War Lords--Tuchuns

CHINA

War Lords?Tuchuns

" It is the Tuchuns who are supporting the traffic [opium], and that is one more reason why the Tuchuns must go, and shall go! " So said Li Yuan-Hung, President of China. If there is any sincerity, determination, and unselfishness behind these altruistic words, then there is hope for the future.

The Tuchuns are military governors, ruling over the various provinces, and collecting taxes with which they keep up large armies. There are also Great Tuchuns?the War Lords? who control groups of Tuchuns. These men are the real rulers of modern China; their word is law; they control the Government and the future. As there is no national army, their autocratic sway is undisputed?ex- cept among themselves. As a matter of fact, the President himself is a Tuchun, for he is the virtual military governor of several districts in the proximity of Peking.