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figures of destruction" at about 1,000,000 ounces, but it was clear that he had no heart for uprooting the well-grown crops of industrious farmers; a number of his men were pressed upon me as escorts in spite of my protests, and their decrease in bulk after we reached the nearest town indicated rather clearly that their apparent rotundity had been due to smuggled opium rather than to any internal cause: one non-commissioned officer was so well equipped in this way that he could scarcely walk. The soldiers admitted that the farmers were very fierce, and that they generally prefaced negotiations by suggestions that interference meant death to one party or the other, though they discrectly drew a veil over the final settlements. The Prefect of Yungchang visited many of the Shan States in person, and it is generally reported that the Sawbwas threatened to revolt in a body if he carried his measures to extremes.
Economic Factors.--The past season has shown considerable progress in substi- tuting other crops for the poppy, and the efforts of the officials and of the farmers themselves in this direction have surpassed expectations. In the Tengyueh and Yung- chang districts wild or tusser silk (Antherca perny?) has been produced with marked success: a number of cocoons have been introduced from Manchuria and are flourishing well, whilst the white mulberry silk is also showing signs of a marketable supply in the future.
An even more important economic development has occurred with the introduction of cotton into the plains of Menghua, Talifu, and Pingchuan. It has always been believed that cotton could not be produced with profit on the Yunnan highlands, but the success of the first season's harvest has encouraged the farmers to persevere, and the institution of a cotton market at Yungchang proves that the crop was of practical Wheat has also been value, though the figures of the sales are not yet available. introduced in small quantities, but it is still too early to estimate the success of this innovation.
Producing Centres.--The area of production is confined almost entirely to the Shan and Kachin districts of the frontier, the names of which appear under the second head--- "Limit of Prohibition Measures." Scattered crops are reported from the tribal country in the interior, notably from the Lolo districts neighbouring Yun-lung Chou, but the supplies available from these hills will not exercise any definite effect on the markets.
Estimated Amount of Opium Produced.The figures submitted in my last report as an estimate of the amount of opium produced and of the area under cultivation were 5,000 piculs of opium grown on 27,000 acres (English) for the whole of the frontier districts of Western Yunnan, the figures being based on the "measures of seed," which are quoted locally as the agricultural unit. From personal observation of the crops, from reliable sources of outside information, and from the state of the markets, I estimate that the figures for the present season will reach 8,000 piculs of opium actually produced, with an area of 43,000 acres (English) under cultivation.
Supplies--The course of the past year showed a steady drain upon the supplies in the big centres, with a tightening of the market and a steady increase in price, a factor Farmers which undoubtedly contributed to the activity of the present winter season. who had successfully evaded the preventive measures during the season of 1909-1910 made handsome profits; holders of stocks were justified in their speculations and in the belief that official severity would be relaxed this year, and there is a general impression that opium in all its stages and phases is uncommonly good business. Large supplies are smuggled into Tengyuek without difficulty, the smugglers travelling by night along the hill paths and disposing of their light and portable burdens in the inns of the suburbs. The recent movements of troops have facilitated this business, which they were nominally intended to crush, and it is rumoured that the large stocks which are known to exist in several houses have been mainly introduced by the soldiers, whe find in collaborating with the merchants a safe and easy method of supplementing their scanty pay.
Consumption and Prices.-The prices quoted for crude opium during the past few years have been: 1908, taels, 12 an ounce; 1910, taels, 35 an ounce; 1911, taels, 55 an ounce retail, wholesale purchases being completed at about 50 taels for 100 ounces (1 tael equals approximately 2 rupees). Tengyueh has become the chief market for the drug, owing to its proximity to the producing centres, thus superseding the old market at Talifu. In spite of the abnormally high prices the number of people who smoke appears to show little decrease. Before the inauguration of the measures of prohibition it was estimated that 80 per cent. of the population was addicted to the drug, and I do not think that the figures can now be placed lower than 60 per cent. of the adult population. Many people smoke less than they did, some of thein confining themselves
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to the evening pipe, whilst numbers of the poorer class are dependent on opium ash for their supply, but an evening walk through the city or suburbs of Tengyueh, or through any of the neighbouring villages, gives ample evidence that there are few houses where the pipe is unknown. The secrecy which has marked the consumption of the drug during the past two years has also to a large extent disappeared. Opium pipes, lamps, and other paraphernalia are exposed for sale in the market, men venture to smoke in the shops adjoining the main thoroughfares, and, although all indulgence in the pipe and all transactions in the drug are nominally conducted behind closed doors, it would not be difficult to draw up a list of the smokers and dealers in any given area.
The
Official Attitude.-The rumour of the market-place, which takes the place of telegrams and newspapers in this isolated corner of Empire, credits his Excellency Li Ching-hsi, Viceroy of Yunnan, and Kuei-chow with heavy indulgence in the pipe, which he is believed to use constantly when transacting the business of the provinces under his control. Such notorious laxity in high places cannot fail in its effect on the attitude of subordinate officers, and the energy and enthusiasm of the campaign inaugurated by the Viceroy Hsi-liang has shown a marked decline. The Teugyueh Taotai does not use the pipe, but it is well known that the wife of the sub-prefect is a heavy smoker; no local
yamen is free from the drug, which can be purchased without difficulty in the midst of the official quarter, and the knowledge that both the Taotai and the Ting are open to financial persuasions in every question has been a strong factor in the situation. A show of energy is still maintained; the Prefect of Yungchang and the sub-Prefect of Tengyuch have paid personal visits to the Shan Sawbwas in their districts, and are reported to have returned in each case considerably richer than they started. sub-prefect, with the violence of the weak, recently shot down two unfortunate farmers in Nantion who were found cultivating their crops near the high road, but such arbitrary and ill-balanced actions have produced no good effect on the obedience of the people. Every official who has visited the frontier, and their numbers have been considerable during the moving times of the past season, has returned to the interior with an extended caravan, and it is well known that they have all added a stock of opium to their baggage, even the present Prefect of Yungchang leaving his former post as Tengyueh Ting with a line of opium-laden mules. In such circumstances, it is not surprising that smuggling is common; occasional seizures are made, generally from impecunious and inexperienced muleteers who have not learned the financial secret of the traffic, but movements actually continue with little less freedom than in the pre- restriction days. The drug is generally packed in condensed milk tins, which are opened, emptied, and filled again with great care and delicacy, and the frequency with which lychees--an expensive luxury--are now hospitably offered to visitors in Tengyueb homes would suggest that the larger dimensions of the lychee tin are superseding the attractions of Nestle's milk" in the favour of enterprising opium-packers.
Conclusion. In reviewing the situation in Western Yünnan for the past few years the most striking conclusion is the fact that the figures of opium production and of the area under poppy cultivation probably stand at little more than one quarter of those representing the annual returns in the periods preceding the inauguration of the opium campaign. Such a result is creditable to the officials to whom the work has been entrusted, especially when the geographical difficulties of administration, the incidence of the tribal belt, and the economic conditions in this border district are borne in mind. The work of suppression under the late Viceroy Hsi Liang surpassed all expectations, but created as a result a period of severe financial stringency. The information of the present year, however, indicates a distinct relaxation of official energy in preventing the harvesting of the poppy crops, the sale of the drug, and the use of the pipe, and it seems doubtful if, in the near future, the annual production will be reduced beyond the 8,000 piculs estimated for the present season, when it is realised that the high prices and the heavy risks of the past three years have had so little effect in reducing the demand for the drug among all classes of the population in the Yünnan frontier districts.
Tengyueh, March 9, 1911.
ARCHIBALD ROSE.
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