2
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Consul Toure to Sir B. Alston.
4
(No. 41.) Sir,
Amoy, July 16, 1921. NOTE from the Peking Government Gazette" of the 7th July that the President of China has appointed one Wang Ta-chen as inspector of opium poppy cultivation for the province of Fukien.
I do not know how much is known of this Wang family in Peking; but I have the honour to mention that the family is a Fukien family, hailing from Ch'uanchow, on the coast between Amoy and Foochow. Two brothers, Wang Ta-chen and Wang Ta-heng, went to Peking some few years ago to open a banking business. informed that Wang Ta-chen obtained a post in the Board of Revenue, and that Waug Ta-heng is the president of the Fukien Guild in Peking.
I am
About three months ago Wang Ta-heng arrived in Fukien, having been appointed from Peking to make an inspection of opium poppy cultivation in the province. I have seen no record of any report by Wang Ta-heng; my despatch No. 20 of the 21st March, 1921, gave you the local position of opium cultivation. If the common talk regarding Wang Ta-heng's procedure is not wholly untrue, it would be interesting to see whatever report was rendered by Wang Ta-heng to his superiors at Peking- It is said that he made much personal profit out of his official tour; his system being to mulet the cultivators in "hush money," and then to bribe the local civil and military authorities; the handsome balance then falls into the pocket of the inspector, and everybody is pleased.
An inspection of Wang Ta-heng's report, if any exists, would throw light on the truth or falsity of the current reports concerning him; but in any case the present selection of his brother as his successor in the inspection would seem particularly unsuitable.
I have, &c.
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
F 3442/330/10]
No. 1.
[September 18.]
SECTION 1.
Sir B. Alston to the Marquess Curzon of Kedleston.—(Received September 16.)
(No. 429.) My Lord,
Peking, July 29, 1921. I HAVE the bonour to transmit herewith copies of a report upon opium cultiva tion and traffic in Northern Manchuria, which the Inspector-General of Customs has been good enough to communicate to me. Mr. Myers's report, which appears to be based upon reliable and accurate information, indicates a state of affairs in Manchuria which is comparable to that in the worst of the opium-growing provinces,
Mr. Myers himself has, it will be observed, Geen brought to the conclusion-which is held by an increasingly large number of responsible observers in this country, and is shared, as I have reason to know, by Sir Francis Aglen himself that the substitution of legalisation and Government control for the present ineffective prohibition offers the only immediate remedy for the condition into which China has lapsed in regard to the opium question,
I have, &c.
B. ALSTON.
(Translation.) Sir,
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
R. G. TOURS.
Chinese Students Anti-Opium Association to Sir B Alston.
July 22, 1921. CHINA'S slackness in prohibiting opium has reached the extreme point, and we are all moved to shame on this account.
We have read the note sent by you to the Wai-chiao Pu the other day on the subject of trade in and cultivation of opium, giving full details; the facts are clear and cannot be denied. Our Government's one idea is to make a pretence at dealing with the matter. Owing to Wellington Koo's telegram and consequent fear that the League of Nations Committee would delegate persons to investigate with the result that present conditions would be known to the world, the Government decided itself to appoint commissioners to investigate. But there are fifteen provinces and territories in which there is opium, and they have only appointed commissioners for five of these. Their object is that if it be said "delegates should be appointed," they can say "we have appointed delegates;" if it be said "investigation should be carried out," they can say "investigation is being carried out."
"
The five commissioners who have been appointed should have gone to their respective provinces before the opiam harvest. But delay succeeds on delay, until it looks as though the investigation would only be carried out after the harvest had been completed. The citizens of China are utterly ashamed of the attitude so disclosed, and we hope that you will press home your warnings, so that perhaps the Government may yet repent
As regards provinces other than the five for which commissioners have been appointed there is much traffic in and cultivation of opium, and they should also be closely inspected. We hope that you will not be persuaded to allow the matter to be dropped or slurred over.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
The Cultivation of Opium in North Manchuria.
I BEG to submit the following report on opium cultivation in North Manchuria. The particulars which I am able to supply are very reliable, having been obtained through the medium of a keen Russian botanist who has made scientific visits to the various places, and whose information has been obtained at first hand. The report is drawn up with a special view to show the deleterious effect the cultivation and traffic have ou the Customs Administration, and at the conclusion certain suggestions are made which may be worthy of some consideration.
General Remarks. The cultivation of the poppy plant in North Manchuria dates back to the eighteenth century, long before the Chinese immigration from the south and the advent of the Russians, Japanese and Koreans from the west and east. Twenty years ago 10 per cent. of the total arable land--and the richest soil at that was under poppy. The cultivation was free and was very profitable, bringing in to the farmer a revenue two or three times greater than that which he would realise if he had the same area under wheat or any other cereal. After the edict of 1908 the cultivation of the poppy ceased in many of the North Manchuria districts, and prices went up to between twenty and thirty times their original figures; the fields which still existed were scattered about in the hilly districts. The next natural step was that the cultivation of the poppy was transferred from Chinese to Russian territory by local Chinese and Koreans, the fields being cultivated right up to the frontier. Smuggling into Manchuria was a comparatively easy matter, but the favourite means of conveyance was by the railway. These conditions prevailed up to 1915, after which the cultivation of the Poppy in North Manchuria again came into prominence. From 1918 up to the present the cultivation of poppy has been carried on to an unprecedented extent.
of that namO,
Centres of Poppy Cultivation. The principal poppy districts in North Manchuria are along the eastern section of the railway froin Suifenho to Macerhshan station. Round about Harbin the soil is unfavourable for the growth of poppy. Round about Ashiho cultivation is only carried ou in the hill districts, and the same conditions occur at Maoerbshan, where the poppy-fields are at a considerable distance from the station From Macerbshan to Iniempo and from Imienpo to the valley of the Mutanchiang the poppy is cultivated on a considerable scale on the hill-sides. Poppy cultivation extends all down the Metanchiang on the slopes of the flanking hills, The largest and richest poppy-fields are to be found round the Mutanchiang, Kho, Haisosuifen and Silinho, which extends to Suifenho and over the frontier to the Ussuri
B [6896 q—1]
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