Nationalist Notes

P: The new Nationalist Government has long since changed the name of Peking, meaning "Northern Capital," to Peiping, "Northern Peace."

Correspondents and foreigners have mostly ignored the change; but last week the Christian Science Monitor, progressive, was observed to be carrying despatches dated from "Peiping (Peking)."

To continue to call the city "Peking" or "Northern Capital" is ridiculous, for the capital of China is now at Nanking ("Southern Capital").

P: A Constitution was adopted, last week, by the new Nationalist Government.

The dictatorship of the Nationalist Party is proclaimed "during the present period of political tutelage"; but eventually elections will be held and the State transformed into a Republic.

P: The new Chinese President, Chiang Kaishek, rode about Nanking last week in a shiny but ominous-looking new Packard sedan.

This vehicle, potent, has two seats at the rear in which soldiers squat, holding rifles with fixed bayonets. Two more soldiers cling to each side of the car by means of hand grips, while their free hands grasp the hilts of ugly, blue steel repeating pistols.

Austere President Chiang, though modest and democratic, is above all prudent.

P: Minister of Railways Sun Fo announced last week that contracts have been signed, providing for the remodeling and enlargement of Nanking and the harbor of Canton by two New Yorkers, an architect and an engineer.

Architect Henry Killam Murphy is famed for his many notable successes in blending Occidental materials into Chinese style. He designed the building of Yenching College, Peiping, Yale-in-China, Changsha, and Gingling College, Nanking. He will now receive carte blanche to transform Nanking into a modern, imposing and yet Chinese capital, may spend $50,000,000.

Seaport Engineer Ernest P. Goodrich will so enlarge the harbor of Canton and deepen its connection with the sea that eventually the transshipment of goods at the British seaport of Hongkong, nearby, will be eliminated. Thus a potent source of revenue will be wrested from Britons in China.

P: Famed Professor Dr. Edwin W. Kemmerer of Princeton, who has assisted in the fiscal rehabilitation of 10 governments,* was coyly reticent, last week, when confronted with despatches from Nanking positively asserting that he has been retained as fiscal adviser by the Nationalists.

P: Mayor Ho Chi-Kung of Peiping urged Chinese to multiply more rapidly, last week, after discovering to his surprise and chagrin that the population of China has remained stationary at about 400,000,000 for the past two centuries.

More enlightened persons know that it is recurrent famine and not shirking of duty by Chinese fathers which keeps the population stable at the largest number of mouths which China can feed.

P: Nationalist Foreign Minister C. T. Wang said: "We have sent identic notes to all the powers concerned asking them to move to abolish extraterritoriality as soon as possible. I am unable to divulge the text of the note, but wish it made clear that China is urgently desirous of early assumption of her sovereign rights in all parts of the country."

Thus it appears that Nationalist China purposes to abolish the system under which foreigners have immemorially been tried according to the laws of their own countries when they have committed crimes in China.

P: The pet names "Old Gimlet Eye'' and "Hell Devil Darling" are Marine Corps synonyms for Brigadier General Smedley Darlington Butler. So admirable has been his policing of Tientsin, during the Chinese Civil War (TIME, June 25 et ante), that last week he received a supreme honor from grateful China, an honor which a Chinese town or city can confer only with the unanimous consent of every citizen.

Pompously 200 Civic Elders led a gorgeous procession to the G. H. Q. of "Old Gimlet Eye." Each elder had written his name on a tag, had attached the tag to the rim of a magnificent red satin umbrella, from which banners also streamed. This was the supreme gift: THE UMBRELLA OF TEN THOUSAND BLESSINGS WITH BANNERS.

The phrase "with banners" exalted the decoration to an infinite zenith. One banner was inscribed "The Chinese love General Butler as they love China." Another banner: "General Butler loves China as he loves America."

P: Civil examinations in Nanking, for posts in the province of Kiangsu, were temporarily disrupted by cries of "cheat!" "favoritism!"

Dishonest students came to the examination rooms with text books hidden in their voluminous sleeves and miscroscopic notes concealed in hats, shoes, even socks.

Honest students spied them, snatched away their papers, accused examiners of tolerating the fraud. So great was the uproar that the police were summoned. The next day carefully searched and supervised students resumed their examinations in peace.

* Philippine Islands, Mexico, Guatemala, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Poland, Egypt, Union of South Africa.