Hunan under the Provincial Constitution
(July 1, 1923)

I'm afraid that very few people who are not Hunanese know anything about what
Hunan is really like under the Provincial Constitution. A detailed description of
its politics, economics, culture, and education, as well as of the labor movement
that has recently arisen there, would require more than just a short essay. A brief
general outline follows.

A. Politics

1. The Provincial Constitution. Proposals for provincial constitutions began in
Hunan, and up to now only Hunan has a provincial constitution, for a very
simple reason. Situated in the middle between North and South China and having been trampled on three times by the Beiyang factions' military forces under
Tang Xiangming, Fu Liangzuo, and Zhang Jingyao, the people have a deep
hatred of the military forces of the northern factions. When the Hunan Army of
Tan Yankai and Zhao Hengti pursued Zhang Jingyao, it just so happened that the
northern Zhili and Anhui factions were beginning to split up, so the proposal for
provincial self-rule and a provincial constitution was entirely a reaction against
the Beiyang military forces. Without the protective talisman of a provincial
constitution, Hunan could easily be invaded, a situation that the people did not
like and the warlords liked even less. The result has been that, taking advantage
of the popular will, the warlords have used the Provincial Constitution for their
own protection and preservation. Thus the Provincial Constitution, in this geographically precarious Hunan, amounts to no more than an insurance policy for a
weak and petty warlord (Zhao Hengti). In other provinces, strong warlords such
as Wu Peifu definitely do not want provincial constitutions. Zhang Zuolin¹ wants
only self-rule, without a provincial constitution. A warlord who is weak, but

This article was originally published in *Qianfeng*, No. 1, July 1, 1923. Our translation has
been made from the text as reproduced in *Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan*, Vol. 2, pp. 113-22.
because he is situated in a remote area does not greatly fear invasion from
outside, and still thinks that he can occasionally get supplies for his troops from
neighboring provinces, as in the case of Tang Jiyao, will also not want a provincial constitution. Thus it is only here in Hunan that a provincial constitution
could appear. However, it can hardly be long-lived, because although at the
moment it so happens that there are external worries, it is ultimately a rope that
binds and restrains the warlord, as in the case of the provision in the Hunan
Constitution that military expenses be reduced to one-third of annual income.
The current budget is already such that it cannot be kept within the stipulations
of the Provincial Constitution. Furthermore, the contention between the Tan
Yankai and Zhao Hengti factions is sure to force one of them to bring in outside
troops to seize control of the situation. The life span of the Provincial Constitution is definitely limited. Realization of a federation of self-ruled provinces is
even less of a possibility under any circumstances.

2. Political Factions. Tan Yankai, Zhao Hengti, and Lin Zhiyu² make up
three separate factions. The People's Well-Being Society [*Minkang she*] of the
Tan faction, the People's Renewal Society [*Minxin she*] of the Zhao faction, and
the Hunan Society [*Xiang she*] of the Lin faction are their political parties. The
Lin faction has no real military strength and is simply a bunch of the lowest type
of politicians whose self-serving goals have brought them together. They wait to
move in or retreat according to the rise and fall of the Tan and Zhao factions, and
of the three factions they are the worst. The political life of the Zhao faction,
which is now in power, is actually founded upon the threats and blessings of Wu
Peifu in the balancing act between north and south (this is also the basis of the
Provisional Constitution). Thus, although they are less powerful militarily than
the Tan faction, they can maintain their position over a period of time. The Tan
faction has already been out of power for three years, but they still have a lot of
strength and have recently joined the Guomindang in the hopes that Sun Yatsen
will help them regain political power.³ Their struggle with the Zhao faction is
unusually intense. In addition, the Political Studies clique has attached itself to
the Zhao faction in order to further its interests.

3. The Government. The new government that was formed according to the
Provincial Constitution in January of this year is divided into seven departments:
Internal Affairs, External Relations, Finance, Business, Education, Judiciary, and
Military Affairs. The heads of the seven departments are under the head of the
Provincial Council, with strict cabinet responsibility, and the provincial governor
acts as president. The provincial governor is Zhao Hengti; the head of the Provincial Council is Li Jiannong; the head of the Department of Internal Affairs is
Wu Jinghong; the head of the Department of External Relations is Yang
Xuancheng; the head of the Department of Finance is Yuan Huaxuan; the head
of the Department of Business is Tang Chengxu; the head of the Department of
Education is Li Jiannong; the head of the Department of the Judiciary is Xu
Zhongchong; and the head of the Department of Military Affairs is Li Shiwen.
This is the organization of the government.

4. The Assembly. The government is selected from the assembly, so the
assembly has considerable authority. Membership in the assembly is entirely
bought with money. Some of the members are bureaucrats, some are lavish
gentry, and some are politicians. In terms of party affiliation, two-thirds belong
to the Zhao faction and one-third belongs to the Tan and Lin factions. The new
Hunan Provincial Assembly as presently constituted has thoroughly manifested
its despicable venality, its tyranny, and its stupidity, and public opinion hates it
bitterly.

5. The Armed Forces. At present the army is made up of two divisions and
five brigades, the organization and deployment of which are generally as follows. Division commander of the First Division is Zhu Hegeng, with commander
of the First Brigade He Yaozu and regiment commanders Zheng Honghai and
Xie Yudao stationed at Changde and Yiyang. The Second Division, commanded
by Tang Shengzhi, with regiment commanders Liu Xing and Li Pinhe, is stationed at Changde. The cavalry regiment of He Jian is stationed at Taoyuan. The
artillery regiment of Huang Yaozu is stationed at Changde. The regiment of
Wang Lei also belongs to the First Division and is stationed at Chenzhou. The
Second Division, commanded by Lu Diping, with Liu Xing as commander of the
Third Brigade and regiment commanders Ye Qi and Yuan Zhi, is stationed at
Nanxian and Xiangtan. The Fourth Brigade, commanded by Tang Rongyang,
with regiment commanders Tang Shengming and Tang Zhenduo, is stationed at
Lixian and Shimen. The cavalry regiment of Tang Xibian is stationed at
Xiangtan, and the artillery regiment of Dai Yue is stationed at Changsha. The
First Mixed Brigade [Hunchenglu], commanded by Ye Kaixin, with regiment
commanders Jiang Chu'ou, Liu Zhongwei, Zou Pengzhen, and Zhu Yaohua, is
stationed in the area of Changsha, Liling, and Xiangyin. The artillery battalion of
Yin Fuling is stationed at Changsha. Director of defense for the town of
Hengyang and commander of the mixed brigade, Xie Guoguang, with regiment
commanders Tan Daoyuan, Cheng Guangyao, and Liu Xuegan, is stationed in
the three xian of Hengyang, Guiyang, and Yongzhou. Director of defense for the

town of Baoqing and commander of a mixed brigade, Wu Jianxue, with regimental commanders Wu Jiaquan and Zhang Xiangdi, is stationed in Baoqing and
Wugang. Director of defense for the town of Yuanling and commander of the
Ninth and Tenth Brigades is Cai Juyou. Liu Xuyi, brigade commander of the
Ninth Brigade, and regimental commanders He Longgan and Tan Runshen are
stationed in western Hunan in Qianyang and Hongjiang. The Tenth Brigade
under the command of Tian Zhenfan, with regimental commanders Peng
Shouheng and Yang Yufen, is stationed in Chenzhou and Qianyang in western
Hunan. In addition, there are also the more than ten defense patrol battalions
under Chen Quzhen in Baojing, Qianxian, Zhendan, and Suiqing in western
Hunan, one regiment of the Hubei Army under Xia Douyin stationed in Liuyang,
and one battalion of militia under Wang Deqing stationed at Yongzhou. The total
troop strength of the Hunan armed forces numbers about 40,000. Of these, the
three groups of He Yaozu, Tang Shengzhi, and Ye Kaixin belong to the Zhao
Hengti faction, and the mixed brigade of Ye Kaixin, which is nearly division
size, is considered to be the main column of the Zhao faction. The regiment of
the Hubei Army under Xia Douyin is neutral. The others all belong to the Tan
Yankai faction. Because Hunan is a poor province it has no military factories, so
it cannot support a large army. Since they do not have a great many troops it is
not difficult to supply the troops adequately, and they should at least be able to
meet expenses for a period of time without any serious trouble arising. This is
rather different from the situation in provinces such as Sichuan and Yunnan that
support overly large armies and sometimes are forced to get food from outside.
Thus, Hunan desires only that others do not invade her and has no need to invade
others. The economic aspect of the so-called Monroe Doctrine of provincial
self-rule was built on these facts, and has endured for two or three years, right up
to the present.

6. Finances. The annual income of Hunan is a total of 14 million yuan (including that of places under state control), and the national taxes that should be
turned over to the central government are withheld for provincial uses. This too
is an economic impetus for self-rule. As for the stipulation in the Provincial
Constitution that military expenses be one-third, educational expenses be onethird, and administrative expenses one-third, this is the new budget that has not
yet been implemented, nor can it ever be implemented. The financial system is
already in a state of extreme chaos. The only income the government receives
directly, and can use for its daily expenses, is in the form of a small amount of
taxes from the provincial capital and the income from two or three organs such
as the Transportation Monopoly Bureau and the Currency Mint. Most of the
receipts from the land tax of the other xian and from all the regular and miscellaneous taxes are appropriated by the military. Thus the finances cannot be
straightened out. The debts for military expenses and even for educational and
administrative expenses accumulated from the past are so large that there is no
way they can be paid off. If old debts cannot be cleared, it becomes even less

possible to straighten out finances. The Zhao government's schemes to borrow
funds from abroad were also undermined in a number of ways by the Tan Yankai
clique and fell through several times. Hunan has already been without incidents
for four years, so in these four years the financial resources of the province as a
whole have still not had to support a large army and have been helped by the
army tax on individual opium smokers, making it possible to get by peacefully
and without incident. Today, having been at peace for a while, the sum of unpaid
back wages for the army has gradually mounted, and looting has become a
severe problem. Unable to secure loans or to cut the army by a single man, the
Zhao government's financial base is already very weak. Should the Tan clique
find an excuse to mount an attack, Zhao would surely either have to surrender to
Wu Peifu or be overthrown.

B. Economics

1. Industry. All of Hunan Province is in the stage of handicraft industries. Except for the provincially owned First Silk Factory, the officially managed
Shuikoushan lead mines, and the commercially managed Xikuangshan (in
Xinhua [xian]) lead mines, we can point to no other moderately large industries.
There are not a few commercially managed small mines and there are a lot of
small-scale lead and antimony smelting factories, but they involve very little
capital. Since the end of the European war the price of lead and antimony ore has
been very low, so business has been very depressed. The First Silk Factory, with
government capital of two million yuan, is leased to and operated by private
merchants and does a business of less than 200 thousand yuan, but its business
situation is still good with the price of its 100 yuan stock at 115 per share. The
Hunan and Guanghua electric light companies provide electric lighting in the
provincial capital, and the two companies are in intense competition, but neither
company has grown (Hunan is doing better than Guanghua), and their stocks
have fallen to 60 yuan or 40 yuan. The currency mint is managed by the government with the goal of extracting a surplus profit on the casting of inferior quality
20 cent copper coinage. On a monthly minting of 2.1 million strings of cash, it
can make a profit of 150 thousand to 160 thousand yuan. In the marketplace, the
value of the copper cent is 210 for one yuan of silver. This hurts the people very
badly. Except for the small-scale foreign-owned ore smelting at Shuikoushan,
there are no foreign businesses in Hunan Province.

2. Commerce. All are small-capital businesses concentrated in the three cities
of Changsha, Xiangtan, and Changde. Of the foreign businesses, British commercial establishments are the largest, with the Japanese second, followed by the
Americans and Germans. All four countries have set up consulates in Changsha.

3. Agriculture. In Hunan there is much mountainous land and little land in the
plains. Apart from the few relatively large agricultural exploitations along the
shores of Lake Dongting, the rest is all small-scale exploitations by peasant
proprietors or sharecroppers. The life of the sharecroppers is even more painful
than that of the agricultural laborers, because the laborers have relatively small
families to look after while the sharecroppers have relatively large families. The
rent to the landlords is normally half the crop; a high rate is 70 percent to the
landlord, and 30 percent to the tenant, while the highest rate is 80 percent to the
landlord and 20 percent to the tenant. As a result, it would be absolutely impossible for sharecroppers to live on income from cultivating the land alone, and
they all supplement this by raising pigs, cultivating side crops, etc. For a
number of years, Hunan suffered from the depredations of the militarists, and
this caused considerable shortages. The economy has been slightly improved
in the past two or three years. As regards the province's rice production, the
area along the lake has a surplus for export in normal years, and elsewhere
there is just enough to feed the inhabitants. So the saying "When the crop
ripens in Hunan, there is abundance throughout the land" no longer corresponds to reality. Every year at the beginning of winter the Yuezhou customs
house is opened, and at the beginning of spring it is closed, and the government collects one yuan in taxes on every picul of rice to supplement its
budget.

C. General Culture and Education

1. General Culture. The thinking of the small peasants has changed little. Their
political demands are simply for honest officials and a good emperor. Among
women, 30 to 40 percent still have bound feet, but men no longer wear pigtails,
even in remote places. In education, the new studies system has in large measure
already been adopted. It is only the school administrators who have basically
made no great changes. Most representative of this are the members of the
Provincial Assembly, who use the new bourgeois political system but whose
speech and actions fully betray the fact that all the old forms of patriarchal
society have not changed in the least. Protestant and Roman Catholic churches
exist throughout the entire province, having invaded even the small hamlets in
remote areas. American missionary enterprises are especially aggressive, centering around their youth groups while also engaging in educational and charitable
enterprises. Because they have no commercial power in Hunan, the Americans

5. For Mao's earlier involvement with struggles over the Shuikoushan lead and zinc
mines, see the "Petition Opposing Zhang Jingyao's Secret Agreement to Sell the Mines,"
dated December 27, 1919, in Volume I, pp. 460-62. Regarding the Xikuangshan mines,
which were the richest source of antimony in the world, see McDonald, Urban Origins,
pp. 68-75.
6. Yuezhou was an important point on the recently opened Wuhan-Changsha Railroad.

put all their energies into charitable enterprises such as raising funds for religion,
education, and hospitals. The average student who goes to study in the United
States consequently develops a rather strong pro-American attitude. In the provincial capital there are nine daily newspapers, of which only the Dagongbao
has a higher circulation of 2,300 to 2,400. The others have a circulation of
between 100 and 500, and most of their content is of very low quality.
2. Education. By education we mean schools, which in Hunan are run by
people of many different factions, as listed below.

Higher Agricultural School [Danong]⁷ faction—An amalgam of graduates
from the former Qing dynasty School of Higher Education [Gaodeng xuetang],
the Seek Truth Academy [Qiushi shuyuan], and the Seek Loyalty Academy
[Qiuzhong shuyuan]. Because many in it have returned from studying in the
West, it is also called the Western faction. The director of the Department of
Education, Li Jiannong,⁸ is its leader, and most of its disciples are intellectually
conservative. The higher agricultural schools are their headquarters; they are
rather widely scattered throughout educational circles.

Superior [Youji] faction—From the Superior Normal School. Their thinking is
decadent. Quite influential in educational circles.

Higher Normal [Gaoshi] faction—From Hunan Provincial Higher Normal
School. Their thinking is relatively modern.

Beijing Higher Normal [Beigao] faction—From Beijing Higher Normal
School. Of all the factions, this group is the most modern in its thinking. Their
organization is the Youth Education Society [Qingnian jiaoyushe].

Higher Industrial [Gaogong] faction—From the Higher Industrial School of
the former Qing dynasty and from the present Industrial Technical School. Entrenched in the technical schools, with influence in the assembly and government. The most reactionary and vicious.

South City [Chengnan] faction—From the Qing dynasty South City Academy
and the Central Road [Zhonglu] Normal School. As decadent in their thinking as
the Superior faction. Entrenched in the Education Council [Jiaoyuhui].

7. None of the three schools subsequently enumerated were, strictly speaking, agricultural schools. The meaning appears to be that these institutions provided a traditional-style
education suitable for the sons of landlords; perhaps a more accurate translation of Danong xuexiao would be "schools for big agriculturalists."
8. Li Jiannong (1880-1963), a native of Hunan, studied in Japan and England. He was
a historian and journalist, and was appointed head of the Hunan Political Council, and
concurrently head of the Department of Education by Zhao Hengti in December 1922. He
is best known in the West as the author of Li Chien-nung [Li Jiannong], The Political History
of China, 1840-1928 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1956), hereafter Li Chien-nung,
The Political History of China.

Common People's University [Pingda] faction—A small group of people
such as Yi Jiayue, Luo Dunwei, and Zhang Ziping⁹ from the Research clique and
the Creation Society who organized the Common People's University [Pingmin
daxue]. Their thinking can be regarded as the most outstanding of all the factions.

First Normal [Yishi] faction—From First Normal School. Influential in elementary education. Part conservative, part new in their thinking.

Eastern Seas [Dongyang] faction—Those who have studied in Japan. Their
base is the Category A Industrial School [Jiazhong gongye xuexiao]. As reactionary and vicious as the Higher Industrial faction.

Gentlemen [Junzi] faction—This faction is represented by men such as Chen
Peilin, Zhu Jianfan, Hu Zijing, and Peng Guojun. They are among the earliest of
those who studied in the Japanese Short-term Normal School. Their base is in the
following four schools: the Chuyi School, the Mingde School, the Xiuye School,
and the Zhounan School. Conservative in their thinking but fairly upright, they
are called the gentlemen.

Of these factions, the Superior faction is of the older generation, and although
the members of the Higher Agricultural faction are older, their union is new.
These two factions should be called the two tyrants of the educational world at
present. Although the Higher Normal and Superior factions originally constituted
a fraternal partnership, they have very sharp differences because of their separate
spheres of influence. The Higher Industrial and the Eastern Seas factions have
recently fallen from power, but they have considerable potential power. The
South City faction is a bunch of thieving rats and dogs who rely on Zhao Hengti
for their existence. The Gentlemen faction, under the former Qing dynasty, and
up until 1919, was known as the education monopoly and was the best-known
and most influential, but as other groups have sprung up from 1920 on, its
influence has declined. The Beijing Higher, Common People's University, and
First Normal factions are known as the New Faction, and they have joined forces
in a united front against the power of the Old Faction. In Hunan, there are more
private schools than public schools. Most of the factions have their home base in
private schools and look upon the public schools as colonial territories. Education expenses, including the expenses of sending students to study abroad,
approach two million. Private schools routinely receive subsidies. The larger
subsidies amount to more than 10 thousand and even the smaller subsidies
are several thousand or so. This is the reason for the development of private
schools.

9. Zhang Ziping (1893-1947), a writer who studied in Japan, was one of the organizers of the Creation Society.

D. The Labor Movement

The Hunan labor movement and the labor movements in other places in the
country arose at the same time, and the workers' activities have attracted much
attention in society. We have compiled the following data on the various labor
groups and strikes.

1. Labor Groups with the New-style Organization

| Name                                                              | Date Organized | Number of Members | Location  | Other
| :------------------------------------------------------------------ | :------------- | :---------------- | :--------- | 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Lithographers'
Union
October 1922
Changsha
Not well organized
or strong
Electrical
February 1923
100 Changsha
Still not
well-organized
February 1923
Scribes' Union
Workers' Club
Lead Smelting
Factory Workers'
Club
Rickshaw Pullers' Union
Mechanics'
Union
Barbers' Union
Labor Association
First Silk Factory March 1923
Staff and
Well-organized and
fairly strong
Shuikoushan Well-organized and
fairly strong
Coalition of the
Xujiazhou, Yuezhou,
Changsha, and
Zhuping unions
1,500 Changsha Well-organized and
fairly strong
Includes staff, so
less well organized,
but fairly strong
1,500 Changsha
Changsha Relatively weak
Workers' Club
Masons' and
Carpenters'
Union
Garment
Workers' Union
September 1922
2,000
Changsha
Typesetters'
Union
October 1922
Not well-organized
and weak; dispute
with owners still not
resolved
Changsha Well-organized and
fairly strong
Boot and Shoe
Craftsmen's
Union
October 1922
November 1922
300 Changsha Well-organized and
fairly strong
1,850 Changsha Well-organized and
October 1922
October 1922
Changsha
fairly strong
Set up in opposition
to the Hunan
Mechanics' Union
Changsha Waged a two-year
Changsha
struggle with the
master barbers;
has some vitality
Weak
Not well organized,
weak
The twenty-three workers' organizations listed above have a total membership of about 30 thousand.

2. Old-Style Workers' Groups
The Mechanics' Association
The Industrial General Union
There are two labor associations, one
that was disbanded by Zhao Hengti and
now has operations offices in
Shanghai, and the other one organized
by the capitalist owners of the First Silk
Factory with the objective of supplanting
the old labor association.
A group of students specializing in
industry that includes a small number of
workers and apprentices, led by Bin
Bucheng.10
A group of handicraft shop owners in the
provincial capital, recognized by the
government as a legal organization.

10. Bin Bucheng was a Changsha merchant and powerful bureaucrat. He was made a
member of the Board of Directors of the Huashi [Cotton Mill] Company in April 1921. He
later became head of the provincial mint, and in January 1923 some 1,600 workers at the mint
organized themselves into a Currency Workers' Club, demanding that work conditions be
improved and that Bin Bucheng be dismissed. He was then appointed head of the Provincial
Mining Bureau by Zhao Hengti in November 1923. Bin became more opposed to union strike
action over time, and it was he who quickly closed down the Shuikoushan Trade Union.

China Labor Union
Organized by the hoodlum Chen Jia'nai
with its general association in the
provincial capital and branches in every
xian.
Changsha
barbers; once
Freedom of
assembly and
association,
higher wages,
and equal
share of
proceeds with
employers
20 days
Largely
victorious
Worker Comrades' Association
Set up by some workers of Bin
Bucheng's faction in the Currency Mint in
opposition to the Currency Workers Club.
Changsha
scribes; once
Higher wages
35 days
Partial victory
Of the five workers' groups listed above except for the Worker Comrades'
Association, which has over 400 members, and the Mechanics' Association, with
a membership of 200 to 300 the Labor Association, the Industrial General
Union, and the China Labor Union have no workers. Before it was closed down,
the old Labor Association had 2,000 to 3,000 members organized in the old style
and included all different trades, but as soon as it was closed down its members
dispersed.

Thus there were a total of ten strikes. Nine were victorious or semivictorious,
and one failed. The total number of persons participating in the strikes amounted
to 22,250. The strike objectives had mostly to do with wages, but a few of them
involved a struggle for the freedom [to organize]. All of the strikes took place
between August and December of last year.
3. Strike Figures
Strikers and
Number of
Strikes
Anyuan Mine
and Zhuzhou-Pingxiang
Railroad; once
Guangzhou-Hankou
Railroad; twice
Number of
Strikers
11,000
Strike
Demands
Right to
organize and
higher wages
First
time, higher
wages and
driving out
Zhang and
Miao. Second
time, in
support of
Beijing-Hankou
Railroad
Number of
Days
5 days
First time, 19
days. Second
time, 1 day.
Victory or
Defeat
Total victory
First
time, largely
victorious.
Second
time, defeat.
Changsha
masons and
4,000
Higher wages 24 days
Total victory
carpenters;
once
Shuikoushan;
3,000
Higher wages 23 days
Total victory
once
Changsha
Higher wages 10 days
A small victory
garment
workers; once
Changsha silk
factory; once
1,500
Higher wages 20 days
Partial victory
--- Notes

1. Zhang Zuolin (1873-1928), *zi* Yuting, was born in Fengtian (now Liaoning). He
began his military career as a local army leader in Fengtian and commander in charge of
the Mukden (Shenyang) garrison under Yuan Shikai. He consolidated his personal control
of South Manchuria after Yuan Shikai's death in 1917, becoming military and civil leader of
the area. He ruled Manchuria as a virtually autonomous state from 1919 until his assassination
in 1928.


2. Regarding Tan Yankai, see the note to Mao Zedong's "Letter Refuting Unjust
Accusations" of December 3, 1920. On Zhao Hengti, see the note to the record of Mao's
negotiations with him on December 14, 1922. Lin Zhiyu, a politician, became civil governor (*shengzhang*) when Zhao Hengti first wrested control of Hunan from Tan Yankai in
November 1921. In September 1922, Zhao assumed this title as well, but the Lin faction
retained some influence in the Provincial Assembly.

3. Tan Yankai had, in fact, met with Sun Yatsen in August 1922 in Shanghai and
given Sun a substantial sum of money to help him rebuild his forces. In return, he received
Sun Yatsen's support in his confrontation with Zhao Hengti, who was backed by Wu
Peifu.

4. The Political Studies clique was formed in 1916 by members from both the Progressive Party and the Guomindang. It was a highly conservative clique, and its members were
known for their opportunism.