南京国民政府建立后苏州商团的改组与消亡

The Reorganization and Dissolution of the Suzhou Merchant Militia after the Establishment of the Nationalist Government

商团的改组与商会相比较有着不同的历史命运。1927年底江苏省政府即提出将商团改编为保卫团,苏州商团一直进行抵制,并请求国民政府颁布新的商团条例。但1929年初行政院和立法院均认为商团无继续存在之必要,国民党江苏省党部更是主张将商团一律解散。在寻求法律途径争取合法地位无成效的情况下,江苏各地商团大多采取了拖延改组或是置之不理的策略。直至1935年10月,江苏省政府又严令所有商团一律改编为受县长及乡镇保甲长节制的地方武装。虽有遵令进行改编者,但苏州商团仍拒绝改编,宣布自行解散。遵令改编后的商团已完全失去作为商办独立武装团体的性质,因而苏州商团的决定不失为现实而明智的抉择。

Merchant militias were reorganized in quite different ways from trade associations after the establishment of the Nationalist Government. In late 1927, the Jiangsu provincial government proposed that all merchant militias be reorganized as defensive militia. This move was rejected by the Suzhou Merchant Militia, who asked the government to issue new regulations on the subject. However, in early 1929, both the Administrative Yuan and the Legislative Yuan decided that merchant militias were unnecessary. The Nationalist Party Department of Jiangsu also proposed to dissolve all such militias. Having failed to maintain their legitimacy through legal means, most merchant militias in Jiangsu tried to postpone or simply ignore the forced reorganization. In October 1935, the provincial government of Jiangsu issued another strict order reorganizing all merchant militias into local militia under the control of the county magistrate and heads of bao and jia (neighborhood organizations) in towns and townships. Some followed orders and carried out the reorganization, but the Suzhou Merchant Militia continued to refuse to do so and announced its voluntary dissolution. As those merchant militias that followed orders to reorganize lost their character as independent merchant-run armed bodies, the choice of the Suzhou Merchant Militia appears practical and wise.