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to carry out the Regulations. Officers who are not prepared to use arms or who are not familiar with their use are unfit for marine service in the East. Opportunities might be given to officers to train themselves in port in the use of a revolver under a Police Officer.
(q.)-Definition of "Danger Zone”.
The definition of a Danger Zone should be amended to operate immediately the ship leaves her wharf or mooring in Hongkong or is travelling within 120 miles of the Colony.
(r.)--Runners.
Regulations Nos. 46, 47 and 48 dealing with runners of Chinese hotels have not been enforced. Regular runners are already well known, and registration is of no value. We recommend that these regulations be abandoned.
(s.)—Search on the ships during the voyage.
We recommend an occasional inspection of river steamers in the Colonial waters when under weigh by a European Police Officer with the object of ensuring the perform- ance of the Regulations and also for the purpose of tracing arms and bad characters.
(t.)—Wireless.
We do not advise that any form of wireless apparatus should be made obligatory by the Piracy Regulations upon either ocean steamers or river steamers (Commander Beckwith dissenting as regards ocean steamers). The cost of the installation of com- plete transmitting and receiving apparatus together with the salary of the operator would be prohibitive in the case of river steamers. An automatic transmitting apparatus, designed on being set in motion to continue sending out a given signal of distress is not yet, so far as we have been able to ascertain, on the market, although no difficulty need be anticipated in inventing such an instrument. If and when such an instrument may be available, its installation upon local ships should be of great advantage as a deterrent to piracy. To render the system effective, it would be necessary with the co-operation of the authorities in Macao and in Kwang Tung to make use of constant patrols consist- ing of vessels of types possessed at the present time primarily by the Naval Authorities. Without this patrol in readiness the wireless installation on ships would be a waste of
money.
(u.)-Co-operation with the authorities in Macao and in Kwang Tung.
We recognise that the arrangements made on board the ships themselves form part only of what it is necessary to do in order to cope with piracy. Measures to be taken external to the ship are equally essential to the solution of the problem. We believe that it would have a most salutary effect if a plan of patrols, whether Naval or Colonial, could be established and worked in conjunction with Portuguese and Chinese patrols. If possible these patrols should be in wireless communication. They should have a subs- tantially higher speed than the river steamers and should work to a prearranged plan. We recommend also that both in Macao and in Chinese ports the local authorities be requested to conduct a search of passengers both leaving and arriving, and of their baggage at least as stringent as the search conducted in this Colony by the Hongkong Police. It seems probable that the arms used by the pirates on the S.S. Sui An were carried on board by passengers who embarked in Macao.
(v.)—Search by the Hongkong Police Force.
We
One of the measures on which most reliance has been placed is the search conducted of passengers and baggage on the wharves in Hongkong by the Hongkong Police before the departure of each ship. We think that the comparative absence of piracies on ships leaving Hongkong is to be attributed chiefly to the efficiency of this search and to its moral effect. In our opinion it is urgent that the Police searching parties should be strengthened. The standard searching party should consist of eight Chinese Police and one female searcher. The present European supervision seems to us to be sufficient. consider that the search parties on the wharves should be supported by the co-operation of a police pinnace in order to see that only junks and sampans having legitimate business approach the steamers at any time. With reference to Ocean steamers under the Piracy Regulations leaving from their buoys in the Harbour we recommend that one Chinese detective should be placed on board for at least eight hours prior to the ship's departure.
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