BANDITRY IN THE EAST.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 280, 26 October 1932, Page 6

BANDITRY IN THE EAST.

The menace to Europeans in Manchukuo from Chinese bandits has been amply demonstrated by the harrowing story told by Mrs Pawley, who with Mr Corkran was captured bj r some of these villainous roving people while exercising horses on the racecourse at Newchang, a treaty port of Fengtien province in the south of the State. It was the claim of the Japanese that strong action was required in Manchuria, as it then was, to rid the country of its banditry, and to permit trade and intercourse between the various towns to flow unimpeded. The Japanese interests along the South Manchurian Railway had been jeopardised by Chinese owing no allegiance to the law, and Japan took measures to protect her people. The Chinese have proved themselves singularly inefficient in protecting the nationals of foreign countries from the desperadoes within their territory, and stories of brutal treatment often ending in death are quite frequent. It would appear that the victims of the Newchang outrage were only released after a very heavy ransom was paid, and if this be correct the lives of foreigners in Manchukuo will be still greatly endangered, for the bandits once successful will not cease their wicked activities. The murder of Mrs TVoodroff, the wife of a British official at Harbin, on October 12, was a shocking occurrence. The unfortunate mother was taking her children to school, and in defending them from raiding bandits was fatally shot. Luckily, the children were not captured. The incident took place in daylight and greatly distressed the foreign community. It is obvious that the officials of Manchukuo, and the Japanese who are vitally interested at present, cannot as yet control the bandits who strike suddenly and swiftly when possibly least expected. The recent incidents in the north, and the death of missionaries at the hands of bandits in China itself, reveal the unsettled and chaotic state of the vast Empire of the East.