Sun Yat-sen required three stages of the revolution: conquest, tutelage, constitution. China is not ready for mass suffrage. The majority of the people are not yet literate. Public opinion is just developing. The nation is, in fact, still in the period of military recapture of national territories. _Reply_: Sun Yat-sen must not be interpreted mechanically. If this is done, tutelage will never end, and Sun's cherished democracy will remain forever in the future. Furthermore, the guerrillas, the Border Region, and other instances have shown that the Chinese masses can and will practice democracy right now. Again, the issue has already been decided; the government has been committed to the immediate inauguration of the Constitution. First it was to be 1939; the elections were held in part, until the war finally stopped them on August 13, 1937. It is too late to raise the issue: is China ready? Everyone--government, Kuomintang, independent groups--has decided that China is. Why change constitutions? The present one is satisfactory. If a war-time amplification of the _Yüeh Fa_ is needed, it can be found in the _Program of Resistance and Reconstruction_.[17] If a convocation of the talents is needed, the People's Political Council is already there. What is the use of a constitutional change in war time? _Reply_: the constitutionalist movement is no new development. The _Program_ was a democratic advance. "Besides, formation of the People's Political Council was a step toward democracy. The constitutional movement was not forced on the government, but was an outgrowth of the war; it has not appeared overnight, but has a clear historical background. As soon as the Sino-Japanese hostilities broke out, it was evident that more democratic rule was necessary. As the war became prolonged, the preliminary steps proved inadequate. A more perfect constitution, whereby the whole people can be mobilized, is imminent. This fact was duly recognized by the people and is the motive power of the present constitutional movement." (This is the comment of an independent writer.)[18] [Footnote 17: See Appendix I (D), p. 309.] [Footnote 18: Liu Shih, "Chung-kuo Hsien-chêng Yün-tung-ti Chi-ko Chieh-tuan" (Stages of the Chinese Constitutional Movement) in _Li-lun yü Hsien-shih_ (Theory and Reality), Vol. 1, No. 3, November 15, 1939, p. 13 _ff._] A pointed question is raised and answered by Tso Tao-fen, one of the Seven Gentlemen (_Ch'i Chüntzu_) who led the National Salvationists: