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stitutional government and the establishment of a limited monarchy. But through the lack of money he was unable to carry on the fight. When he saw that the abdication of the Emperor was inevitable, he set about making himself the head of the Republican government, and in this he succeeded.

While he has his ideas of reform and of the value of Western learning and methods, Yuan is still the wily, Oriental politician. Intrigue has its place in his system of government. In forcing the Manchus Manchus out it was he who instigated the memorial to the Throne from half a hundred generals of the Imperial army, in which abdication was advised and which ended with the unparalleled assertion that "We await the Imperial commands with impatience." Yuan knows his people, and he believes that to rule them he must use a hand of iron, an occasional firing squad, and the great two-handed blade of the executioner.

The Manchus abdicated on February 12, 1912, and Yuan Shih-kai was immediately elected Provisional President by the Southern Congress at Nanking. He accepted, and then the rebel leaders de

manded that he go to Nanking to take the oath of office. He was loath to leave his own capital, knowing the perils of the journey, but, under pressure, finally consented to do so. However, on the last day of February the troops in Peking mutinied. The capital was looted from end to end during two nights of a carnival of crime. The truth about the matter has never been told. It is said in Peking that the men looted because they had not been paid and because of an impending order that they cut their queues. In the South they say that it was all Yuan's doing and that he turned his soldiers loose in order to create a situation which would make it impossible for him to go to Nanking. However that may have been, Yuan did not go to Nanking. Instead, he took the oath of office as Provisional President in Peking on March 10th.

The Government in Peking at the time of the outbreak of Yuan's troops was in a sadly muddled condition for forty-eight hours. But when it was at last decided to take repressive steps it was done with a vengeance. Yuan summoned General Chiang Kwei-ti to his headquarters and

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ON THE FIRING-LINE DURING THE REVOLUTION YUAN WAS THE FOUNDER OF CHINA'S MODERN ARMY, AND HIS HOLD ON THE SOLDIERY HAS BEEN ONE OF HIS CHIEF SOURCES OF STRENGTH

told him to put a stop to the disturbances. General Chiang was a man of the old school. He stood six feet and four inches, and wore a long, white beard which covered his broad chest, giving him a benevolent and patriarchal look that belied his ideas of what to do in an emergency. The

general was too big and too old to mount a Chinese pony, but he had a small carriage. This he entered and, surrounded by his own men from Ngan-Hui-strong, aggressive men-and accompanied by two executioners, he took a trip through the streets of Peking. He left behind him a long

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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. 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

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showed his intolerance of conspiracy and his intention to be the sole ruler of China when he caused the dramatic execution of two revolutionary generals in Peking. 4 party of Southern revolutionists, composed of men of popularity and power. came to Peking for a conference with the Government. Simultaneously, Yuan's agents on the Yangtze River reported that two of these leaders were engaged in conspiracy. Yuan made his plans accordingly. 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 hote 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 be tween 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 secure 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

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