Evening star., 1941-12-30


road and bludgeoned the drivers
brains out with repeated blows.
Other soldiers knitted the drivers
companion to death. The gang then
overturned the lorry, re-entered the
armored car and drove off. Three
Americans on the Navy truck were
powerless to intervene against II
armed soldiers.
Two weeks before this happened,
William Dunn of the Columbia
Broadcasting System was travel
ing down the road A group of
Chinese Army hitchhikers assault
ed his chauffeur because he had
refused earlier to give them a lift.
They beat the driver with spades
and sticks, and one finally knocked
him out with a big rock. The
driver would unouestionable have
been killed if the American had
not been present. The driver said
afterward. "If I strike back they
will shoot me, and nobody will
care"
All this is merely very incom-
plete intimation of the dimensions
OF the Burma road abuses in its
seamy history. Why hasn't the
story been told long ago? Chiefly
because the gallant Chinese peo-
pie were resisting with their backs
to the wall. Correspondents who
might have reported the truth
about the Burma road were fear
ful of aiding the Japanese aggres-
sors. Nevertheless, believe that it
was a great mistake that the whole
sordid story was not published at
least a year ago, when a half
hearted and completely ineffec-
tual move was begun to increase
traffic over the road.
Materials Lie Untouched.
After travelling up the road TO
| RUNNING in October, I wrote a Sc
ries on the Burma Road but could
not give more than a few hints
about racketeering and other abuses
when writing from Chungking.
Moreover. I did not feel justified in
attempting any elaborate expose OF
conditions until I had spent con-
siderable time inside China and
conducted much thorough investi-
cation. At that time, too, still an
other changed administration had
Just taken over the roads supervi-
sion-but today it has achieved
nothing more than superficial re-
forms, such as improvement Of Ger
tain physical dispositions along the
road.
How the Burma road racket has
vitiated China's war-waging Ca
pacities could be shown through
hundreds of examples, but the fol-
lowing fact provides adequate In
timation Raw materials which for
more than a year piled up un-
touched along the lower sections OF
the road and which are badly
needed so China's arsenals can
produce more than the present frac-
ton of their productive capacity
in small arms. machine guns and
ammunition-the amount OF these
materials actually required each
month inside of China-represent
less than one-sixth of the month
" capacity of the Burma road.
In actual fact, however, the Chi
nese have moved only one-twentieth
Of the monthly quota OF these
needed raw materials over the road
for the past 10 months.
Smuggling Brings Profits.
A few thousand tons monthly OF
materials for Chinese arsenals have
been replaced by tons Of private
merchandise smuggled in and sold
for profit. In countless different
ways the same thing has been hap
pening. vet while these abuses ex-
! listed and were even tolerated by
many Chinese officials and prof1ted
from by executives and employees
of governmental agencies, the
Chungking authorities we're solicit
ing scores of millions of dollars
worth of American equipment. sup
posedly to put China in position
to fight an offensive war.
If the whole story Of the Burma
road is ever written it will make
fat volume stuffed with unsavory
facts. but as a racketeering expose
it would deserve to be a best seller.
There is space here for only few
typical illustrations.
A Chinese agency, the Southwest
Transportation Co., now controls all
trucking over the road and as such
handled lease-lend cargoes marked
China defense supplies, or CDS.
Until the Burmese government pro-
tested most emphatically, this COM
pany used to charge Is per cent on
all cargoes moved from Rangoon to
cargoes. This change came in time
to save American taxpayers paying
Southwest a cosy profit for moving
lease-lend donations to China as far
as Lashio.
But the company's executives de-
vised other means of proflteering,
one OF them being to sign up private
trucking companies as their con-
tractors. Thus, while Southwest
Transportation rates remained at
a nominal figure, huge quantities Of
cargo were handed over to private
contractor" who charged double
or triple tonnage rates on cargoes
they carried.
Scores Of Instances.
Cases verified by Burma control
officials show profits of $50 per ton
often made from a three-day haul
over one section of the road, or as
much as $1,000 on 36 tons. Those
who have been intimately ac-
quainted with the Burma road
racket ever a long period say that
a portion of these fat profits in
evitably reached the pockets of
Southwest executives who engi-
neered the deal. Instances of this
sort could be multiplied scores and
probably hundreds of times.
Burma authorities have beer
powerless to prevent the shipment
Of commercial goods into China dis
guised as war or Chinese govern
-