Another change exists in the attitude of the Nantao Police Bureau.
Instead of sending a truck over to the Settlement every day to collect the looters and their loot from the River Police, they have let it be known that they cannot be bothered any longer. The advice -received from them by the River Police is to confiscate the stolen goods and to have the looters ejected from the Settlement. good deal of cunning has been shown by the looters. Recently the River Police received a tip that a large gang of them were to cross the river at a certain time. The Police met the vessel described as carrying looters but all they found on her.was a body of coolies. They found, however, that the looters had put their loot on one launch and had themselves boarded another hunch, thereby giving the police no chance to catch them red-handed. This gang of twenty or more were able to get away freely.
When looters are caught with the goods they generally assert that they have merely picked up abandoned property.
There is no longer any semblance ct law and order at Pootung, The River Police feel that it is beyond their range of control, while the Nantao, officials disclaim direct responsibility for dealing with lawless activity in that area,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.