CO129-408 - Public Offices & Others - 1913 — Page 270

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failure of which had immensely strengthened the hams

of the President.

He argued, like Mr.Tang, that the constitution

should be framed before the election of the President.

It was obvious to me that his anxiety on this

subject was in order that large powers should be

vested in the Premier.

But after some argument (I repeated the

views I had expressed to Mr. Tang-Shao-yi) in which

I showed him that the Premier, as leader of the

Cabinet, would have much influence through the Cabinet, he agreed that if the President woulà

only consent to hold a conference with some of the

leaders of the Nationalist Party an arrangement might be arrived at whereby a Government would be

established at Peking in which China as a whole

would have confidence.

Mr.Fu complained that Yuan had never

been abroad, that he had had experience only of a

form of Government wholly autocratic; that he did not realise the strength of public opinion in China for a more democratic form of Government; and that no permanent settlement was possible which did not safeguard the Republican form of Government which had been established by the Revolution of 1911.

Finally Iru expressed the hope that Sir John Jordan would visit Shanghai and South China in order to study the political situation there

Both Mr.Tang and lir.Wu gave me permission

to make use of what they had said to me in con-

versation.

F.H.M.

26/8/1913

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