File No. 893.00/2735
[Inclosure]
[Untitled]
[From the Peking Daily News, October 2,
1917]
The following three mandates, dealing with the preparation for the
convocation of Parliament, the calling of the National Council and
the punishment of Sun Wen, Wu Ching-lien, etc., which were sealed by
the President and countersigned by the Cabinet Ministers on Friday
[September 28, 1917], were promulgated on Saturday evening and which
we issued on Sunday morning as an extra:
[Page 107]
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.
national council and its work
The original Parliamentary Organization 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
circumstances it is most important that these laws should be
speedily revised. The high officials of the provinces, Mongolia,
Tibet 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 organize
the National Council for the purpose of revising and passing the
Parliamentary Organization 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
emphasize the importance of the Legislature.
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 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 made lately in his
province of men 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, etc. It is therefore
clear that the actions of Sun Wen, etc., are aimed at overthrowing
the present legally constituted 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 Ching-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 Chinglien are hereby
deprived of their Orders of Merit and decorations, and
investigations shall also be conducted 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.
