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SIGNS OF UPHEAVAL IN THE CHINESE REPUBLIC

A SECTION OF PEKING AFTER THE MUTINY OF YUAN'S TROOPS ON FEBRUARY 29, 1912-A MUTINY WHICH SAVED HIM FROM HAVING TO GO SOUTH INTO THE COUNTRY OF HIS ENEMIES. AFTER TWO DAYS THE RIOTING WAS PUT DOWN BY AN OLD-FASHIONED CHINESE GENERAL, WHO WENT THROUGH THE STREETS ACCOMPANIED BY TWO EXECUTIONERS WHO LEFT A LONG TRAIL OF HEADLESS BODIES BEHIND THEM

trail of headless bodies, and the looting and rioting came to an abrupt end. Chiang's way of doing things is Yuan's, and it is upon the old-time generals that Yuan depends for military support.

Those who have been with Yuan Shihkai in times of stress and storm say that at all times he remains calm. It is said in Peking that on the night his soldiers broke loose, and when he realized that they were beyond all control, he simply moved from the upper floor of his building to the lower, where flying bullets, with which the air was thick, were not so apt to strike. Like most Chinese he took the looting of Peking philosophically. It was nothing more than what had happened in times gone by, or in a half hundred other cities of the land during the revolution. It will happen again whenever or wherever the Chinese soldier goes unpaid

or hungry. It is an axiom in China that unpaid soldiery leads straight to looting and burning.

Yuan's personal courage is great, but he nevertheless provides for himself adequate protection from the assassin's bullet or bomb. bomb. Particularly is this true since January of last year when, on the streets of Peking, there came flying through the air, over the fringe of soldiers lining the street, a bomb which landed in the midst of the compact body of horsemen surrounding his carriage. The bodyguard melted away with the explosion. Horses and men went down and several of each were killed. Yuan's carriage horses, however, were still able to go on. They plunged into a gallop. Yuan settled down into his seat. Persons who saw him as he dashed by a point not two hundred yards beyond the place where he had so narrowly

escaped death say that he was then calmly puffing away at his inevitable cigarette. After this incident he has never taken any chances. Not only are the streets through which he is to pass lined with his own troops, but all the houses along the route are cleared of the inhabitants while the

THE LAST WORDS OF THE HEAVEN-BORN'

THE IMPERIAL EDICT OF ABDICATION, FORCED FROM THE MANCHUS BY THE MILITARY'S MEMORIAL TO THE THRONE INSTIGATED BY YUAN SHIH-KAI THE EDICT IS ON YELLOW SILK AND WAS CARRIED THROUGH PEKING IN A SEDAN CHAIR

soldiers occupy them, even up to the roofs. There has been no further actual attempt upon his life, but there have been several conspiracies. When one of these is discovered retribution is speedy and execution is certain.

In the summer of last year Yuan

showed his intolerance of conspiracy an his intention to be the sole ruler of Chiz when he caused the dramatic execution: two revolutionary generals in Peking. 4 party of Southern revolutionists, posed of men of popularity and power came to Peking for a conference with the Government. Simultaneously, Yuan:

agents on the Yangtze River reported tha two of these leaders were engaged in conspiracy. Yuan made his plans according ly. The two victims were invited, with their Southern companions, to a dinner party in the foreign hotel in the Legation Quarter. The dinner was given, by the Government and toasts were exchanged and the solidity of united China was extolled. When the party broke up the two generals got into their respective carriages and drove out of Legation Quarter. Before reaching their own hot. they had to pass through an enclosure They passed the first gate; a whistle blew. all entrances to the enclosure were slammed shut. A couple of hundred soldiers came out from the darkness and the men were arrested. Two hours later they were dead and Yuan Shih-kai had emphatically warned China of the price of conspiracy

After March 10th Yuan entered upon the stupendous task of bringing order out of universal and almost hopeless chaos. One obstacle after another rose up in his path. Tang Shao-yi, his Premier, blundered in handling foreign loan matters and there came one deadlock after another between the foreign bankers and the Government which prevented the actual signing of the loan contract for more than a year. When Yuan became Provisional President it was said that the Government could not last a month without funds. There were hundreds of thousands of unpaid troops ready to make trouble, and money was sadly needed by every provincial government. Yet Yuan in some inexplicable way managed for more than a year to keep things going. And in doing this he risked his own fortunes to serve China, for time and again he could have made his position se cure by borrowing from the foreign banks on the terms they imposed, but he always refused to do so.

Yuan Shih-kai was the virtual founder

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YUAN SHIH-KAI ON HIS COUNTRY ESTATE

DURING THE INTERVAL TOWARD THE END OF THE EMPIRE WHEN HE WAS OUT OF FAVOR AT COURT AND IN ENFORCED RETIREMENT IN HONAN

of China's foreign-patterned army, and he has always taken keen interest in military affairs. As soon as he assumed the presidency he directed his energies toward making the army loyal to him. That he was wise is now being proyed in China, where the troops of the Yuan government are whipping the rebellious elements of the South back to loyalty. Yuan created lieutenant-generals, major-generals, and brigadiers by the score. He disbanded as He disbanded as many troops from the South as he could pay off, in the meanwhile keeping those

Copyright by Rio V. de Sieux

THE PRESIDENT OF CHINA

military took a hand by sending word that further delay would not be tolerated. There can be no doubt that this effective strategy was the work of Yuan Shih-kai.

After this Yuan became so powerful that Southerners like Sun Yat Sen, General Huang Hsing, Chen Chi-mei, Wen Tsungyao, (an unsung hero who has far more to do with present-day events in China than Sun Yat Sen has, for example), began to suspect his intentions. This grew to a belief that there would never be anything in the Government for them if Yuan were permitted to pursue his course. It was not long before there was open opposition in the Southern press and finally a general anti-Yuan propaganda throughout the South. The provinces heard that Yuan was planning a coup d'état out of which he would emerge as Emperor.

The revolutionistic tendency of the South was, however, mostly in talk until the murder of Sung Chiao-jen in March of this year. He was a Southern leader of note, a man of ability, and a real patriot. He was killed in the railway station at Shanghai, just as he was about to start for Peking, there to lead the fight against Yuan in the Parliament. Charges were at once made in Shanghai that Peking was responsible for the crime. This Peking immediately denied. The murderer, however, was caught. He proved to be a paid assassin. Then the police captured the man who hired him. This man proved to have a connection with Yuan's Premier. It was enough. It was proved,

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AS A GENERAL IN THE SERVICE OF THE MANCHU said the politicians of Shanghai, that the

DYNASTY

upon whom he believed he could depend in an emergency. It was not long before this proved of great advantage. The struggle between Yuan and the Southerners has been almost as continuous since he became President of the republic as it was when he was trying to maintain the monarchy, although it has not been so bloody. Last summer the National Council, a provisional legislative body in the control of the Southerners who were becoming dissatisfied with Yuan, adopted obstructive measures that for a time threatened the existence of the Government. Their tactics came to an abrupt end when the

Premier ordered the murder. And if this were so, there is no Chinese in the world who would not jump at the conclusion that if Yuan's Premier instigated the crime Yuan himself must have known of it.

Before the end of March, and while the case was still under investigation, word went filtering up the Yangtze Valley to the followers of Sun Yat Sen and the others to "be ready." Then Yuan Shihkai brought to an end the long negotiation for a great foreign loan of $125,000,000 by signing the contract. the contract. The South broke into a flame of passion. Yuan without funds was a proposition difficult enough. but an affluent Yuan was well nigh im

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