793.94/14522: Telegram
The Chargé in China (Peck) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 21—6 a.m.]
610. The Embassy learns from reliable sources that the Generalissimo at a meeting, convoked on December 18, issued a forceful rebuke to the civil officials of the National Government for what he termed their frivolous attitude, inefficiency, corruption and waste in the face of a grave national crisis and pointing to life being led by the soldiers in the field, strongly admonished his listeners to be diligent, honest, eschew all amusements, and in short to pull together with the army in the war. A statement worded in a similar vein, and published in the local press, was issued by General Chen Cheng, close collaborator of Chiang Kai Shek, on December 16.
[Page 422]It would appear that this move presages a “moral purge” of civil officialdom and a reemphasizing of the tenets of the New Life movement.
Repeated to Peiping.