[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[January 201
SECON 20 JAN 12
[547]
No. 1.
Consul-General O'Brien-Butler to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received January 4, 1912.)
(No. 8. Confidential.) Sir,
Yunnan-fu, November 25, 1911, I HAVE the honour to forward to you herewith a copy of a despatch which I have sent to His Majesty's Minister on the subject of opium cultivation in Yünnan.
I have, &c.
P. E. O'BRIEN-BUTLER.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Sir,
Consul-General O'Brien-Butler to Sir J. Jordan.
Yunnan-fu, November 25, 1911.
I HAVE the honour to report as follows on the subject of opium cultivation in this province.
About a month ago the Reverend Samuel Pollard, of Chaotung, sent me the following memorandum :--
"A large amount of opium is still being grown north of the Yang-tsze in 'independent Nosu (Lolo) land.' The Chinese go across the river and cultivate the poppy on land belonging to the Nosu, paying, of course, for the privilege of doing so.
'In Ch'iao-chia-ting, a sub-profecture of Tungchuan-fu, I was told by farmers that preparations were being made for extensive poppy sowing. Travelling in that direction I saw two fields of summer' opium which was almost ready for gathering. The farmers in the Hsin-tien-chou sub-prefecture stated that they were determined to grow this year, and declared they would offer violence to any official attempting to stop them. I saw the official himself travelling in that district with a strong retinue looking into the matter, and after his visit the talk of poppy sowing died away.
"In the Lu-ch'uan-hsien and Wu-ting-chou districts directly north of Yunnan-fu much opium is being sown this year, and some of it is already above the ground. In these districts landlords have given seed to their tenants, commanding them to grow Refusal to do so will lead to eviction the opium crop on the best of their rented land. from their farms if the landlords carry out their threats. Tenants from a number of Christian villages have come for advice to the missionaries, who have told them that it was wiser to obey the Emperor's decree and the official proclamation than to sow If the officials are in earnest this the poppy at the command of their landlords. deplorable state of affairs can easily be prevented. I was informed also that in the Tungchuan prefecture opium is openly sold and li-kin collected on it by the officials."
The new republican Government in Yünnan have declared their willingness to recognise treaties with foreign Powers made by the Ching dynasty. They cannot, therefore, openly encourage opium cultivation, although this would offer a ready means Moreover, of revenue and bring in large sums to the depleted provincial treasury. there is a widespread determination among the farmers of Yunnan to gather an opium crop this year at all costs, and it is probable that the new Government are unwilling to incur the unpopularity which would necessarily attend active repressive measures and result in the alienation of the sympathies of a large part of the inhabitants of the province from the new régime.
The temptation is great, and it would appear that the Government have adopted a policy of non-obstruction without actually sanctioning the growing by the issue of a proclamation. Large quantities of poppy seed have already been planted, and I hear
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