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Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Three Presidential Mandates issued September 29.
(1.)
Convocation of Parliament.
THE convocation of Parliament is provided for in article 53 of the Provisional Constitution. It is of paramount importance that with the revival of the republican form of government all those organs of the Government as are provided for therein should be established. The Ministry of the Interior is hereby instructed to establish, in accordance with the precedent obtaining in the first year of the republic, a special bureau for the preparation of the convocation of the National Parliament, so that all matters connected with the election of members can be facilitated.
(2.)
National Council and its Work.
The original Parliamentary Organisation Law and the law governing the election of members of the two Houses of Parliament were passed by the former National Council in the first year of the republic and promulgated by the late President Yuan Shih Kai. However, owing to the impracticability of these laws, many political upheavals have been caused during the past few years. Under the present circum- atances it is most important that these laws should be speedily revised. The high officials of the provinces, Mongolia, Thibet, and Chinghai, are hereby ordered to elect and appoint in accordance with law members of the National Council so that they will be able to arrive at Peking within a month's time and organise the National Council for the purpose of revising and passing the Parliamentary Organisation and Election Laws. Apart from this function, all other legislative duties shall be carried out by the formal Parliament to be convened in accordance with law, so as to emphasise the importance of the Legislature.
(3.)
Rebels in Canton.
Sun Wen, Wu Ching-lien, and others have recently circulated a telegram throughout the provinces unlawfully stating that an extraordinary Parliament had established a Military Government and had elected Sun Wen as its generalissimo, and that the latter had assumed the said illegal office on the 10th of the present month. The telegram also announced the illegal appointment of various Ministers, a Chief of the General Staff, and a Commander-in-chief, and issued many illegal orders calculated to incite the army to rebellion,
A report has since been received from Chang Tso-ling, Tuchun of Fengtien, stating that several arrests have been male lately in his province of wen appointed by Sun Wen to enlist the help of Hunghutze banditti in preparation for a general rising, and that substantial evidence concerning the plot has been obtained, &c. It is therefore clear that the actions of Sun Wen, &c., are aimed at overthrowing the present legally-consti- tuted Government, and precipitating anarchical conditions in the country. Unless such men are punished it is difficult to uphold the supremacy of the law. All high military and civil officials throughout the country are hereby ordered to effect the arrest of the said Sun Wen and Wu Chien-lien, and to hand them over to the courts of justice to be dealt with in accordance with law. The said Sun Wen and Wu Chien-lien are hereby deprived of their Orders of Merit and decorations, and investigations shall also be coti- ducted concerning those who are holding posts in the said illegal Military Government and others who are attending the extraordinary Parliament as members, in order that they may also be severely dealt with accordingly,
(No. 55.)
Sir,
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Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
Consul-General Jamieson to Mr. Alston.
Canton, September 13, 1917. I HAVE the honour to enclose herewith copy of the manifesto officially issued by the Military Government, which has established itself here under the auspices of the Rump Parliament on the 10th instant.
marle
C. T. Wang, who appears to play the role of organiser-in-chief to the party, at the same time an essay to overcome the pronounced prejudices of Sun Yat-sen in the matter of declaring war on the Central Powers. Realising the necessity, at the present juncture, of conciliating any antagonism which the Entente may cherish against the movement, he drafted a declaration announcing a determination, with the united support of the entire country, to prosecute war to the utmost against the attempted domination of the world by German militarism. This was handed out privately for the information of the press and others, and was to be made public when "the mere formality" of the Generalissimo's approval had been obtained. The latter, however, who is a firm believer in the eventual victory of Germany, and who also may be averse from showing himself so manifestly ungrateful for past favours, refuses stoutly to sanction its promulgation, so that, while the text of the declaration has appeared in the foreign press and been commented on therein, it has not appeared in the native press, and entirely lacks official imprimatur.
The Military Governinent may accordingly be described as neutral, with predilections in favour of Germany.
The ranks of the Rump have been lately reinforced by some forty additional members, who have found their way to Canton in Japanese vessels, and United
my States colleague has been approached with a request to induce his Government to advance them 10,000,000 dollars on the plea that Javan had made a loan of the same amount to the North. The Military Government confidently reckons on the financial support of Chinese abroad, and estimates that it could at any time buy over 70 per cent. of the troops in the pay of the Provincial Government. Admiral Cheng succeeded the other day in obtaining 150,000 clean Mexican dollars from Shanghai for paying his crews, they very properly refusing to look at local subsidiary coinage. His coal is being provided by the Tuchün.
Sun Yat-sen's procession on assuming office was not attended by any great popular enthusiasm, and strenuous efforts to win over Lu Jung-t'ing and Tang Shao-yi continue to be made.
A sense of weakness is, however, evinced by the significant fact that indirect overtures have been made to the Provincial Government, hinting that were posts given to members and their faces thus saved agitation might cease.
(Copy to Hong Kong.)
Enclosure 3 in No. 1.
Manifesto.
I have, &c.
J. W. JAMIESON.
THE Military Government, organised the 10th September, hands our (Weekly Canton News") correspondent a statement which follows:-
"The Military Government now established in Canton is a temporary organisation for a clear-cut and definite purpose. It aims to rally to its standarti all those who stand for the supremacy of the Constitution and the laws of the country. No democracy can last if the Constitution is allowed to be violated at all by such persons who happen to be in control of military forces. The very foundation of democracy is destroyed when such persona are permitted to treat the supreme laws of the land as a "scrap of paper." The rebellious Fuchuns, having deliberately violated the Constitution, first, by forcing the hand of President Li Yuan Ing in illegally dissolving the National Assembly, and later by forcing the President himself from the office, must be put down and be severely dealt with in order that the supremacy of the Constitution be vindicated and the foundation of democracy upheld.
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