.

flict with Gen. Lu, who is equally determined to preserve his influence in Shanghai.

The general cause of the dispute is

MARSHAL CHANG

"His title is no empty epithet"

inherent in the political chaos which besets China. The Tuchuns, who exercise almost sovereign power in their Provinces, are split up in many factions, 'due largely to personal jealousies. The immense power which the Tuchuns wield is naturally the greatest obstacle to the reunification of China. China as such is internationally little more than a geographical expression. Nothing short of a civil war between the Centre under Gen. Wu, "biggest man in China," the South under Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and the North under Marshal Chang can ever clear away the political strife which for years has thrown the country into annual turmoil.

Warning. Sir Ronald Macleay, British Minister to China and Acting Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, sent the Chinese Foreign Office a note from the Powers reminding the Government of China that it would be held responsible for loss of life and damage to property of foreign nationals. The note read:

"We, the undersigned representatives of Great Britain, Japan, France and the United States, learning of the grave danger of hostilities breaking out between the provincial authorities of Kiangsu and Chekiang, feel it our duty to repeat and reaffirm in the most solemn manner the obligations of the Chinese Government in the present crisis, to prevent loss of life and prop

erty to members of the foreign community in and around Shanghai."

Foreign Forces. The principal Powers that are diplomatically represented in Peking keep military and naval forces in China for the protection of foreigners, who are not subject to the laws of China but to the laws of their own countries, and who are under the jurisdiction of their consulates.

With trouble brewing around Shanghai, ten warships were sent to the harbor to watch over the inhabitants of the city and its outlying area. Rear Admiral David Murray Anderson, of the British Navy, was designated Commander-in-Chief of all foreign vessels: four American, three British, three Japanese.

Peace. It has been said, perhaps too often, that money has frequently stopped a Chinese War. Perhaps with that in view, the Shanghai merchants essayed to bring about agreement between the threatening troops. The chances of success were said to be small.

Attempts were also made to induce both sides to designate a neutral zone surrounding Shanghai. It was not known if they were successful.

[graphic]

LATIN AMERICA Mexican Notes

Recently there has been sitting in Mexico City a Special Claims Commission which is to consider and adjust claims for losses or damages suffered by U. S. Citizens in Mexico during the revolutionary period (1910-1920). At Washington last week, a General Claims Commission met to adjust Mexican and American Claims, excepting those which arose from acts connected with recent revolutions. The first Commission is to decide all claims within five years; the second is complete its task within three; both were provided for under Conventions (TIME, Aug. 27, 1923) signed in September 1923. Americans and Mexicans claimed millions of dollars from one another.

Reports were rife that Gen. Angel* Flores, defeated in the recent Mexican election (TIME, July 14) by Gen. Plutarco Elias Calles, was planning a revolt. Said he in defense: "My line of conduct since the beginning of the campaign has been such as to place me beyond all suspicion of anything against the constituted Government."

« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »