but on June 5th the American Minister, acting on instructions, presented
a Note to the Chinese Government urging that the preservation of
national unity was more important than entry into the war, and
suggesting the desirability of preserving peace for the present. What
had happened in the meantime was that the war issue, which might never
have become acute but for President's Wilson's action, had been used by
the Japanese to revive the conflict between North and South, and to
instigate the Chinese militarists to unconstitutional action. Sun Yat
Sen and most of the Southern politicians were opposed to the declaration
of war; Sun's reasons were made known in an open letter to Mr. Lloyd
George on March 7th. They were thoroughly sound.[76] The Cabinet, on
May 1st, decided in favour of war, but by the Constitution a declaration
of war required the consent of Parliament. The militarists attempted to
coerce Parliament, which had a majority against war; but as this proved
impossible, they brought military force to bear on the President to
compel him to dissolve Parliament unconstitutionally. The bulk of the
Members of Parliament retired to the South, where they continued to act
as a Parliament and to regard themselves as the sole source of
constitutional government. After these various illegalities, the
military autocrats were still compelled to deal with one of their
number, who, in July, effected a five days' restoration of the Manchu
Emperor. The President resigned, and was succeeded by a person more
agreeable to the militarists, who have henceforth governed in the North,
sometimes without a Parliament, sometimes with a subservient
unconstitutional Northern Parliament. Then at last they were free to
declare war. It was thus that China entered the war for democracy and
against militarism.

Of course China helped little, if at all, towards the winning of the
war, but that was not what the Allies expected of her. The objects of
the European Allies are disclosed in the French Note quoted above. We
wished to confiscate German property in China, to expel Germans living
in China, and to prevent, as far as possible, the revival of German
trade in China after the war. The confiscation of German property was
duly carried out--not only public property, but private property also,
so that the Germans in China were suddenly reduced to beggary. Owing to
the claims on shipping, the expulsion of the Germans had to wait till
after the Armi