Nationalist Notes

China

P: Ever since the Nationalist Armies drove from China proper that rapacious, blood-thirsty War Lord Chang Tsung-chang (TIME, Sept. 24), many an alert occidental has queried: "What's become of Chang?"

As the notorious Dictator of Shantung province Chang Tsung-chang squeezed the wretched people by outrageous taxes, precipitated the present famine by seizing produce when they could not pay, and unquestionably took for his harem any women or children who kindled his desire.

When Dastard Chang made what was thought to be his last stand against the Nationalists, he was hymned by Hearst Editor Brisbane thus:

"One Brave Chinese"

"Chang Tsung-chang. off to the Chinese battlefront, waves good bye to 20 wives and concubines, promising to come back victorious. Anemic Westerners can only admire Chang's courage and verve.

"Ladies whom he began marrying young, when he was a gang coolie, include Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Russians and Mongolians. Win or lose, that's a brave Chinese."

Within 72 hours Last Stander Chang was put to absolute rout, disappeared, escaped in disguise to few-knew-where. Last week he was found to be living at Dairen, under Japanese protection, with a "household" of 35 women, and allegedly with $10.000,000 salted in foreign securities.

P: The great "Disbandment Conference" in Nanking adjourned last week after deciding with hopeful unanimity what must be done about the 1,500,000 Nationalist soldiers who are still under arms after winning the Chinese Civil War (TIME, June 25).

The conferees included all the great Provincial Governors--hitherto semiautonomous "War Lords" in their own districts--and was chairmanned by the Nationalist conqueror of all China, spry, slender little Marshal Chiang Kai-shek who is now President.

It was resolved to disband 900,000 of the 1,500,000, thus leaving the Nationalist State with a modest force of 600,000* troops.

A further resolution by the Conference placed a limit of $85,000,000 per annum on the budget of the Chinese War Office. Most significantly of all, the Provincial Governors agreed to combine their private armies into a truly national army, commanded solely from Nanking.

Cried President Chiang Kai-shek, concluding the Conference: "It is gratifying to witness such a spirit of sincerity and co-operation as has been shown by those assembled in this attempt to solve the country's most vital and complicated internal question. When this conference opened, I said that the future of China depended on its success. I say now that the success of the conference depends on our fulfilling the measures we have adopted.

"Our task is only half finished. It will be my duty to enforce the decisions of the conference and I hereby pledge myself to that end."

P: By order of President Chiang Kaishek, approved by the "Disbandment Conference" (see above), the great Chinese arsenal at Mukden, Manchuria, said to have cost $50,000,000, will be dismantled, and its machinery and equipment carried 1,100 miles southward to the new Chinese capital of Nanking, and there reassembled.

P:The Nationalist Government confiscated recently the $2,000,000 Automatic Telephone System installed at Harbin, Manchuria, some six years ago by Soviet Russian interests. Protesters were informed that in 1920 the Soviet Government voluntarily relinquished all Tsarist Russian treaty rights in China.

*Peace strength of U. S. Army: 134,150.