On Wednesday the Central Executive of the Kuomintang, or Nationalist
Party, met at Nanking, which, in accordance with the testament of Sun Yat-sen, is to be the future _capital of China. Not all the members of the Executive were present. The time is at hand when the Powers must consider exactly, and how soon, they can take up again the task of negotiating with China for the regulation of relations. Our own feeling is that it would be fatal for us to stand upon a punctilio. However long we might wait, there would certainly remain much that was irregular and provocative in Chinese policy. The main point is to recognize that a new Govern- ment has come into existence which is the nearest approach there is likely to be for a long time to a Government that really represents China. By all our actions we must help the Nanking Government to solidify itself and refrain from doing anything, however much propriety and law may seem to be on our side, that would weaken the representative character of the Government. * * * *
