CO129-556-16 Anti-piracy measures 17-1-1935 - 27-7-1935 — Page 16

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The sort of grilling that has hitherto been put on some

of these coastal vessels like the "Tungchow" is utterly

useless. Mesure. Butterfield and wire have some

specially constructed pirate-proof vecsels on the southern

run and none of these have so far been attacked, but I

imagine that the company would oppose the certificate

idea in so far as it would hamper the earning power of

their remaining ships, which they can hardly be asked

to scrap at once in the present conditions of the

shipping trade. However I recommend that the companies

themselves should be consulted on this point.

'. The question of the efficiency of the guards

would be a more difficult one for the officer issuing

the certificate to decide. The human factor is involved,

and efficienc could only be ensured by frequent

inspection of the men and their arms and enquiry into

such matters as their discipline and local arrangements.

That would be quite beyond the scope of this Coneulate-

General and I think that even the local naval authorities

would hardly welcome such an addition to their ordinary

responsibilities.

7. The Commander-in-Chief in his report on the

"Tungchos" case recomended that British or Japanese

guarda should be employed as more efficient than Russians.

I offer the suggestion, however, that for such a purpose

it is not so much the nationality of the men that mattere

as that they should be trained fighting men belonging to

some disciplined corps with a tradition to live up to

and a reputation to preserve. British subjects of this

description could only be supplied in China by the

regular