Ugly

The past week's news from China revealed an ugly situation at Shanghai, large foreign settlement midway between Peking in the north and Canton in the south; at Canton, capital of the southerly Province of Kwangtung; at Peking, national capital.

Shanghai. Chinese workers in a Japanese cotton mill at Shanghai went on strike, as had their countrymen in Japanese employ at Tsingtao (TIME, June 8). Court proceedings against the ringleaders were taken, convictions obtained.

Students rose in a body, filled with anger, incited the workers to violence against "the foreign devils," pointed out that, if the workers rose in a body, they would outnumber the foreigners by tremendous odds, could free themselves of their chains.

The anger of the populace was fanned until it was afire. Clashes occurred. Foreigners were fired upon, one American, Dentist Thomas G. McMartin, was wounded and his horse shot from under him. U. S., British and Italian warships sailed to the port, landed a force of marines to cooperate with the Japanese and other troops in protecting foreign life, property and the essential public services. Machine guns cleared the streets and, after dark, armored cars patrolled the thorough- fares. Meantime, a general strike had been ordered, numbers grew from a few thousand to a quarter of a million. Those Chinese against the move were terrorized into submission. All Chinese were exhorted to "assassinate foreign police," "assassinate foreigners connected with the law courts." The general situation grew worse as each day passed. The strike spread to Changsha and Nanking, capitals of Hunan and Kiangsu. Sniping tactics were bgeun. Officials from Peking arrived, opened a conference with the Chinese and foreign authorities. Canton. The situation at Canton began with sympathy parades for the Shanghai strikers. Threats against the foreign population at Canton and Hong-Kong were heard. Foreign troops were landed for the protection of life and property. Strikes were declared, business halted. Suddenly, another situation was superimposed on the first. After the death of Dr. Sun Yatsen (TIME, Mar. 23), leader of the South China Party, his adherents split into two factions: a radical, which retained the name Kuo Mintang; a conservative, formed from Sun's Yuennan supporters, called the Yuennanese Party. The Yuennanese controlled Canton. The Kuo Mintang controlled the nearby island of Honan. The Yuennanese generals ordered the Kuo Mintang to cease movements of troops under penalty. The Kuo Mintang retorted by denouncing the Yuennanese generals for insubordination, dismissed them. War between the two factions began. Peking. A large students' proces- sion was the only open manifestation of popular sympathy at Peking. The students paraded the streets shouting: "Down with imperialism!" "Down with the religion of Jesus!" "Kill all British and Japanese!" The Chinese Government addressed a note to the representatives of the Foreign Powers in Peking protesting against the shooting of Chinese rioters in Shanghai. The Powers answered that responsibility lay with the rioters and not with the authorities of foreign concessions at Shanghai. The Chinese note was considered significant in that it showed that the Government sympathized with the strikers.