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This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.j
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
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C O 48823
[August 2.]
SECTION 1.
RECR
Ron122 AUG 19
Sir J. Jordan to Earl Curzon.-(Received August 2.)
(No. 260.)
Peking, June 11, 1919. My Lord,
WITH reference to my despatch No. 176 of the 30th April last and to subsequent despatches on the subject of the recrudescence of poppy cultivation in the province of Szechuan, I have the honour to transmit herewith copy of a despatch written by Mr. Teichman from Tachienlu reporting the result of his personal observations during his journey between that place and Chengtu.
Mr. Teichman furnished conclusive evidence that this opium cultivation is carried on openly at the direct instigation of the Chinese officials whose duty it is to suppress it.
I have the honour to enclose copy of a letter, which I have addressed to the Wai- chiao Fu, bringing the facts to their notice; but I fear that the Chinese Government has not the strength, if it has the will, to adopt the only effective remedy, namely, the removal and punishment of the military governors responsible for the present state of
affairs.
I am sending & copy of this despatch to the Government of India.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN,
1+
Mr. Teichman to Sir J. Jordan.
(No. 14.)
Tachienlu, April 27, 1910. Sir,
WITH reference to my immediately preceding despatch reporting my return to Tachienlu and impending departure for Peking, and in connection with the concluding portion of my despatch No. 9 of the 12th ultimo regarding the trade in opium and the cultivation of the poppy in the area controlled by General Ch'en Hsia-ling, I have the honour to report that on my journey back from Chengtu we found the entire length of the T'ung River valley (along which the road runs for two days' mareh-district of Luting), blazing with countless fields of red and white poppies in full bloom wherever the bays in the gorge permitted of cultivation. In most places fully a quarter of the land under cultivation was producing opium. This poppy cultivation (which I had failed to notice on my way down a month and a-half earlier owing to my being very unwell and to the plant not being in flower) is openly carried on without the least attempt at concealment right along this main route, which is one of the most important and most travelled of the big trunk roads of China; and the poppies were even thurishing in the immediate vicinity and in full view of the magistrate's seat and the big Catholic Mission establishment at Luting Ch'iao itself. The local people told my servants that the neighbourhood was growing poppy for the first time for many years, and that the cultivation was encouraged by the officials who levied a tax of 28 rupees per Chinese acre of opium-producing land.
My statements about this opium cultivation, and the amazingly open way it is carried on, can be corroborated by Mr. Clements, of the China Inland Mission at I shall try and Tachienlu, the Catholic missionaries, and by my own Pekinese servants.
down. secure some photographs of it on my way
No poppy cultivation whatever was to be seen for the first nine days' march out of Chengtu (e, while traversing regions controlled by the southeru leader, Governor Hsiung Ko-wa); and we only came upon the opium after traversing the Fei Yueh Ling (pass) and entering the district of Luting, which forms part of the Szechuan frontier territory (Ch'uan Pien) controlled by General Ch'en Hsia-ling, who holds his appointment from and represents the Peking Government.
This poppy cultivation provides the Frontier Commissioner with the sinews of war to enable him to maintain his position, and to turn against the southern leaders in
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