New Civil War Begun In China.

New York Times 100 years ago today, July 17, 1913:
Eight Southern Provinces Preparing to Declare an Independent Confederacy.
JAPANESE PLOTS ALLEGED
Southerners Declare That They Have Received Promises of Support from the Mikado's Officers.
    SHANGHAI, July 16.— The revolt along the Yang-tse Kiang is spreading, and there is fighting along the Tien-Tsin—Pu-Kow Railway.
    Proclamations are being circulated here, setting forth that a punitive expedition has been undertaken for the purpose of bringing President Yuan Shih-Kai to justice for the murder of Gen. Sung Chiao-Jen, the ex-Minister of Education, who was killed at Shanghai last March, and for violating the Constitution.
    The Yang-tse Kiang towns are going over to the proposed Southern Confederacy, and it is stated that Yuan Shih-Kai has ordered a general advance of his troops against them.

    PEKING, July 16.— The Provinces of Kiang-Si. Kiang-Su, Kwang-Si, Fo-Kien, Sze-Chuen, Hu-Nan, Ngan-Hwei, and Kwang-Tung are preparing to declare their independence and to form a Southern Chinese Confederacy, according to apparently authoritative reports current here.
    Fighting continues in the Province of Kiang-Si, and large numbers of Northern troops are proceeding there.
    The attitude of the Japanese is bitterly discussed here. The Chinese believe they are stirring up strife everywhere, and Japanese officers are said to be fighting on the side of the rebels, the presence of Japanese gunboats in the fighting zone being taken as lending color to the belief that they are aiding the revolt. The Southerners openly declare that they have received assurances of Japanese support.
    Commenting on an alleged speech by the Japanese Minister designate to China, in which Yuan Shih-Kai's administration was criticised, the newspapers pointedly refer to the recall of Charles R. Crane after he had been appointed United States Minister to China, and intimate that similar action would be advisable in the case of Enjire Yamaza.
    The German consulate at Nanking was surrounded to-day by insurgents. It was stated that in the event of an attack the Germans intended to adopt their own measures for their protection. The trouble apparently arose because the Germans recently permitted the extradition of two revolutionaries who had taken refuge in the German concession at Han-Kow.