At the fifth meeting of the Fourth Plenary Session of the Central Executive and Supervisory Committees of the Kuomintang on April 8, 1938, I made a speech on "The Reform of Party Affairs and Readjustments for Party and Political Organizations." Attached to that speech was a draft chart showing the interrelations among the Party and political organizations under the hsien, with illustrations and explanations. I pointed out then that the chart was only intended as an initial draft. As to promulgating the detailed formulae and laws for execution, I pointed out that the draft was only to serve as a basis and that the wording in which the draft was written should not prove too binding. There should be plenty of room for further study and discussion so that perfection might be obtained. Furthermore, the draft chart was intended mainly as an exposition of the relations between Party and political organizations (hence it was also called "Party and Political Affairs Chart"). The various administrative organizations were attached as an appendix to it.
Since the publication of this draft chart, the serious attention of many of our comrades, scholars and specialists has been aroused. In many districts experiments have been carried on—a fact which is indeed very gratifying and which evidences the earnest desire on the part of various local administrations for reform.
The Party and Political Personnel Training Class was recently inaugurated by the Central Training Corps. In order to lecture on the problems covered in the draft chart and lay out the necessary formulae, I had instructed several of my associates to collect views and data from all possible sources and to make a thorough study of the question. Under my personal supervision, the original draft has been revised and supplemented. The main points contained therein may be summarized as follows:
1. In connection with Party organizations, the ch'ü[2] (township) office should be linked up with the hsiang (chên), while small units should be established under the pao chia system. Thus the Party organizations are brought to conformity with the political. The network of Party members' supervisory organizations should be placed directly under the Supervisory Committee of the hsien Party headquarters.
2. The hsien is the unit of local government autonomy. The hsien should be classified into three to six groups according to their area, population, economic resources, cultural and communication development. Below the hsien, the hsiang (chên) constitutes the basic lower unit, with pao or village and streets as their constituents. Elasticity may be allowed between the hsien and hsiang according to local requirements. When and where necessary, a ch'ü (township) office may be established to serve as the connecting link, but if this is not needed, the hsiang (chên) should be placed under the direct jurisdiction of the hsien. The same elasticity may exist between the hsiang (chên) and pao. In densely populated areas, a village and a street may form one natural unit, inseparable from each other. In such cases, one unit may consist of two or three pao with one pao chang (chief of the pao) at the helm of affairs, so that unnecessary breaking-up of the village from the street may be avoided. To eliminate difficulties arising from finances and personnel, all the posts of secretaries (kan shih) of the hsiang (chên) and pao (or village and street) may be concurrently served by the teachers of primary schools, while the school principals of the hsiang (chên) and pao should concurrently serve as leader of the able-bodied citizens' corps (Chuang ting tui) in accordance with the principle of unity of administration, instruction, support and protection. In areas with better economic and educational development where affairs concerning local autonomy are multifarious, the principals of hsiang (chên) primary schools and pao citizens' [mass education] schools should preferably concentrate on their school jobs with a view to efficiency. The masses should be organized into different groups to undertake different works in order to meet the actual requirements.
3. In connection with organs for expressing the views and opinions of the people, there should be organized the pao people's assembly, the hsiang (chên) people's representative assembly, the hsien council, each vested with proper authority, with a view to increasing the people's interest in participating in government affairs. Thus the influence of the masses may be properly magnified and the goal of true democracy attained. With a view to greater alacrity, I wish to explain in further detail as follows:
A. Readjustments in the Relations among the Various Administrative Party and Political Organizations of the Hsien
(This item, consisting of eleven articles, is not intended for publication.)
A routine announcement of Party duties, of Party supervision of local morale, of seniorities as between Party and Government officers, etc. follows. It has been omitted in accordance with the statement in parentheses.
B. Political Organizations
1. The hsien is the unit of local autonomy. These units can be classified into from three to six groups according to the population, economic status, culture and communication. On the one hand, the hsien governments should handle affairs concerning local autonomy of their respective district under the supervision of the provincial government and on the other hand should carry out the orders of the Central and provincial governments.
a. The area of the hsien under the present system should remain the same as before. The cancellation of the hsien and the change in its area are to be decided upon only with the authorization and approval of the Central Government. In the hsien there should be a magistrate, under whom there should be secretaries, section chiefs, directors, police officers, senior and junior staff members in the different sections, technicians and assistants and police patrol officers handling civic, financial, educational, construction, military, land, and social affairs. The number of sections to be provided under the hsien governments and their duties is to be decided by the provincial government which in making decisions is to take into consideration the local requirements of the hsien concerned. The number of staff members, and their ranks and salaries, is likewise to be decided upon by the provincial government.
b. In each hsien there should be held hsien political affairs meetings at which decisions concerning the hsien administration are to be reached and proposals made for submission to the hsien People's Council. The hsien political affairs meetings should be held irrespective of whether the hsien Council has been established or not.
c. The rules and regulations governing the organization of the hsien governments should be promulgated by the provincial governments and then submitted to the Central Government for approval.