GUN-RUNNING

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 31 March 1913, Page 6

GUN-RUNNING

CLEARING THE PERSIAN GULF. That the British . have made tllieir title good in the waters of the Gulf by hard work is beyond! doubt. The Gulf is one of the hottest, as it is one of the most unhospitable places in the world and all honour is due to the successive generations of Englishmen 'vvilio toil in the inferno, have swept its waters clear of pirates, and still police it for. .all the world. ' Admiral Betli'ell, in t-lie Highflyer, with. the whole of the Persian Gulf flotilla, has been stationed at. Muscat for some months past, watching what at is hoped ai*e the last! gasps of the expiring trade of the.gunrunners. The Sultan of Muscat's bonded .warehouse has just begjm operations, but preparatory to its opening there was a final flare of gun-running 011 a large scale, all the merchants engaged in the trade hastening to send they* cargoes up the Gulf before the bonding began. Consequently vast quantities of niflles and ammmunition, including several million caps, were run "in in the early autumn. One consignment of 800 rifles, was captured in September, but in general it was impossible to stop the inrush. It would appear, however, that the end Ims come. The •system of bonding can be strictly enforced «*t Muscat-, lind it will be difficult for the gun-runners to find an alternative port higher up the Gulf. Doubtless, hovyever, some effort will be made to run through from Jibutil, and there will still be need for the exercise of vigilance. In the matter of rifle s irreparable damage is alreadydone., as both Persia) and Afghanistanare full of them. But if the supply of ammunition is cut off, that will be a ggreat gain. Doubtless the arms factory in Afgluuiistan and the trade of the Shira/ gunmaker will revive again, and the ammunition also will be made. But the local ammunition is a. poor substitute, and the Afghan and the Persian are very dependent on European caps.