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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
C.O
566
28490
[July 15,
SECTIREG10 AUG 07
[23374]
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received July 15.)
(No. 242.) Sir,
Peking, May 21, 1907. I HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith copy of a Report which has been drawn up with much industry by Mr. G. W. Pearson, Second Assistant to His Majesty's Consulate-General at Shangbae, on the progress of the anti-opium movement.
I have, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN.
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Consul-General Sir P. Warren to Sir J. Jordan.
(No. 62.) Sir,
Shanghae, May 10, 1907. IN continuation of my despatches Nos. 17 and 33, I have the honour to inclose herewith a further note by Mr. G. W. Pearson on the progress of the anti-opium
movement.
I have, &c. (Signed)
PELHAM L. WARREN.
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Memorandum on the Progress of the Anti-Opium Movement to April 21, 1907.
THE sincerity of the spirit shown in the progress of the anti-opium movement is so much a matter of conjecture, and individual deductions are so liable to be erroneous where the information obtainable is limited and questionable, that it has been thought best in the present Memorandum to avoid drawing conclusions, and rather to give the various items of news with their sources for what they are worth.
Perhaps the most significant indication of progress is the attitude of the opium-den keepers in Soochow, who seem to be convinced that the terms of the Edict are to be carried out, and are much concerned thereat. They evidently attribute the strenuous actions of the officials more to mercenary motives than to anxiety for the common weal, and there is no doubt that the new procedure could provide a mine of wealth for an enterprising official.
Also significant are the cashiering of Lu, Proctor of the Anti-Opium Bureau at Soochow, for lack of zeal, and the suspension of the Keeper of the Provincial Treasury at Hangchow for his opium-smoking proclivities.
The
Liu Taotai, who has control of the Anti-Opium Bureau at Soochow, would appear to be an energetic man, and to be supporting Chen, the Soochow Governor. At Nanking itself it is reported that over 100 dens have been shut and their valuable appliances destroyed because they were behindhand with their licence fees. majority of the month's news consists of the discussions of, and measures about to be taken by, the various bureaux, clubs, societies, and guilds-little actual action is evident. The Bureau for the Taxation of Prepared Opium has been converted into an Anti-Opium Bureau, and the former tax on prepared opium has been changed to a compulsory rise in the price of the drug of 40 cash per ounce. There is also the intention of establishing an official monopoly of all raw opium, to be supplied by the officials at their own price to the retail houses. Opium dens are to become retail opium shops, counters to be substi- tuted for couches.
Shanghae City-It is impossible to learn of any action whatever taken by the new Shanghae District Magistrate Li with regard to the anti-opium movement.
[2564 p-4]
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