CO129-482 - Public Offices - 1923 — Page 403

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Mr. Consul-General H. Goffe to Sir Ronald l'acleay.

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Sir,

The defeat of General Yang Sen in Szechuan is now openly

admitted to be in the nature of an irretrievable disaster: the

local Press characterises the situation in Szechuan as hopeless,

the troops being dispirited and worn out with months of con-

tinuous fighting, without supplies either of food or ammunition,

and flung out over a far too widely extended line.

The whole situation in the province is causing the Authorities considerable anxiety, and hardly a day passes with-

out the papers announcing the calling by the Kilitary Governor

of an extraordinary meeting of the high military and civil

officials to devise means of meeting the crisis with which

they are faced. The agenda for one of these meetings held two

or three days ago was as follows:-

"1. Serious fighting is taking place in Szechuan and Hunan,

and Hupsh will be the first to feel the shock; measures must be taken to safeguard the province.

"2. Brigandage is becoming more rife every day, and steps

must be taken to expirpate these peste.

"3. The Provincial Treasury is depleted but the clamour of

the troops for their arrears of pay is becoming more insistent every day."

The following day the press announced that the land tax was to

be collected in advance and that the local Chinese banks were

to be approached for a loan of $100,000. This is sufficient

to give some idea of the seriousness of the situation here; I

may add that cases of brigandage are now not infrequently

Ronald Macleay, K. C. M. G.,

reported

His Majesty's Minister,

PEKING.