Hodge Podge

Sprawling China presented to the world last week a grim picture in hodge podge. While Peiping boasted of its well-fed, growing population (see p. 24), 4,000,000 famine-shriveled Chinamen, not 400 miles to the west in Shansi and neighboring provinces, looked to almost certain death before spring. Six millions have already died. Shansi women, desperate, advertised themselves as "Hunger Brides," were offering eight and ten -c- for husbands who could feed them something besides roots and grasses.

In Shanghai, bandits broke all the Chinese traditions of kidnaping, abducted the hitherto-scorned girl babes of wealthy China merchants. The New Nationalist Government's recent decree, making daughters as well as sons heirs of their fathers, has also given them ransom value.

River bandits south of Canton grew bolder last week, seized a $50,000 oil cargo from Standard Oil Co.

While in Kiangsu Province, Nanking's railway minister Sun Fo cast about to remedy "wholesale inefficiency" (see p. 24), capable General Hsi Yu-San, next door in Honan Province, kept a tight grip on the 40 locomotives and 800 cars which he seized last December.

"Model Governor" Yen Hsi-Shan, absolute ruler of Shansi Province and 70 million Chinamen, was hobnobbing last week in "mysterious seclusion" with a potent neighbor, Marshal Feng Yu-Hsiang (owner of the world's largest private army -- 150,000) who is still smarting under the recent discipline of the Nationalist Government (TIME, June 3). Telegrams from Governor Yen last week demanding that Chiang resign and "let China fight it out" were bluntly refused.

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