Confusion

Pros and Cons. In China there are, according to various estimates, between 300 and 400 million people. By far the greater part of these are unaware of the events which are taking place in the outside world. But among the millions that inhabit the maritime and adjacent provinces or, conveniently, conscious China, it is otherwise. They have felt the effects of foreign domination and foreign exploitation of their resources, and they have resented the presence of aliens whom they believe to be in China solely for their own gain and whom they rightly or wrongly regard as intruders.

There is another side to the picture. Foreigners, however much they have been actuated by self-interest and however much they have contributed to the chaos that is proverbially Chinese, have conferred lasting benefits upon the Chinese people. Monuments of industry, railways, banks, commerce and a hundred other things will always remain tangible testimony of these benefits. No less important is the high degree of safety in time of trouble which the foreign concessions have provided for masses of Chinese seeking protection. Many Chinese recognize all this; the great majority in "conscious China" are stolidly indifferent; but the active, educated Chinese, particularly of the student class, has been able to compare the Occidental to his own, older civilization and to find the scales of judgment weighing in China's favor. Consequently, this class has been able to stir the masses out of their traditional inertia and to fan the smoldering fires of latent indignation into a fiery movement that does not lack analogy to the Boxer uprising of 1900. Bolshevik influences, including money, are no doubt a contributing cause of the disaffection, but can be largely discounted.

The events of the past week must be read in this light. They are, unfortunately, in conflict with Occidental interests, and are endangering the lives of Western people and the Japanese who have largely absorbed Western culture. But, nonetheless, the movement is essentially one for liberty and as such should not fail to command a degree of sympathy, no matter how difficult that is, in all democratic countries.

Events. Riots, strikes, war and general unrest were reported, last week, from Peking in the North to Canton in the South, an approximate distance of 1,650 miles. Chief events:

Peking. Students attempted, not without considerable success, to foment a strike of all Chinese workers and to enforce a boycott of the British and Japanese (TIME, June 8, 15). Demonstrations were held. Schools and shops were closed. Dead students were carried in parades with the inscription: "Killed by the English in Shanghai.* " Cries of "Kill the British!" "Kill the Japanese!" were heard frequently. Part of the native press supported the students and the Government's policy favored them. Subscription lists were opened and bankers promised aid. After the killings at Hankow (see below), the students demanded that the Government break off diplomatic relations with Britain and oust them by force from their concessions.

Shanghai, about 750 miles southeast from Peking in the Province of Kiangsu. At Shanghai, the greatest treaty port of China, where the trouble began, the situation was well in control and the city was said to resemble "an armed camp." The strike, declared after the shooting of Chinese, began to wane, but shipping remained completely tied up throughout the week. Chang Hsuehliang, son of Tuchun Chang Tso-lin ("strongest man in China"), arrived with 2,000 cadets to maintain order. Despite precautions, the British Consul was beaten. A British and Japanese boycott was declared but had little effect.

Hankow, about 500 miles due west from Shanghai on the Yang-tsze-kiang River in the inland Province of Hupeh. Despite the efforts of Tuchun Hsia Yao-nan to maintain quiet, an ugly situation rapidly developed. Foreign women, children and missionaries left the city on the eve of an attack by rioters on the British Volunteer Armory and Japanese shops. The British used machine-guns on the rioters; many were killed and wounded.

Kiu-kiang, about 400 miles southeast of Shanghai on the Yangtsze-kiang River in the inland Province of Kiangsi, and about 130 miles southwest of Hankow. The British and Japanese Consulates were wrecked, and the Japanese Consulate and other Japanese buildings were burned by infuriated mobs. No casualties were reported.

Foochow, about 400 miles southwest from Shanghai in the Province of Fukien. A general strike was declared. All business came to a halt.

Canton, about 500 miles southwest from Foochow in the extreme southerly Province of Kwangtung. The war which was declared between the Kuo Mintang and Yimnanese factions (TIME, June 15) ended in a speedy victory for the radical Kuo Mintang (the late Dr. Sun Yat-sen's party). Thereafter followed bloody executions of Yiinnanese soldiers who had surrendered unarmed. Most of the foreigners had been evacuated to Hong-Kong. Those that remained in Shamien, the foreign settlement, were unmolested, but could see the wholesale murder, arson and rape committed by the blood-thirsty Kuo Mintang. No doubt remained but that they were in the employ of the Bolsheviki. U. S. and British ships were fired on. Anarchy prevailed.

* A manifesto, issued by the Professors of the National University of Peking, laid the cause of the anti-alien agitation to the British, whom they charged with wantonly shooting innocent boy and girl students who were parading in protest against the conviction of Chinese strikers in Japanese cotton-factories (TIME, June 15). The British contended that the students and their sympathizers were shot after warning when they attacked the Interrational Police Force at Shanghai. The Peking Foreign Office, while charging all the foreign Powers with responsibility for the shootings which began the trouble, reject the British contention. John A. Brailsford, correspondent of The New York World, laid the blame for the present disturbances at the door of all foreigners, including some missionaries.