Piracy in the Delta Repeated allacks by Chinese pirates foreign vessels trading in the angler. Della sgeest some form of action against this Iswfosseness otherwise this trade, so. Important Shanghai expecially In regard to foodstulls, wil ise placed in Seopardy. Hierdly a week passes without one' or mare ships bringing 10 Shongfat reports of attacks' within a" few. miles NWeosung. and the number of casualties Is me creasing." The area navigated Sy foreign ships {s"very' small, extending no. farther than the Kiangyin' boom, but the pirate menace" hes Teached formidable proportions "necessitating the use of nrmedguarés end' the employment Jot two. British gunboats on patrol duty. The pirate dunks are not the ancient crat, manning Imuzzleloading guns and fitlocks of the previo generation which terrorized the Yangtze Belta''but ore fast. ships" carrying. modern machine guns and rifles and' using. them. Fesisting. ships. "All reports indicate. that' they Ihave their base somewhere near Lube, on the routh bank of the river, in Japanese-controlled feritory which was one of the original landing points and bases for the Japanese army In the arly" stages of the hostilities Aw these. junks Jaffer little, in general detail, from those acting, Jos feeder vessels for this scattered and misce Haneous Delta trade, it is dificult to detect them until the attack Is opened, and only the guards land the higher speed of the attacked ships ct fables escape, although this does not happen in every case. With the collapse of Chinese authorty in the Delta and only casual interest maritime protection by the Japanese, whose in~ terests are concentrated ona larger and more Important purpose hundreds of miles farther upriver, it is difficult to allocate the onus of responsibility for this alarming state of affairs. Playing a historical part—for it is only 80 years Jago that the British Navy represented by HAMIS. Bittern ce-operated with the Chinese authorities suppressing piracy between Shanghai and INingpo—two British gunboats are alternately stationed in the Delta on a patrol of about 100 miles, acting as guard ships or convoys for British ships, although assistance is rendered to) vessels of any nationality in case of attack calls for assistance. The situation, however, is somewhat analogous to Bias Bay before the pirate menace was uprooted. Junks put off from ithe land where they have their bases and return with their loot. Nothing short of a large fleet Jot gunboats could cope with them for it is impossible to tell at a mere glance which are pirate junks and which are peaceful mercantile vessels, and asthe pirates never attack when tire ix a gunboat in the vicinity it is a matter Jot waiting and a degree of luck as far as the goes. Furthermore, jclion ashore. What Jeould be done—and it does not seem to present fany difficulties if there is any. real desire to assist—would be to collate information regarding {he land bases and for the Japanese to assert their authority by demolishing them. The pirates [could not act without their shore bases and the ineffectual jurisdiction around Liuho provides the very immunity which they need and exploit. The entire problem of the Yantze is hedged by political limitations, but it is hoped that the primary responsibility for protection against pirates is not influenced by such considerations.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.