PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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Reference :-
C.O. 882
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COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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their customers without forgetting that those customers are principally their own countrymen.
10. The best way to prevent the abuse of opium is to keep the price so high that those who consume it look upon it as a luxury, and the farm system is better able to effect this than any other where smuggling would be carried on and the drug become a veritable drug on the market.
August 1st, 1892.
Enclosure 6 in No. 27.
MINUTE by the ACTING ATTORNEY-GENERAL.
H. TROTTER.
If the restrictions and limitations upon the sale of opium which are suggested in the Despatch of the Secretary of State were carried into effect, the result would be, I fear, to check the supply of labour to the Colony, and so to cause a serious loss to the revenue in addition to the direct and intentional giving up of revenue involved in the changes. This would probably be accompanied by disturbances amongst the Chinese. the collection of revenue is concerned, the farming system has been proved to be satis- So far as factory for many years past, both in this Colony and in neighbouring Colonies and States. Under it, the financial position of the Colony and of the Native States rose to an unexampled height of prosperity, while, on the other hand, the recent experience of abolishing the pawnbroker's farm and substituting the licensing of pawnshops has not proved advantageous. It is possible that the experiment now being tried successfully in the Negri Sembilan, where the opium farm has been abolished and the State undertakes the sale of opium, may, by continued success, merit extension. But further experience should be awaited. The Colony is not at present in a position to try doubtful financial experiments, either in that direction or in the direction suggested by the Secretary of State, unless strong moral grounds exist for so doing. Upon such grounds it might be necessary even to ruin the Colony, as the West India Islands were ruined by the emancipation of slaves.
2. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance to ascertain if such grounds exist. Are there evils arising from the excessive consumption of opium in the Colony which would justify such a step?
popu-
3. And in the first place, is there an excessive consumption of opium? It must, I think, be admitted that there is an increasing consumption of opium. This, I think, is shown by the increased revenue derived from the farms, though a part of this increase may, perhaps, be due to the farmer now charging a higher price for the drug than he formerly did. It will, perhaps, be most useful, for purposes of comparison, to take the census years 1881 and 1891, as it is in those years only that the numbers of the lation are ascertainable with some degree of correctnesa. spirit farms were combined, and I cannot ascertain what was the separate amount of In those years the opium and duty received from opium. But in 1881 the total revenue per month from the combined farms was $125,945, and in 1891 it was $195,500, per month, an increase of over 50 per cent., while from the census returns we know that the total increase in the population was only 21 per cent., and in the Chinese population, the chief opium-consuming popu- lation, only 30.7 per cent. It would, therefore, appear probable that the opium revenue has increased in a greater proportion than the Chinese population, and that this increase in revenue is partly due to a larger consumption of opium. I believe, also, that this increase of consumption has taken place notwithstanding an increase in the retail price of the article of over 30 per cent.
4. But is this increased consumption an excessive consumption? What has been the result of it? Has there been any moral or physical deterioration amongst the Chinese ? 5. Has there been more crime? I remember no instance of any crime having been committed by any person when under the influence of opium. But to take the returns of the Singapore Prison. The number of Chinese prisoners there was much greater in the year 1891 than in the year 1881. In 1891 the number was 4,605, in 1881 it was only 2,620. But the year 1881 is useless for purposes of comparison in this respect, as there was an outbreak of sickness in that year, and many prisoners were sent to Penang. But in the following year, 1882, the number was 3,077, so that the increase of Chinese prisoners in the 10 years was over 50 per cent., or 20 per cent. more than the increase in the Chinese population.
6. And this is about the same rate of increase as that in the number of persons of all nationalities arrested by the police for the commission of offences. In 1881, 17,057 were so arrested in the Colony. In 1891 the number was 25,400.
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7. And the Blue Book returns for the two years show a similar large increase in the number of offenders of all nationalities, amongst whom there is no reason to suppose that there was not a due proportion of Chinese. 32,026 persons were summarily convicted in the Colony last year, as against 20,787 in 1881. While another Blue Book return gives them as higher even than this, namely, as 35,684 in 1891 and 16,365 in 1881.
8. But, fortunately, when these figures are examined more nearly, with the view of ascertaining the character of the offences for which these persons were convicted, the result is not so alarming as it would appear at first sight. Indeed, it is reassuring. The majority of these offenders in the later year, 1891, were not offenders against the person or property. They were gamblers and persons classified as having committed "other offences and "offences against Revenue Acts, Highway Acts, Health Acts, and other Acts relating to the social economy of the Colony," and the increase is probably due to new legislation and to improved administration. Gambling is noticeable for an increase of 2,610 cases; offences against the "Revenue Acts," &c. for an increase of 7,389; and other offences for an increase of 6,976.
To particularise more fully the offences of which there has been so large an increase, there has been a large increase, namely, 4,711, in the number of small offences under "The Summary Criminal Jurisdiction Ordinance, 1872." The other offences in which there has been an increase are the following:-
Offences against-
The Coco-Nut Trees Preservation Ordinance. The Crimes Prevention Ordinance.
The Quarantine Ordinance.
The Harbours Ordinance.
The Land Ordinances.
The Dangerous Societies Ordinance.
The Gunpowder Ordinance.
The Post Office Ordinance.
The Women and Girls' Protection Ordinance.
The Boundaries Ordinance.
The Municipal Ordinance.
The Weights and Measures Ordinance. The Wild Birds' Protection Ordinance.
The Merchandise Marks Ordinance.
Most of these offences cannot properly be classified as crime. They are just such offences as result from a growing enforcement of western civilisation upon Asiatics. Crimes against the person and property have diminished. Notwithstanding the large increase of the population in the 10 years, there were actually fewer crimes against property in 1891 than in 1881. In 1881 there were 4,841 of such offences, in 1891 there were only 3,728. Offences against the person were relatively less, that is to say, there was only an increase of 40, notwithstanding the largely increased population. In 1881 there were 2,692 of such offences, in 1891 there were 2,732. It is clear, therefore, that, notwithstanding the increase in the consumption of opium, crime in the Colony has very largely decreased. This result may not be due to the increased consumption of opium. It is probably caused by improved administration. And a most important result it is, satisfactory to the Colony, and especially to all those who have been concerned in the administration of justice.
9. Another indication of the general progress and of improvement in material pros- perity may be seen in the savings bank returns. These show that in 1881 the total amount deposited by investors of all nationalities in the Colony was $20,476, and that in 1891 it had grown to $152,923.
10. The proportion of females to males, again, must surely be an important item in the welfare of the Chinese, and the immigration of their females to Singapore and Penang has largely increased in the last 10 years. In 1882 the number of female Chinese iminigrants was only 2,649, in 1891 it was 7,126. And the census returns show that Chinese females increased in the Colony by 18 in 1,000 in the 10 years.
It
11. These results, then, are satisfactory. Not so, however, the health returns. seems possible that the health of the Chinese has suffered from the use of opium. Their death rate certainly is higher than that of any other nationality here. Last year the general death rate was 34 29 per 1,000, while the death rate of Chinese was 40.24 per 1,000. But not only is this the case, the Chinese death rate, when compared with itself, has increased contemporaneously with the increase in the consumption of opium. Whether the deaths are to any extent due to the opium is a medical question. Dr. Kerr, in enumerating the causes of this high death rate in the Report of the Registrar- H 4