Must be Checked Unanimous condemnation of the Tungchow piracy, with several suge gestions for remedying the situation, 4 the feature of comment upon the outrage in the foreign press of Shangnal to-day. Appeals are made to the Government to take action to stamp out this menace to coastal shipping. Extracts from the editorials appear below=—
"Shanghai Evening Post and Mercury"
Piracy on the China coast is like malignant disease, which courses through the veins of shipping and extraordinarily hard to snrust out. But this latest case is 90 shocking in its implications that it may well prove the signal for the start of a curative drive by all the shipping companies, which will once ana for all sound the doom of pirates from Bias Bay or anywhere else.
"Lo Journal de Shanghai"
Piracy in our era isan anachronism,... China has become ite last refuge and what makes that me more astonishing is tnat, on the rivers and along the coasts of tha country, there area considerable umber' of warships of all nationalies who could put an end rapidly to maritime banditry if were decided to take measures which commonsense indicates and international law Justiles, One of the chief causes of Chinese piracy is the negugence of the authorities if it is not their impotence. Certain bays in ixuangtung have become inviolable refuges for the bandits. These airs are known, It should not be dificult to purge them If the effort were pro perly made. But nothing serious has been done,....1¢ the Kuangtung authorities agreed to ce-operate with the Chinese and foreign gunboats 10 clean out Bias Bay and osher creeks which are 0 freely used by the orgies, the latter would be soon Alen poi@d. Moreover it must not be ne. Witkithat for the authorities of Knowebordered territory the policing, war the coasts is not merely their Tandty itis their imperative duty. If they persist in divesting themselves of that duty others should act in their place, "The Slovo"
The growth of banditry and piracy China cannot be effectively checked by separate retaliation when the gangsters attack. It can be done only by adopting a general plan of combating the bandis. For th's Purpose many former Russian soldi Jers would prove extremely useful. At the same time the sacrifices made by Russian emigres in performing their duty of maintaining law and. order should impress the authorities with the need for reconsidering their relations with Russian emigres, with the view of paying better attention and care to the interests of that community.
The "Shanghay Tim:
The boldness of the marauders is significant of the weakness of the authorities in dealing with them... The proper ce-ordination of the country's police activities is one of China's greatest needs asd demands the attention of the Government.
land areas were properly policed the day of the pirate would soon be jended......We feel however, that the Feorganizstion of the whole police Jsystem of China is what must come about before criminal activities a1 fundamentally curbed. That reorg ganization is not going to be an easy tosk and in Provinces here civil aigorder still reigns it may not be possible to make immediate changes Jot importance. But the foundations fof a better system should be laid and tutional police ce-ordination work jsarted in Nanking where the Depart ment of Police Administration might perhaps be profitably separated from the Ministry of the Interior and constituted a separate Ministry.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.