Mar. 13.
Tan voluminous coresponence which is published in a other part of this iso and which, we understand, is being widely published inthe Par Rast, should serve to bring to a head' the whole question of piracy prevention on the China Coasi., in which the present state of affairs is no more hopeful, it us much so, and in which the} prospects of a peaceful, satisfactory and lasting settlement are les apparent, than bwo-anda-half yours ago, when the reerudesconce of birney in. Chi waters first forcibly became} evident. The two Guilds con-corned may be taken as representing the great majority of ships' officers on the China Const, and as these officers, followers of "profession which normally is arduous and responsible, constitute one of the most important links in the chain of intercourse in' and from the For Kast, their opinions and their suggestions, their requests. and their demands, should be accorded that careful consideration their importance warrants.
A careful study of all the facts} made public gives one. 10 the conclusion that the piracy evil has now become. so acute sua so] important, and. has obtained 59 firm a standing among the pre-lay disabilities of Coast conditions generally, that origin (which indubitably is to be found in the present chaotic} state of—China—militarily, politically ana economically) would be as useless us any efforts to strike at the root of the evil with immediate prospects _of amelioration. would be futile. Piracy on the China Coast is not 2 transitory phenomenon; it is cold, hard fact, a fact that has to be faced from' all its prospects) tind viewed from' all its angles, fearlessly and with an open and fan unbiassed mind. Pirtey was lost seriously considered as a recognized profession on the China Coast in the late sixties 5 and the average pirate gang of those times has been described "an ugly crowd, with] pistols drawn and knives!
4 Lowdown swab. bery of cut-throat thieves, the wharf-rats. of the Canton ver and the fever-haunted creeks of the Fukien seaboard."
Te is unlikely that their. ssu heir descendants, may-he—are imbued with any more virtues, blessed with any more} chivalry, or endowed with any more honour than were thei predecessors, who were woefully deficient in these three cardinal qualities, There is nothing of glamour about the Chinese Pirate; none of that romance associated with the imaginary} blue seas and painted sails of the Spanish Main; none of the magnetism of Morgan or Gunn none of the enchantment that! seems to surround, on vas, Brangwyn's handsome buceaneers'of the seventeenth century. We have not to deal with sugh they, bub with " 43 be" more nearly " beast. And] that is the pirate of the China Coast in this the twentieth century.
'The Officers' position, their contentions, their demands, are ably set out in the letter of to the Colonial Secretary of Hongkong. Briefly Whey wint no more police int of the apparent justification, results in ual control—cantrot by—the police at Hongkong and control) by the master on the vessel, with the Naval authorities nation refraining from interfering where most"" policy appears the police are vested with, and assume, responsibility.
They want ne armed guards or orme sailors nor polic are not! are ati combat, are} gener and constitute @ hindrance rather than a to the master of th ome justification lect alone calls for carly and thorough investigation Phe rine on ft sh the officers con ree of great n to the pirates, why possossich of then ix one of the! first objectives of an atta 'Phe Officers want a comprehen. sive system of Naval patrols and conv 'The Honskong Government already' something on those lines: it appears foe ona small scale ama subject to the approval of the Adinival i Conunanding the China Squadron, The installation of wire ese telggraphie apparatus is cor-sidered "a sine qua non to all vessels subject to attack, a view! with which every reasonable person snust bein full eoneurrenee. This hell by, the Grilds
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.