[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.] 0.
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[1232]
No. 1.
211
4802
[January 12
SECTIONREGE 7 FEB 07
(No. 495.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received January 12, 1907.)
Peking, November 26, 1906. IN continuation of my despatch No. 391 of the 30th September last, I have the honour to transmit to you herewith, in translation, copy of the Regulations which have been framed for the enforcement of the opium Edict of the 20th September. This paper has been furnished to me privately by his Excellency Tong Shoa-yi, but I understand that it will be made public in the course of a few days.
The Regulations are drawn up in eleven Articles.
The first deals with the restriction of the cultivation of the drug, enumerates the provinces in which it is chiefly grown, and enjoins on all Governors-General and Governors to have accurate returns made of the acreage under poppy cultivation, and compel the cultivators to diminish the arca of cultivation by one-ninth each year until the production entirely ceases at the end of nine years. Infringements of the rule are to entail confiscation of the land, and rewards are offered to officials who succeed in putting an end to the cultivation of the poppy before the time specified.
Articles 2 and 3 are concerned with measures for reducing the consumption of opium by issuing licences to smokers, without which no one will be permitted to buy opium, and by instituting punishments for those who persist in smoking after a certain specified time. After stating that between 30 and 40 per cent. of the population say, 100,000,000 of the people-are addicted to the opium habit, the Articles make a distinction between officials and persons of high rank, who will be dealt with very severely; for sake of example the lower classes, who receive less strict treatment, and persons of all classes over sixty, in whose case the question of giving up the babit is not to be pressed.
The licences issued to consumers will prescribe in each case a limit of time within. which the habit must be given up, and will also fix the amount of consumption, which must be diminished by 20 or 30 per cent. annually. The registration and rigorous inspection of these licences must be enforced, and no fresh licences will be granted after the first registration. The names of smokers of the lower classes who are not cured of the habit at the end of the specified time will be posted in a public place, while official offenders will be deprived of their office, and graduates of their diploma.
Articles 4 and 5 relate to opium shops, and a distinction is drawn between opium dens, which are to be compulsorily closed within six months, and ordinary shops, which are to be registered, kept under observation, and gradually done away with during the time limit fixed for the abolition of the drug. No shop will be permitted to sell opium to any person who does not produce his licence; no restaurant or eating-house may provide opium for its guests, or allow them to bring opium appliances with them. A return of annual sales is to be made, and any shop attempting to continue in the trade after the expiry of the time limit will have its goods confiscated, and be liable to a fine of twice their value.
Articles 6 and 7 discuss the preparation of remedies for the cure of the opium craving; their sale at a fixed price, or free distribution; the establishment of anti-opium societies, and the formation of an enlightened public opinion on the subject.
Article 8 charges the local authorities with the duty of leading the movement, giving effect to all provisions regarding reports, inspections, and licences; inculcates the necessity of personal attention to these matters, and severely forbids any exactions on the part of underlings.
Article 9 forbids the smoking of opium by officials of high rank; a number of such persons are enumerated, who must solicit the permission of the Throne to be allowed to give up the habit within a fixed time, or, in default, to lose their post, if an official, or to have their rank pass on to the next in succession, if a hereditary noble.
For all other officials the time limit is six months. Teachers, scholars, officers and men of the army and navy, if opium smokers, are to be dismissed within three months.
Article 10 deals with the negotiations which are to be entered into with Great
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