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Russell, Bertrand Arthur William 3rd, Earl, 1872-1970

"The Problem of China"


The programme agreed upon between Wu and Chen Chiung Ming is given in
the same telegram as follows:
Local self-government shall be established and magistrates shall
be elected by the people; District police shall be created under
District Boards subject to Central Provincial Boards; Civil
governors shall be responsible to the Central Government, not to
the Tuchuns; a national army shall be created, controlled and
paid by the Central Government; Provincial police and
_gendarmerie_, not the Tuchuns or the army, shall be responsible
for peace and order in the provinces; the whole nation shall
agree to recall the old Parliament and the restoration of the
Provisional Constitution of the first year of the Republic; Taxes
shall be collected by the Central Government, and only a
stipulated sum shall be granted to each province for expenses,
the balance to be forwarded to the Central Government as under
the Ching dynasty; Afforestation shall be undertaken, industries
established, highways built, and other measures taken to keep the
people on the land.
This is an admirable programme, but it is impossible to know how much of
it will ever be carried out.
Meanwhile, Sun Yat Sen is still at war with Wu-Pei-Fu. It has been
stated in the British Press that there was an alliance between Sun and
Chang, but it seems there was little more than a common hostility to Wu.


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