Aug. 5.
Recent assassinations, including that of Mr.
Metzler on Friday, add very considerable point (o the resolution passed by the Consular Body at Friday's meeting, which considered fan appeal from the Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council for assistance to cheek the present wave of-terrorism which is sweeping over Shanghai. 'It is by no means clear that the Consular Body could do any more than' pass a resolution utterly condemning acts of terrorism, and urging "the Shanghai Municipal Cotmeil to take full consideration of the situation in the Shanghai area, and 10 do its utmost to maintain peace, and' order in International Settlement by eradicating, and suppressing all forms of terrorism." "That this resolution is addressed solely to the Municipal Council does not in any way diminish the significance of the fact that the maintenance of peace and order in the Settlement, as well as without, is a responsibility which devolves just as' much on the authorities in de facto control of the surrounding areas as it does upon the Council. 'What is necessary, therefore, is that all round ce-operation should be aimed against terrorism of all forms, no matter by what party or authority it' may be inspired. It unfortunate that despite the agreement which has been reached upon the creation of a special police force to deal with the areas abutting on the outside roads, that. body has not yet been brought into being, and so long as the "badlands" are allowed 10 remain the veritable Alsatia of most of the rogues and thugs of the Shanghai area the prospects of being able to maintain peace and order can never be very great. The Municipality of Greater Shanghai owes it to itself, and its claim to be a responsible fully fune= tioning organization to see that an end is put! to the disorder which reigns in this particular section of the territory over which it claims Jurisdiction. The closest effective ce-opera~ tion with the authorities of the foreign areas would do nothing but add to its credit as 0 municipal organization. Tt cannot be too strongly emphasized that there is in this matter no question of the responsibility for suppressing terrorism being solely that of the authorities of the French Concession and the International Settlement; it rests just fairly and squarely upon those administering the adjacent districts.
What steps the Municipal Council can take in this matter remain to be seen. It is, however, apparent that nothing short of the precautions taken in 1938, when the first wave Of {errorism commenced, are now called for, and if the Council decides o revert to those methods there will be few to criticize it. One: of the features of most of the assassinations} which have taken place is the facility with which the murderers have been able to get! Away from: the scenes of their crimes and take refuge in a different jurisdiction into} which it would be impossible to follow them, even if immediate and close pursuit could effected. The increased freedom of movement which. has resulted from the demolition of barbed-wire fences and other obstructions gives the criminal every advantage, and it is suggested that one of the first steps in dealing with the present menace would be! the re-institution of the whole system of barbed-wire controls over all roads leading, into or out of the two foreign areas. By this means all vehicular trame can be, obliged to follow well defined and controlled channels, reducing the number of police necessary to control traffic and liberating them for the more important task of crushing the activities of the terrorists, It may be argued with some justice that these methods did not wholly prevent assassinations during the time they were in operation, but it is nevertheless a fact that it was not until the removal of the obstacles to free movement} that terrorism commenced t> assume the pro-
Portions it is now reaching. Serious as the]
situation now is there is every prospect of becoming very much worse unless the firmest possible measures are devised to deal with it. Obviously there can be no excuse! for half-measures, for the authority of the administrations of both foreign areas is being' flouted in a manner which calls for the strongest action, and public opinion will not be satisfied until it is convinced thi all precautions against a spread of this evi have been taken and that the opportunities! of these criminals being able to continue: their fell work, and get away with it have been reduced {0 a minimum.
Whether the respective police forces are sufficiently strong in numbers to be able to) cope with the situation is a matter of opinion, If it can be shown that there is a real need! for enlarging the force, then, at any rate for. the time being, the question of further: economy must be relegated to the background, With the possibility of a large number of individuals being actually more or less under a sentence of death at the hands. of paid thugs, with the added danger that' ordinary law abiding people, having nothing, to do with the political issues which are involved, running the risk of being accidentally shot down, with the generally increasing risk. which the users of Shanghai streets run daily would be the height of foolishness not to whatever money is necessary to crush this evil thing. Economy which is effected at the expense of Law and order is no economy at all, and the sooner that is recognized the better. It is contended, therefore, that if there is a real need for enlarging the various police forces that fact should be: faced and adequately dealt with. That is! obviously a matter which needs investigation, but the authorities would undoubtedly. have public opinion behind them if they found that such reinforcement were necessary, and took steps to bring it about. Those are obviously matters which closely concern the French Concession and the International Settlement, and it is for their administra~ tions to decide what shall be done. But. there can be no mistake about it, the general issue involves far-reaching and important! principles which concern all authorities having jurisdiction in and around Shanghai, and without the completest ce-operation of all it cannot be hoped for one moment to. put a stop to the present wretched state of affairs. The first step in the right direction would be to cleanse the "badlands" of the: scum which make that area their refuge, and base of operations. The second is, quite obviously, {o make such dispositions as will most hamper the freedom of their movements, while the third, and this is the most dificult of all, is to make sure that assassins when caught shall be made to pay the penalty of their crimes, and that is, in present cireumstances, by no means easy.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.