President Lin Sen's passing on August 1 (1943) not only robbed the nation of one of its most beloved chief executives but also ended the career of one of the elders of the Kuomintang, one who had dedicated his en tire life to the cause of China's freedom and independence. To the Chinese people the late Mr. Lin Sen was not merely a Chairman of the National Government, he was also the embodiment of all the virtues that go to make up what the Chinese consider as a statesman, gentleman and scholar.
Since May 12 when it became known that President Lin had suffered a stroke while riding in an automobile on his way from his official residence to the National Government headquarters the Chinese people had been worrying about the well-being of the gentle, gray-haired old man whose portrait is one of the three most often displayed in public places throughout China. Most concerned of all were the party and government leaders and lovers of Chinese art.
Kuomintang and government leaders were concerned because 76 year old Lin Sen had for 20 years been one of the kingpins of the party as well as one of the country's leading statesmen. Quiet, unassuming and not often in the public eye, he was nevertheless credited with having helped solve many political crises which might have changed the course of China's recent history. Because he started back in the days when the Republican Revolution was still in the idea stage he bridged the gap between the late Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Father of the Chinese Republic, and the present administration which owes much of its success and stability to his political sagacity and experience.
Lovers of Chinese art worried about President Lin Sen because he was one of the very few individuals who maintained a genuine interest in and appreciation for the best in Chinese art and antiques despite nearly six years of war. In Nanking, during the years before the war, the arrival of his familiar figure in black cape and gray felt hat always occasioned a flurry of excitement among dealers in the Futzemiao (Confucius Temple) area. It was neither because he was the President nor a good customer that dealers laid aside choice pieces of jade or priceless paintings, it was because his taste and judgment was so respected that any item on which he cast a favorable eye became a specimen of excellence whether or not the President began negotiations for its purchase.
Mr. Lin Sen was President for 11 unbroken years because he was always the perfect First Citizen. A widower of long standing he had no children. But the President had out of his meager savings helped send many promising young men, particularly scientists, abroad for advanced study. Impressed by the interest he took in youth, members of the entire party made voluntary contributions for the establishment of a number of Lin Sen Scholarships on his 70th birthday anniversary. Meanwhile, the President also employed savings from his annual emolument for establishing scholarships in his native province of Fukien. President Lin never touched either tobacco or alcohol. His simple way of living was almost a legend in China. He avoided the ostentatious. The beautiful and magnificently situated Presidential Mansion built for him before the war in Nanking was never occupied. In Chungking he rode around in the same conservative black sedan of American manufacture on which he traveled on official occasions in Nanking.
A lover of flowers, his idea of a good time was to sit in his garden and talk about how he acquired each of the many varieties planted around his official residence. Many historic discussions with other veteran party and government leaders have taken place among the flowers in Mr. Lin Sen's garden. As to his views on national economy, the late President always advocated the development of agriculture and forestry as one of the fundamentals for the economic reconstruction of China. His frequent excusions to the countryside reflected the deep interest he took in the welfare of the peasants.
China's grand old man was one of the most democratic of China's high officials. He never surrounded himself with bodyguards although he frequently appeared in crowded public places, including curio marts and parks. He was reputed to have had no enemies either personal or political. A long-time resident in America and thrice Speaker of the Chinese Senate-once in Peiping and twice in Canton-he was also a strong champion of government by law. Despite his advanced age he had always been punctual in his attendance at plenary sessions of the Central Supervisory Committee of the Kuomintang of which he had become a member in March, 1929, and despite his high office he seldom missed party meetings of the ward to which he belonged.
In Nanking, shortly before the war, when he visited a newly discovered Ming dynasty tomb, he observed that the public was being kept away from the site by a rope enclosure. "Who put up that barrier?" he asked quietly. "This tomb is now public property. These people are the posterity for which those things in there were preserved. Those things belong to the people." The barrier was immediately removed.
To President Lin Sen should go part of the credit for the magnificent evacuation program that was carried out in Chungking after the disastrous May 3 and May 4 bombings of 1939 and the subsequent development of the suburban residential districts around the wartime capital. President Lin was among the first to offer his car for the evacuation of refugees after the catastrophic May 3 raid.
President Lin Sen was never known to have used his position or prestige for furthering his personal aims. His private fortune was practically nil. For years he did not carry any money on his person. His old friends and acquaintances knew better than to ask the President to use his official position on behalf of any private individual interests. The story goes that an old acquaintance once asked Mr. Lin Sen for a position in the government, suggesting that it should be a relatively simple matter to grant such a request since he was President. "It is simply because I am able to refuse requests like this that I am President," Mr. Lin replied gently.
Quite unknown to most people President Lin spoke perfect English - an ability he acquired during the many years he spent in California, rallying support and raising funds among the Chinese there for the late Dr. Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary effort. An American news photographer had spent four hours photographing President Lin, laboriously speaking to the venerable Chinese patriarch through an interpreter during the whole period. When the bustling cameraman finally announced he had completed his work, President Lin turned to him and said with a slight West Coast twang, "Would you like to come in for a cup of tea before you go?" The very much surprised photographer said afterwards "You could have knocked me over with a dead flash bulb!"
The scores of foreign diplomats who have presented their credentials to President Lin have never failed to note that the smallish bespectacled and thinly bearded head of the Chinese National Government epitomized all that is characteristic and kind about the Chinese people. The Chinese people did not show their respect and love for Lin Sen by the usual bowing and standing at attention. Instead they demonstrated their acceptance of their President by allowing him to walk among them as one of the crowd, confining their attention to discreet remarks such as "There goes the Chairman of the National Government." Few other officials in China have been paid this tribute by the Chinese people.
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek himself always paid deference to President Lin Sen. The Generalissimo's respect for him was absolute and unaffected. When together he always walked behind Mr. Lin. He invariably inquired after the safety and condition of the President after each air raid. He had come to lean heavily on Mr. Lin's judgment on party and state affairs. Over the years there had developed a genuine comradeship and affection between the two.
If there was anything that Mr. Lin Sen valued more it was his sense of justice. He would never compromise with anybody who worked against the interest of the nation. The following may serve to illustrate.
After Wang Ching-wei had sold himself to the Japanese and openly came out for peace with the enemy in December, 1938, the Kuomintang Central Executive and Supervisory Committees held an emergency joint conference on January, 1939. Unobtrusive and unassuming Mr. Lin was among the first to denounce Wang. The President said, "Wang Ching-wei must be expelled from the party for life." His motion was unanimously carried.
Mr. Lin Sen accepted the Presidency in January, 1932, not for personal glory but for the sake of national unity. It may be recalled that at that time the attitude of the then so-called Canton faction was irreconcilable towards the Central Government in Nanking. Under the circumstances Mr. Lin was adjudged the most suitable candidate for the presidency in view of his personal integrity and in view of his respected position in the party. A classic remark by Mr. Lin when he was prevailed upon to accept the Presidency was: "I hope to make myself a bridge between Nanking and Canton" —and a bridge he was.
President Lin Sen followed news events closely. Brought to him daily were copies of the Chung-king newspapers and the English service of Central News. Even while he was on his sick bed he was anxious to know the latest developments on the Upper Yangtze front. (It is to be noted that he was stricken at the height of the Western Hupeh battle.)
Shortly after the declaration of the transfer of the government offices to Chungking on November 29, 1937, as the result of the Japanese threat to Nanking, President Lin Sen arrived in Chungking aboard the gunboat Yungsui. Since then he had been living in a villa provided for him by the government somewhere outside of Chungking. When Madame Chiang Kai-shek and Madame H. H. Kung decided to give a barbeque party for Major General Claire L. Chennault and his disbanding A.V.G. on July 4, 1936, President Lin graciously consented to let the hostesses use his villa for the occasion.
While living in Szechwan, President Lin spent his summers at Omeishan, one of the sacred mountains of China. Before the war he summered at Kuling. Officially Mr. Lin Sen was Chairman of the National Government, which office he had assumed in January, 1932. He was elected to serve for a term of two years by the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee. He had been re-elected by the Central Executive Committee until his death. In fact, so successfully had Mr. Lin Sen carried out his duties of office that the First Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Executive Committee (November 1 through 5, 1935) decided to reappoint him as Chairman until the National People's Congress met to draft the permanent draft constitution. Under the existing Organic Law of the National Government the Chairman bears no political responsibility while the President of the Executive Yuan, who occupies a position somewhat similar to that of Prime Minister in a cabinet government country, assumes the role of a real executive. It may be recalled that when President Lin's condition became serious the Standing Committee of the Central Executive Committee decided on May 29 to insert the following in Article 13 of the Organic Law of the National Government:
"In case the Chairman of the National Government is incapacitated by any cause, the President of the Executive Yuan will act on his behalf."
That meant that Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek who was then President of the Executive Yuan, would have to assume on top of his many heavy responsibilities the duties of Chairman for the time being. As a matter of fact, this was not the first time that the Generalissimo had become the President. In October, 1928, he was elected to the Chairmanship of the National Government and he held that post until December, 1931.