Inner Mongolia may now be regarded as virtually a large ex tension of China to the north-west. It is of great importance both as an outlet for colonization and a new field for agricultural and pastoral development. The influx of Chinese has naturally been greatest in those districts offering the best prospects for tillage. These include (a) the valleys and terraces lying within the inner belt of scarps in Jehol and Chahar, especially along the route of the Peking-Kalgan-Suiyiian Railway, (b) the intermediate belt between these and the outer scarps which form the plateau edge and (c) the alluvial lands round the northern bow of the Hwang Ho which embraces in the north of Ordos a valuable agri cultural plain known as the Ho Tou. In these districts the popula tion is now overwhelmingly Chinese and nomadism has practically disappeared. The agricultural "front" is approximately represented by the plateau edge extending from the In-shan chains towards the great Khingan, beyond which line the scanty grasslands, merging into desert on the northern frontier, still support scattered groups of pastoral Mongols. The central portion of the Ordos plateau, enclosed within the great bend of the Yellow River, represents an "inlier" of this poor steppeland type and is also a pastoral area inhabited by Mongol nomads or semi-nomads, but is now encircled by agricultural lands which are still expand ing. Recent estimates place the total population of Inner Mon golia at about one and a half millions, of whom the great majority are Chinese. There is but little intermixture, for where the Chinese farmer arrives with his spade the Mongol withdraws with his herd. Only in very exceptional cases does the Mongol adopt agriculture. Two entirely different economic systems are in conflict and the herder, no longer supported by military force, must give way to the peasant. But much of Inner Mongolia is better adapted for animal rearing than for any other economic use and the Mongols, with improved methods, may yet find their place in the new regime. From time immemorial China has been a great market for Mongolian ponies, and the demand has in recent years been raised by military needs and the increase of horse-racing in the big cities, which has led some of the Mongol herd-owners to take an interest in systematic breeding. With the support of the chiefs an important experiment in dairy-farm ing on modern lines but adapted to Mongol methods has been made in Chahar with very considerable success, and Kalgan, Peking and Tientsin are increasingly important as markets for pastoral products of all kinds. The agriculture carried on by the new Chinese colonists (who are so far mainly Mohammedans), or by the large class of seasonal workers from Shansi, is naturally of the type characteristic of North China—oats, wheat, buckwheat, millet, rapeseed, kaoliang, sesamum and beans being the principal crops. The low rainfall makes tillage without irrigation some what precarious, but in some districts irrigation is possible on quite a large scale, notably in the Wuyilan district of Suiyiian. Here around the north-western angle of the great Yellow River bend, an extensive system of irrigation canals between the present course and a deserted channel to the north has converted over 150,000 acres of arid land into productive fields. Elsewhere irri gation must mainly depend on wells and storage of water in the mountains. In the non-irrigated lands, dependent upon rainfall, mixed farming, combining stock-raising with the cultivation of the soil, is being strongly urged upon the Chinese settlers, whose natural inclination is to rely exclusively on their crops. It is noteworthy that afforestation is being actively promoted by the authorities in Chahar and Suiyiian. In the aggregate there is a considerable number of small-scale industries, mainly based upon pastoral products. They include the manufacture of rough woollen cloths and rugs, the preparation of felt, furs and leather, soap factories in which the acrid Mongolian "butter" is used, and paper-making from hemp ropes. Kalgan is the chief emporium of the skin and fur trade and the main collecting and distributing centre for Inner Mongolia. (See KALGAN.) Peking (Peiping) and Tientsin are the two chief external markets but there is a growing Japanese demand for the pastoral products of this region, more especially cattle.
Transport in In ier Mongolia is s _ill mainly dependent upon camels, horses and ox-carts, using the ancient caravan tracks, but motor and rail traffic is steadily increasing. A feature of recent years has been the construction of motor roads by soldier colonists on the model adopted in Shansi, whose governor (Yen Hsi-Shan) is in charge of Inner Mongolia. Motor services now operate be tween Kalgan and Urga (Outer Mongolia), Kalgan-Dolonor (2oo miles), Kalgan-Pingtichuan (17o miles), Pingtichuan-Pang kiang (25o miles), Paotowchen-Ninghsia in Kansu (400 miles) and another is planned from Kalgan to Jehol. The construction of the Peking-Kalgan-Suiyiian Railway has already been of great value in the development of Inner Mongolia and is noteworthy as having been entirely constructed and maintained by Chinese capital and engineers. It follows the ancient caravan route up the historic Nankow pass and taps not only some of the richest agricultural and pastoral lands but also a mineral district of considerable value. In recent years it has been pushed slowly westwards as far as Paotowchen, the present terminus, on the northern bend of the Hwang Ho. Another important railway is now projected to link Peking with Jehol, the most easterly of the Inner Mongolian "provinces." It is to be in three sections: Peking-Jehol (13o miles), Jehol-Chihfeng (i4o) and Chihfeng Tungliao (33o), there to connect with the new Chinese railway system in western Manchuria. It should be noticed that the development of Inner Mongolia must inevitably increase the importance of Peking, its natural point of intersection with north China.
Outer Mongolia or the Mongol People's Republic.—The proclamation of the independence of Outer Mongolia and the expulsion of Chinese officials by the Mongol princes assembled at Urga after the fall of the Manchu Dynasty in 191i have been already noticed. Since then the country has passed through many political vicissitudes and has been the scene of more than one revolution. Its present status, so far as it can be clearly defined, was determined by the events of 1924. In that year the death occurred of the last Khutukhtu or "Living Buddha," the theocratic ruler of the country, who claimed to be the incarnation of a disciple of Buddha. It was almost immediately followed by a revolution fostered by agents of the Soviet Russian power, which was then actively pursuing the policy of recovering control of the central and eastern Asiatic lands formerly belonging to or within the sphere of influence of the Tsarist Empire, but which as a result of the Russian Revolution had been lost for the time being. The Mongol Revolution of 1924 established the Mongol People's Republic and in November of that year a constitution was promulgated in the name of the First Great Huruldan (People's Assembly), the object of which was "to inaugurate in the country a republican regime, without a Presi dent at the head of the State, all supreme power to be vested in the Great Assembly of the People and in the Government elected by the latter." The following were declared to be some of the chief objectives of the new regime: I. "The abolition of the remains of the feudal theocratic regime and the strengthening of the foundations of the new republican order on the basis of a complete democratization of the administration of the State." 2. "All the lands and mineral wealth, forests and waters and their resources . . . (to be) the property of all the people." 3. "The unified economic policy of the country . . . to be con centrated in the hand of the Government and a State monopoly of foreign trade to be introduced." 4. "The labouring people . . . to be armed by means of the creation of the Mongol People's Revolutionary Army and through the military training of all labouring youth." 5. The separation of Church and State and the establishment of the principle that "religion is the private concern of every citizen." It was decreed that the Great Huruldan or People's Assembly should be composed of the representatives of the "aimaks" (i.e., the old tribal units) and towns, as well as of the units of the army; and that there should be local huruldans corresponding to the "aimaks," "hoshuns," and other territorial divisions, thus preserving certain features of the old social organization for purposes of local government.