View on the Function of the Merchants Further
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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 Chapter I Background Political, social and economic conditions in l°20ts China In the 1920's, China was in chaos and confusion. The period between the death of Yuan Shih-k'ai in 1916 and the Northern Expedition of the Kuomintang(KN!T) in 1926-27, is generally called the oeriod of warlordism in modern Chinese history. Yuan, who was called the "Father of Pei-yang Army," was the gravity in the Chinese power politics after the fall of the Manchu court in 1912. His death removed the keystone of the unity of Pei-yang Army and thus created a period of power-vaccum in China. After Yuan's death, the struggle for power was initiated among the Pei-yang Army's chiefs,and then the non-Pei-yang military units joined the games. These mili tarists challenged one another and wars broke out very often among them. One of the most important characteristics of warlordism was war. "Mot all warlords were ambitious to expand their holdings,but all were interested in maintaining what they had against those who sought more. And since there were always those who sought more,local and regional wars were frequent."* Between 1915 and 1922, there were ten major civil wars which 91 the cadres to engage in the peasant movement. Since this study is intended to limit its scope in the urban masses, not further discussion on the peasant movement will be pursued. In the urban areas, the working class was.the main ob ject of KMT's urban mass politics. In order to gain the sup port from this group, the trade union v/as legalized in KMT's Trade Union Regulations in November 1924, ^ There were 21 articles in the Regulations which recognized the rights of employees to form unions, though some restrictions were ! imposed on the union activities. The first article of the Regulations stated that the workers above the age of 16, be longing to the same occupation or industry or trade, might organize unions or form»organizations of similar nature. The trade union or employees.' organizations(the term "employ ees” here applied to industrial workers, teachers and other government employees,) were not held responsible for any in dividual action not in connection with the organization con cerned. The Regulations further defined the aims and activi ties of the trade union1 as followingsi (1) to promote the welfare of.all members,(2) to conclude contracts with rm- ployers,(3) to establish co-operative societies, saving banks and social insurance in the interests of its members,(4) to enrich the knowledge of its members and to enhance their opportunity for learning by providing a vacational education, (?) to investigate and report on the economic conditions of 92 its members and (6) to improve the general welfare of its members, including a higher standard of living and better education. The right of the workers to declare strikes was also recognized in the Regulations. It is clear that the KMT not only used anti-imperialism to stimulate the rise of nationalistic feelings of the '■ workers as the Manifesto of the First National Congress of the KMT and Sun’s May Day speech did , it also proclaimed its intention to improve the workers' lot to incite them to participate in KMT's po]itical movement. Since the principal causes of early strikes v/ere the high cost of living and 70 depreciation of the copper coins, KMT's promises and the labor regulations no doubt won the tremendous support from the workers who were usually more interested in the immediate economic gain than the ideological arguments in the early 1920*s. With the sponsorship of the KMT, the Second National labor Congress was held in Canton in May 1925» and a mani festo was issued under the control of the CCP group of the KMT, The Manifesto in its Resolution on Economic Struggle demanded the 8-hour day, better treatments for the female and child labor, social insurance, abolition of the system of contract-labor(pao-kung-chih), and the minimum living wages. And in its Resolution on Political Struggle, it 93 declared that there was anatagonism between the interests of the working class and imperialism. Thus, the political struggle was necessary for the working class to achieve their economic goal. The national revolution was regarded as the only life-way(sheng-lu) in China which was ruled and con trolled by imperialism and the warlords. The Manifesto thus called the working class to join the national revo- 71 lutionary movement. It is obvious that the KMT had combined the economic and.political demands' of the workers with the purpose of bring the mass participation of the working class into its political movement. Another important group of the urban dwellers were the merchants. The policy of the KMT to the merchants was a much more complicated story, and could be devided into tv/o periods. In the first period, the KMT regarded the merchants as an object under the KMT rule. The KMT only asked the passive obediance of the merchants to the KMT regulations and the payments of taxes by the merchants. Although Sun Yat-sen supported the formation of the Merchants* Volunteer Corps in Canton, and even presented the Corps with its official banner on the day of their inaugu ration, Sun and his KMT did not pay too much attention to the merchant movement or organizations among the merchants. 9^ As a matter of fact, the Department of Commerce of the'CEC 7 3 of the KMT was not established until November 192*f. The peasant and labor policy of the KMT was misrepre sented by the enemies of the KMT as a means to oppress the merchant class. The admittance of the CCP members into the KMT and the alliance with Russia were regarded as a symptom 7 If. of the immediate disaster of communism. The KMT propaganda materials, favored the peasant and labor movement, and Sun's personal view on the function of the merchants further . seemed to confirm the distrust of the merchants, on the KMT. In his first lecture on Kin-sheng chu i on August 3* 192^, Sun first made an analysis of the development of the trade system and the monetary economy, and then criticized that under the existing system of merchant distribution, the sonsumers unconsciously were suffering heavy losses. Thus Sun after stating that "the merchant buys the commo dities at the lowest possible price from the producer and then sells them to the consumerf by this one transaction, he earns a large commission,” he appreciated a socialized distribution'by saying,” recent studies have showed that the trade system can be’ improved upon, that goods do not have to be distributed by merchants but can be distributed 7 c through social organizations or by the government. - In his criticism on Marxist theory of surplus value, Sun even optimistically predicted that the rise of cooperative so- 95 76 cieties would eliminate the existence of the merchant class. Sun's attitude towards the merchants no doubt strengthened merchants' dislike for Sun's KMT government. Merchnats' hostility towards the KMT can be revealed from the incident of the Merchants' Volunteer Corps in October 192^. The discontent of the Canton merchants was further exacerbated by the British and their Chinese comprodores in 77 Hongkong. In August, 1.92^, A full-scale rebellion led by Ch'en Lien-po, a local■compradore of the Hongkong and Shang hai Banking Corporation, broke out on the pretext that the Canton Government had detented their imported rifles(the number was near 10,000). Ch'en even managed to persuade the Hongkong authorities to threaten Sun if his troops fired on 78 the area under the control of the Merchants' Volunteer Corps.