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smoking, or has really abandoned the habit altogether, the office shall furnish him with a certificate to that effect, and he shall be allowed to continue to hold his official position; but should it be proved on investigation that he is addicted to the habit he shall be dismissed from his office.
As regards the subordinate officials in the various public offices in the capital and provinces, their superior officers are required to take stringent measures for the strict enforcement of the prohibition. If, therefore, it be discovered by the Commissioners, and be proved on investigation, that an official is addicted to opium, his superior officers shall also be reported to the Board for punishment in proportion to the degree of weakness and remissness displayed by them.
The Commissioners for the enforcement of the prohibition of opium have all been specially selected for the post. They must set aside all personal feelings, and, performing their duty zealously and fearlessly, must not shun the high responsibility placed upon them or execute it perfunctorily. Should the prohibition of opium still fail to show satisfactory results in the future, the Commissioners shall be held to account.
Let the Comptroller-General of Opium Taxation, K'o Feng Shih, provide 30,000 taels out of the revenue from the consolidated tax on native opium for the expenses connected with establishing the office above referred to, and 60,000 taels for the annual expenditure, in order to assist this important work.
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With regard to the measures to be taken to secure the strict enforcement of the Regulations, the question of rewards or punishments will turn upon whether a strict supervision has been exercised, and whether the Regulations have been faithfully carried out. The matter of rewards and punishments, however, concerns the Board of Civil Office, and these Regulations merely outline what is to be done; special Regulations in detail should be prepared by the Board of Civil Office, in accordance with precedent, and submitted for approval to the Throne, in order that uniformity may be preserved.
When those who should set a good example to others become addicted to opium smoking they should be dealt with, after an investigation into their case, by the Commissioners for the Prohibition of Opium.
The question of finding other sources of revenue to take the place of the opium tax will have to be considered as a separate question by the Board of Finance, who will present a Memorial on the subject, and take action.
We now reverently submit for your Majesties' consideration the twenty-three supervisory Regulations prepared by the two Boards in consultation. Should they meet with your Majesties' approval, they will then be sent to the Commissioners for the prohibition of opium for their information, and instructions will be issued to the Board of Civil Office and the provincial authorities to take the necessary action.
This Memorial, setting forth the supervisory Regulations for the prohibition of opium prepared by the Boards in consultation and the methods suggested for securing their Enforcement, is now submitted for your Majesties' approval, and the Imperial commands are requested.
This Memorial has been drafted by the Board of Interior with the co-operation of the Board of Finance.
On the 23rd May the following Imperial Rescript was received:— “Approved,”
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APPENDIX (C).
Extract from the "Official Gazette" of May 30, 1908.
PROHIBITION OF OPIUM.
Joint Memorial submitted, in obedience to an Imperial Decree, by the Board of the Interior and Board of Finance proposing certain Supervisory Regulations, and suggesting methods for enforcing compliance therewith.
(Translation.)
ON the 22nd March the following Imperial Decree was received by the Grand Secretariat:-
[Quoted at length.]
The prohibition of opium, with a view to the removal of this long-standing evil and the reclamation of those enfeebled by its use, is a measure of the first importance to the strength of the country. Several urgent Decrees have already been issued fixing a limit of time within which the abolition of opium must gradually be effected, and orders of the most comprehensive description have repeatedly been given prohibiting its use. This further Decree directing the Boards of the Interior and of Finance to prepare supervisory Regulations and to devise means of enforcing compliance therewith is a mark of your Majesties' anxiety for the people's welfare and earnest desire to secure the effectiveness of this measure.
After discussion and careful deliberation on this matter, the Boards have come to the conclusion that the success of the prohibition of opium depends upon the degree of thoroughness with which supervision is exercised, and that the obedience accorded to the prohibition depends upon the degree of stringency with which it is enforced. The only way in which abuses can be rooted out and deceptions avoided is to prepare explicit supervisory Regulations for the prohibition of opium, and to devise means of compliance therewith.
The measures involved in the prohibition of opium are many and difficult, including as they do the supervision of the cultivation, consumption, and sale of the drug. All these measures are of great importance, but the first step should be to investigate the amount of land under opium cultivation, and gradually diminish the quantity grown. This plan attacks the evil at its source, and other measures, such as the investigation of the number of opium smokers, the closing of opium dens, and the limitation of the sale of the drug, must then be carefully considered in their turn.
As all the above matters are connected with land and taxation or else are concerned with the police administration and the public health they come within the province of the Boards of Finance and of the Interior, and it is, of course, our duty to consider them carefully. We have now the honour to submit supervisory Regulations for the prohibition of opium, and to request that Imperial instructions may be issued to the high provincial authorities to furnish detailed reports, in accordance with these Regulations, for the information of the Board of Interior. As to whether it may be possible to shorten the time limit with a view to hastening the attainment of the object in view, or to introduce any modifications into the Regulations, such points will be for the provincial authorities concerned to decide on consideration of the local conditions.
(Translation.)
PROHIBITION OF OPIUM.
Supervisory Regulations.
Section 1.-Diminution of Cultivation.
Article 1. Returns of the amount of land under opium cultivation, the names of the owners, and the amount of opium produced shall be made by all local officials within six months to the high provincial authorities, who shall forward collective reports to the Board of Finance and Board of the Interior.
Art. 2. The ten years' period within which opium is to be abolished shall be reckoned from Kuang Hsü 32 (1906-7), and the cultivation of opium is to be diminished in accordance with the Regulations laid down by the Grand Council. No opium must ever be grown on land not hitherto under opium cultivation, and in the case of land already under opium cultivation the amount must be annually decreased by one-eighth, taking as a basis the figure given in the returns for Kuang Hsü 34 (1908-9). The cultivation of opium will thus cease entirely in Kuang Hsü 41 (1915-6). Returns shall also be made from time to time as to what crops are being grown on the land withdrawn from opium cultivation.
Art. 3. Permits, sealed by the provincial authorities, shall be issued by the local officials to opium growers, the permits being altered annually. Any person growing opium without a permit shall be liable to punishment. A fee of 15 cash per mou shall be levied on each permit, but no further charge whatever may be made.
Section 2.- Public Hongs.
Art. 4. Since the inauguration of a consolidated tax on native opium, the Provinces of Anhui, Honan, and Shansi have already established a system of public hongs for the sale of native opium appointed by the Branch Consolidated Tax Office and the local official. These public hongs are responsible for the payment of the tax on native opium, and the grower must sell and the dealer purchase opium through them. The warehouseman must also report all purchases and sales of opium to the public hong, which sees that the taxes are paid. This system will now be extended to the other provinces, and these public hongs shall keep a daily record of all sales of opium, giving the names of the purchasers, and shall report to the Branch Consolidated Tax Office. A general Report, setting forth the reductions effected by each public hong, shall be furnished annually to the Board of the Interior by the Directors-General of Native Opium Taxation. In the case of Szechuan, Yünnan, Kweichow, Turkestan, and Manchuria, where there is no consolidated tax on native opium, the provincial authorities shall take action on the same lines.
Native opium warehousemen must hold permits from the Local Consolidated Tax Bureau and local official. Without such permits they will not be allowed to purchase opium either through the public hong or from the grower.
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