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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
[B]
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL,
[26275]
No. 1.
[June 9.]
SECTION 2.
564
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received June 9.)
(No. 218.) Sir,
SINCE the opening of the present year I have had the honour to address to you
Peking, May 26, 1913. a series of despatches in which an effort has been made to trace the results in certain provinces of China of the opium suppression policy, which is now being pursued by the Government of the Republic.
In the following pages I have attempted to summarise the contents of the above- mentioned despatches, and to add thereto such information as I have lately received regarding the suppression in those provinces both of opium smoking and of poppy cultivation. The reports on these subjects, which have been furnished to His Majesty's Legation, are based in a few cases on the personal observations of consular officers, more frequently on information derived from missionaries and other travellers, and occasionally on statements made by the heads of opium suppression bureaux or by other Chinese officials. While the extreme diversity of the information received from the various provinces and the wide divergence of views which, in some cases, exists between different authors of information in the same province render it impossible to guarantee the exactitude of each individual report, I veuture to think that the following summary will give a not inaccurate idea of the general position in regard to the question at issue of those portions of the Republic to which it refers.
Fukien.
Reports received at the beginning of the year pointed to the existence in this province of poppy cultivation on a considerable scale. Such cultivation appeared, however, to be confined to two principal districts.
Of these Hsinghua, situated between Amoy and Foochow was the more important. Here the area under poppy was said to amount to some 32,000 acres, and travellers reported that so extensive a crop was without precedent. It had even been planted along the main roads without any attempt at concealment,
Towards the end of January the authorities entered upon a vigorous campaign to deal with the situation. His Majesty's consul at Foochow was informed by the Civil Commissioner that 1,000 soldiers had been despatched to the district in question, and were already engaged in uprooting the poppy; The situation at Hsinghua was, however, complicated by the presence of a rebel chief, styling himself the Ming Pretender, and commanding a force of brigands and smugglers, which probably amounted to some 2,000 men. While His Majesty's consul was informed officially that this band of outlaws would not be allowed to interfere with the work of complete destruction, the next news received at Peking was to the effect that the Ming Pretender had undertaken the protection of the Hsinghua poppy fields, and that he was being paid by the fariners at the rate of 6 dollars an acre for such protection.
Although no reliable account is available of the fighting which ensued between troops and rebels, it is clear that the situation rapidly developed into a somewhat determined rebellion. Against this rising steady progress must, however, have been made by the military forces employed by the local authorities. Reports received at the end of March, and emanating from missionaries residing in the Hsinghus district, state that 90 per cent. of the local crop had been uprooted, and that the remaining 10 per cent. was being cultivated in remote villages among the hills. It was added that a small proportion of the crop had been harvested, but that some of this had been subsequently destroyed. A newspaper report of approximately the same date, although less optimistic, and maintaining that a considerable amount of bore witness to the progress which had been made against the rebellion of opium poppy remained standing, farmers. The latest information regarding the district of Hsinghua received by His Majesty's Legation refers to the situation at the end of April. In one portion of the district the work of uprooting the poppy is stated to be complete. In another, however, a missionary reports that he saw a considerable number of field which were
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