Perpetual Flux

For some months John Van Antwerp MacMurray, U.S. Minister to China at Peking, has been consistently chagrined to discover that the Chinese political and military situation is in such a state of perpetual flux that whatever news he cables to Washington stands about one chance in ten of being pertinent* when received.

Last week, Mr. MacMurray, genuinely bewildered but frank and honest, despatched a long cable to Washington in which he indicated that it was impossible for him to say with certainty that either phase of the following several alternatives represented the truth, even at the moment.

Peking. The onetime imperial city, where Mr. MacMurray dictated his cablegram, was either in the hands of Super-Tuchun Wu Peifu's troops, which had united with the garrison of Super-Tuchun Feng Yuhsiang's troops; or the attacking Wu troops (TIME, April 5) held only part of the city, and were still being resisted by the Feng troops.

Feng and Wu. Super-Tuchun Feng, who has dominated Peking since he traitorously seized it from Wu (TIME, Nov. 3, 1924), was last week either at Urga, Mongolia, whither he had fled; or he had sneaked back over 1,000 miles to Peking and was waiting there in secret to dicker with Wu, when the latter should arrive from a place unstated.

Tuan & Taso. Tuan Chi-jui, "the Chief Executive of China" (since the office of President is vacant), had either been imprisoned while his rival Taso Kun (the last President) had been released from jail; or Tuan's personal soldier-- police were still protecting him and keeping in confinement such of his enemies as were in their power./-

Chang. Troops of the Manchurian Super-Tuchun, Chang Tso-lin, which were supposed to have helped the Wu troops attack Peking (TIME, April 12), were either "closing in on the city" (with intent unstated) ; or they were presumably passing the time by looting in the suburbs.

Mr. MacMurray's cablegram concluded: "All is quiet in Peking."

* Mr. MacMurray was requested last month to cable home a list of the U.S. citizens then resident at Hsinyanchow, which was besieged by Wu (TIME, March 1). In reply came a list of U.S. citizens known to have been in that city one year previously. No later list was obtainable.

/-The consensus of ordinary news despatches was that Tuan's troops had deserted him because he had embezzled 500,000 taels ($350,000) due them as pay; and that Taso Kun had been reinstated as "President under Super-Tuchun Wu."