Chang, Chiang, Feng

In China, now wholly war ravaged, and partially famine stricken, the familiar, perennial three "War Lords" continued, last week, their selfish machinations:

Chang Tso-lin, supreme at Peking and throughout Manchuria and North China, called a conference of all his generals, last week, to harangue and inspire them with suitable zeal for the Spring campaigns of civil war.

Read out were promotions, demotions. Executed as a salutary reminder of Chang's might was the luckless General Chen Shu-chiang. He had functioned, recently as Chief of Chang's military police, at Peking and was despatched for the (in China) comparatively trifling crime of "blackmailing wealthy citizens."

Chiang Kai-shek, Generalissimo of the nominally democratic Nationalist Govern-ment at Nanking, make a spacious gesture, last week: He backed his brother-in-law, Finance Minister T. V. Soong, in promulgating a one-sentence exaggerated boast and flat defy to Chang Tso-lin, thus: "As the Nationalist Govern-ment controls sixteen of the twenty-one provinces of China, producing nearly 70% of the customs revenue, and as the authorities in control at Peking no longer repre- sent the legal successor of the former recognized Government, the Nationalist Government clearly cannot recognize the right of any other authorities independently to exercise control of the customs administration or to appoint any agent to exercise such control."

Generalissimo Chiang shunted out of Nanking two potent politicians not now quite in harmony with himself. They, onetime Foreign Minister Dr. C. C. Wu and onetime Finance Minister Sun Fo were sent, last week, on a round-the-world propaganda dispensing tour.

Feng Yu-hsiang, the "War Lord" who possesses a huge mobile army and is now skulking in Honan province was reported "tirelessly engaged," last week, in preparing for his long heralded Spring onslaught upon Peking, a capital which he has several times captured. On the last oc- casion he was, of course, finally driven from Peking by Chang Tso-lin (TIME, May 3, 1926).