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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL,
[June 8.]
SECTION 1.
[73901]
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received June 8.)
(No. 101.) Sir,
Peking, May 3, 1915. IN my telegram No. 68 of the 26th March last I had the honour to report that the Chinese Government had applied for a joint inspection of opium poppy cultivation in the province of Kansu and the New Dominion (Hsinchiang), and that as neither of these provinces imported Indian opium, and it was difficult to spare members of the consular service for inspection tours in these remote parts, I proposed that Hsinchiang be placed on the list under article 3 of the agreement of 1911, and that I should ask a member of the China Inland Mission at Lanchow to undertake the inspection in Kansu, allowing him the ordinary consular travelling expenses. These proposals were approved in your telegram No. 59 of the 8th ultimo.
Circumstances have since led to my modifying the proposed course of action, as far as the inspection of poppy cultivation in Kansu is concerned.
There has been considerable trouble in Kansu during the past two years in connection with certain taxes levied by the provincial authorities in apparent contravention of treaty provisions on purchases of wool and skins by the native agents of foreign merchants, and the six firms representing this important British interest at Tien-tsin have recently approached me regarding the steps to be taken to secure for their trade freedom from the injurious restrictions imposed upon it by the provincial authorities.
The transport of Thibetan and Mongolian wool from the north-western provinces under transit pass to the port of Tien-tsin for export to Europe and America has given rise on various occasions to cases entailing protracted and wearisome correspondence with the Chinese authorities, such as that the settlement of which was reported in my despatch No. 586 of the 26th November, 1908. The difficulty in settling these cases arises largely out of lack of knowledge, both on the part of the Central Government and of this legation, as to what is actually taking place in those remote regions, and the presence of a British official and a deputy from the Wai-chiao Pu in Kansu for the inspection of opium poppy cultivation appeared to offer a good opportunity for a thorough investigation into this question.
I have accordingly appointed Mr. Teichman, second assistant in His Majesty's consular service, to undertake the joint inspection of opium poppy cultivation in Kansu in concert with an official deputed by the Wai-chiao Pu, and have arranged with the Chinese Government that the two officials shall proceed, after the poppy inspection is completed, to an investigation into the alleged illegal taxes levied on the wool and skin trade of the north-western provinces.
The six British firms at Tien-tsin interested in this trade have agreed to bear half the travelling and subsistence expenses incurred by this officer on the journey to and from Kansu, and on any travelling undertaken during the wool trade investigation.
It will be remembered that Mr. Carvill, then vice-consul at Tien-tsin, undertook a somewhat similar mission to Kansu in the interests of the wool trade in 1902 (see Sir W. Townley's despatch No. 56, Consular, of the 15th May, 1903).
I have the honour to enclose copies of the notes exchanged with the Wai-chiao Pu regarding the closing of Hsinchiang to the import of Indian opium and the joint inspection of poppy cultivation in Kansu, and trust that my action in this matter will meet with your approval.
(Copy to India.)
[2433 h-1]
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN.
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