27 JANUARY 1912, Page 17

We sincerely trust that this hopeful view of the situation

will prove correct, but it remains to be seen whether the revolutionary party will agree to the postponement of the abdication and, again, whether Tieh-liang's influence may not once more come to the front. Tieh-liang, it will be remem- bered, was the Boxer leader who induced the late Empress Dowager to throw in her lot with the worst, most corrupt, and most obscurantist elements in the Chinese Empire. In the earlier part of the week it was said that Sun Yat-sen had embroiled the situation by an unwise telegram, and was not showing the wisdom expected of him. Later accounts, how- ever, seem to prove that though he has stood firm in his determination to insist on immediate abdication, he has not been unreasonable.