CO129-488 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1925 [1-7] — Page 88

!

رام

losure 6.

How

127207/2

nclosure 7.

5.

£1

I am completely in agreement with the

remarks of the Commander-in-Chief in paragraphs 4 and 10

of his letter as to the necessity for the guards being

under the orders of the Master, and the position in this

respect is clearly defined in regulations Nos.4 and 36 of the Piracy Regulations, a copy of which I attach. The real grievance however is against regulation No.37, under

which the guards are trained, appointed, removed, and paid

by the Captain Superintendent of Police. The reason for insisting upon this regulation is twofold. In the first place the guards are a semi-military force, and it is

important that they should be trained as a unit under a

semi-military head; and secondly the Masters of river

steamers are in many cases not competent to maintain

guards in a reasonable state of discipline.

I may refer

you as regards this to the Naval Intelligence Officer's

statement at the "Tai Lee" Enquiry, which formed the third

enclosure in my despatch No.203 of the 5th May, 1924, a

copy of which I attach for convenience of reference.

the statement is substantially correct is vouched for by

the fact that it evoked no protest.

6.

That

I do not propose at the present time to

trouble you with a discussion of the details of the

Minority Report. I think that it may be possible to come

to some satisfactory compromise as to the details of any

regulations that may be necessary in the future, but at

present the point of importance is the general question of

the manner in which the public who travel by these ships,

and whose interests appear to me not to have received much consideration from the signatories of the Minority Report, are to be protected from the dangers of piracy, in short whether protection should be afforded solely by means of patrol vessels, as the Minority Report contends or by a combination of patrols and of protective measures on board.

88