Evening star., 1942-01-20
China Willingly Gives
Americans Control
OF Burma Road
Question Of Setting Up
Military Police System
Not Yet Settled
BY LELAND STOWE,

Foreign Correspondent OF The Star ana
Chicago Daily News.
RANGOON, Jan. 20-Under the
pressure of unprecedented attention
from the British and American
Governments and the pressure OF
the Pacific wars exigencies, an
other attempt is being launched to
reform the Burma road and elimi-
nate the contraband and racketeer-
ing abuses which have dominated
its three and one-half year career.
According to an announcement made
here, the first step toward military
control of the highways traffic was
worked out with approval Of the
Chinese government.
The new plan puts American Army
officers attached to Gen. John Ma
gruder's military mission to Chung
king in charge of traffic over the
entire 1,400 miles of Burma-Yun-
nan highway from Rangoon to Kun
ming. The road was divided into
segments and an American officer
appointed to supervise each section
in cooperation with Chinese off,
cials.
To this extent the Chinese au-
thorities, apparently with complete
willingness and considerable relief,
have handed over to the Americans
the responsibility for tanning the
Burma road and increasing its
monthly tonnage totals of lease
lend war materials actually deliv-
cred to China.
Cooperative Spirit Shown.
A handful of American officers
without even one company of troops
obviously cannot police the road.
1t is also not yet known whether
the American officers will be sup
piled with adequate personnel to
inspect thoroughly all lorries to pre-
vent the transportation of CONNER
cial goods under guise of war ma
/ terials" or to maintain the neces-
sary number of checks and rechecks
from one end of the road to the
other.
In any case the Chinese have now
granted American Army officers su-
pervision of the Burma road, with
policing machinery and similar es-
sentials still indefinite or not worked
out, but with the Chinese authori-
ties unquestionably showing an ex-
tremely cooperative spirit. If the
new program succeeds, of course,
the Chinese forces will receive much
more lease-lend war materials than
was ever possible in the past.
1t is clear, however, that the
Chungking government is at last
acting on the assumption that some
thing drastic must be done to jolt
the Burma road out of its doldrumS.
Under the Sino-American agree
ment the new road supervision plan
is being worked out in cooperation
with Gen. Yu Pie-peng, who was
named administrator OF the Burma
Yunnan highway by Generalissimo
Chang Kai-shek last August.
1t. Col. Adrian st. John, who was
recently sent to Rangoon as Gen.
Magruder's representative, has been
appointed by Gen. Magruder to SUI
pervise the road traffic from Ran
COON to a point about 300 miles
inside China. st. John stated to-
day that the road is already mill
tarized" from Burma port as far as
Paoshan in Yunnan Province. He
did not state, however, how or when
the road would be subjected to mill
tary police or explain how much
militarization would be possible
without such police.
New Depots to Be Created.
The American officers plan to
create new depots or relay points
for lorries along the highway. This
weed end Gen. Yu is scheduled to
60 to Lashio to confer with the
officer of the Magruder mission
there regarding the early elimina-
ton of the long, troublesome bot
tlenecks, which was recommended
by the committee of American
transportation experts in their re-
port last August.
Due to the labor shortage in Bur-
ma, the Chinese are sending 1000
laborers to speed the loading and
dispatching Of lease-lend materials
to China. The Chinese workmen
will be directed by Chinese Army
officers. Two hundred mechanics
from the Chinese Military Labor
Corps also are en- route to Burma
to increase the assembling of Ameri-
! can trucks here. Scores more Amer