BRIGANDS EVERYWHERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11028, 17 March 1914, Page 1

BRIGANDS EVERYWHERE.

• A special message to a San Francisco paper the other day said:— ',i 10 I !°ce u t exploits of Whito Wolf, the robbqr.-chieftain of Hupeli province, , have drawn attention. generally to brigandage in China, jk-fc the present tmie.it .is being pursued as a profession, with more or less success, in eeveral parts of the country, ancl the old time method of stopping a robber's depredation by giving him a high governmental post has not always been successful,. ' In Mongolia a considerable band is forming under an outlawed Mongol lunce named Tao Slii-tao, apparently one of the-numerous Mongol chieftains whose extravagance has brought thorn •to 1 uin. with Chinese money lenders. Hurig-hutze—red-haired robbers-are indigenous to Mongolia, and of these jj 1 "?® Tao ™ to have collected 15,000 m Eastern Inner Mongolia to ravage- iha< Ma-nchurian and Chih-li frontiers. An army has been sent against him and more doubtless will be heard trom. In Manchuria there appears to be a chronic state of brigandage—as indeed ?. r ,? ■*'. -^ ars P a st. .But numbers ot the-;outlaws are being constantly' taken and executed. At Funing in Kiangsu province, there is a well organised baud whose purposes are not indiscriminate killing and; robbing but the systematic despoiling of-the 'wealthy. These men, however, are being relentlessly pursued by General Chang Hsun, who only a jew days ago caused the execution of luty-six of them at olio time. In the South may bo noted one Chno who tried unsuccessfully to loot Can-ton-and fled .to Fushau. Unfortunately some ; of the soldiers sent, against him threw in their lot with. liim, and Choo is at present drivin<>- a brisk business? ■ ■ ■ ■ - °

UGER HSU. Associated with White Wolf was at one time a formidable bandit chief named' Wang'Tieii-chung, but he succumbed to the proffer of' a .lucrative' government position. To-day lio is rendering valuable service to his new masters.' "' The famous " Tiger Hsu " was another well-known robber whoso flaws were cut by an attractive offer A- similar proffer was made to White olf, but it was refused. Ho is not only against "the present, but against every government that savours of reform, his ideas and actions having»their roots in'the Taiping rebellion. ', The immense distanoes, the wildness of many regions of China and the want of even passable roads make it extremely difficult to proceed successfully against these bandits; and. to some extent China has always suffered from them. But it,cannot bo questioned that two years of revolution and relaxed authority have given to them exceptional opportunities, and the terrorism they exercise ia badly holding uj) trade.