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necessity of this rise in the price of opium in China for until its price is on a parity with that obtaining in the Straits and Hongkong, those Colonies are justified in claiming that the restrictive methods of China are less effective than their own, and in resenting the consequential smuggling from China to British territory.
Poppy.
It would seem that the best way of reducing the area of cultivation is a Poppy Substitutes Tax on all lands devoted to the growth of the poppy, which could be gradually for the increased until the cultivation became unprofitable. Such a tax already exists in Shansi where poppy land is rated at about three times as high as any other It also exists in Manchuria. The imposition of such a tax would enable the Government to cheapen transport for crops of less value, and to grant some compensation to poppy growers who take up other crops in lieu of the poppy.
crop.
*
Sir. A. Hosie estimates that a crop of wheat per acre is worth £4.5.6 as against £5.16.8 for poppy (viz., 26.71% loss) but there are crops possibly of more value than wheat suitable for poppy land such as tobacco, cocoa, or rubber. Mr. Fox lately Consul in the poppy-growing province of Szechuan says that the tobacco is of high quality, and suggests as substitutes ramie, tea, silk and vegetable oils. It is worthy of note that as food stuffs replace the poppy, the price of food decreases, and with it the perennial scourge of famine from floods etc. and the necessity of the embargo on the export of rice. It would be of benefit to China if an expert agriculturist were to advise as to the most paying substitutes for the poppy.
Opium.
The whole subject of opium production is a difficult one.
The world Supply of requires a large quantity for medicinal purposes, and in order that the count- Medicinal ries which produce, or are capable of producing, the drug may guard against its export and use for illicit purposes, it would appear to be necessary that the output should be made a Government monopoly and the Government of the country of consignment notified of all shipments so that it may adopt measures for controlling the sale,-otherwise as Mr. Leech points out, new countries will grow opium when the Indian export is restricted. For China is not the only country which has cause to fear the effects of the misuse of opium, and its derivative morphine. The United States of America, it is said, imports seven or eight times as inuch as is required for medicinal purposes, and has lately passed a law restricting this import,-as. also has Canada. It will be open to the non-producing countries to follow this lead, and by agreement with the coun- tries of origin to control the import for medicinal purposes in whatever way may appear best calculated to guard against misuse, viz., either by a Government Monopoly, or by the institution of a system of permits to authorised wholesale dealers, who may sell only to licensed druggists.
So far as China is concerned, the bargian with India and the similar restric- tion of import of Persian and Turkish opium relieves her of all difficulty as regards the part of her consumption which is imported. The remedy for the other which is home-grown is in her own hands. The bulk of the world's supply of medicinal opium comes from Turkey, for Turkish opium contains from 9% to 12% of Morphia as against 4% or 5% in Indian opium. The average export for the last 6 years is 718,327 lbs. and there is at present no Government control. The total export from India is put at 67,000 chests, of which 51,000 goes to China, and will presumably disappear in the course of 10 years. There remains 16,000 chests as India's contribution to the medicinal supply of the world.
revenue.
As regards the second of the "essential problems "the raising of a revenue How replace to replace that derived from opium,-it would be wholly beyond my province to opium make suggestions in a matter with which the Chinese Government is alone com- petent to deal. Already in some provinces a Salt Tax has been imposed,-in others fees for permits to buy opium. The land-tax was declared by the Edict of 1713 to be immutable for all time, though our experience in the leased territories of this Colony has shown that it can be increased without hardship. But China
* Sir J. Jordan 27.11.07 in China No. 1 (1908).
The Indian Trade Journal of 12.11.08 states that the cultivation of opium is increasing in Afghanistan and it was imported thence to India for the first time in 1906-07. Quoting Stabl in the Chemiker- Zeitung (68) it adds that in the last 25 years the poppy has replaced wheat in Persia and sprend over the whole country. Smokers and enters now number 20% of the Moslem population. Persia imports from Afghanistan (£9,364 in 05-06). Her exports totalled £346,445 of which £193,064 went to India, and large quantities to Russia and Turkey.