CO129-499-4 Canton situation- governor's despatches 18-3-1927 - 22-4-1927 — Page 69

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object of this is to misrepresent me as guilty of dis-

obedience to our late President's Testament and throw

doubt on my fitness for my task. The second charges

me with having conspired with the troops of Mukden and Shangtung. By this they hope to convict me of collusion

with our foes and thus damage my reputation for trust-

worthiness. In the third, I am accused of having failed

to publish a statement of the military expenses hitherto

incurred. I am thus made to appear as having dealt

inexpertly with military expenses and a blot is put upon

my revolutionary career thereby. It was obviously the

intention of the creators of these rumours to deprive

me totally of the confidence of our members. But in

view of my past career in the Revolution and my present position in the Kuomintang, I am confident that no

rumours of this kind circulated by any member can under-

mine in the least degree my reputation for efficiency

and trustworthiness.

In the first year of the Republic, some of the

bitterest oppoments of our Kuomintang along with the

puppets of Yuan Shi Kai, with the object of casting

doubt on our late President's character and past actions put a rumour into circulation that our President had

received a bribe of $3,000,000 from Yuan and for that

consideration resigned the Presidency to him.

Fellow-comrades! Can you credit this? But at

that time there were even some people who nurtured

suspicions and believed that this tale was true. And

now again some people want to wreck the Kuomintang and therefore they make a beginning by attempting to

overthrow me. In pursuance of this they have lost all regard for justice and the true interests of our Kuomintang and

the