§ 69. Sir K. WOODasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn by the Imperial Merchant Service Guild to recent 977 piratical attacks on British ships trading in Chinese waters; whether he is aware that the lack of precautions against such attacks has aroused much adverse comment amongst British subjects engaged in trade in China; whether the circumstances of the latest case, that of the British registered vessel "Hydrangea," have been laid before him; if so, what, if any, steps are being taken in dealing with this serious menace to life and property; whether the British authorities at Hong Kong are moving in the matter; and whether the Colonial Office will ensure that such British registered vessels shall be provided with wireless apparatus which might at any time prove a valuable safeguard in cases of this kind when lives and property are in jeopardy?
Mr. THOMASThe Governor of Hong Kong drew the attention of my predecessor to the case of the "Hydrangea," on which I am asking for a detailed report with recommendations. A Commission appointed in 1922 reported that piracy can never be effectually prevented until public order is firmly established in the neighbouring Chinese territories. This Commission did not advise that wireless apparatus should be made compulsory by the Piracy Regulations, either upon river steamers or (with one dissentient) upon ocean steamers.