"1. That the International Opium Commission recognises the unswerving sincerity of the Government of China in their efforts to eradicate the production and consumption of opium throughout the Empire; the increasing body of public opinion among their own subjects by which these efforts are being supported; and the real, though unequal, progress already made in a task which is one of the greatest magnitude.
2. That in view of the action taken by the Government of China in suppressing the practice of opium smoking and by other Governments to the same end, the Inter- national Opium Commission recommends that each delegation concerned move its own Government to take measures for the gradual suppression of the practice of opium smoking in its own territories and possessions, with due regard to the varying circumstances of each country concerned.
3. That the International Opium Commission finds that the use of opium in any form otherwise than for medical purposes is held by almost every participating country to be a matter for prohibition or for careful regulation; and that each country in the administration of its system of regulation purports to be aiming, as oppor tunity offers, at progressively increasing stringency. In recording these conclusions the International Opium Commission recognises the wide variations between the conditions prevailing in the different countries, but it would urge on the attention of the Governments concerned the desirability of a re-examination of their systems of regulation in the light of the experience of other countries dealing with the same problem.
"4. That the International Opium Commission finds that each Government represented has strict laws which are aimed directly or indirectly to prevent the smuggling of opium, its alkaloids, derivatives, and preparations into their respective territories; in the judgment of the International Opium Commission it is also the duty of all countries to adopt reasonable measures to prevent at ports of departure the shipment of opium, its alkaloids, derivatives, and preparations, to any country which prohibits the entry of any opium, its alkaloids, derivatives, and preparations.
"5. That the International Opium Commission finds that the unrestricted manufacture, sale, and distribution of morphine already constitute a grave danger, and that the morphine habit shows signs of spreading; the International Opium Commission, therefore, desires to urge strongly on all Governments that it is highly important that drastic measures should be taken by each Government in its own territories and possessions to control the manufacture, sale, and distribution of this drug, and also of such other derivatives of opium as may appear on scientific inquiry to be liable to similar abuse and productive of like ill-effects.
"6. That as the International Opium Commission is not constituted in such a manner as to permit the investigation from a scientific point of view of anti-opium remedies and of the properties and effects of opium and its products, but deems such investigation to be of the highest importance, the International Opium Commission desires that each delegation shall recommend this branch of the subject to its own Government for such action as that Government may think necessary.
"7. That the International Opium Commission strongly urges all Governments possessing concessions or settlements in China which have not yet taken effective action toward the closing of opium divans in the said concessions and settlements to take steps to that end, as soon as they may deem it possible, on the lines already adopted by several Governments.
"8. That the International Opium Commission recommends strongly that each delegation move its Government to enter into negotiations with the Chinese Govern- ment with a view to effective and prompt measures being taken in the various foreign concessions and settlements in China for the prohibition of the trade and manufacture of such anti-opium remedies as contain opium or its derivatives.
"9. That the International Opium Commission recommends that each delegation move its Government to apply its pharmacy laws to its subjects in the consular districts, concessions, and settlements in China."
In his closing speech at the final sitting of the commission, Bishop Brent, the president, spoke as follows of the work accomplished:-
A com-
"In our resolutions, based upon the evidence in hand, we have touched various phases of the subject, though we do not pretend to have exhausted them. plimentary resolution expressing sympathy with China in her task has been adopted; drastic measures for the suppression of the morphine habit and the gradual suppresion of opium smoking are advocated as a principle; three resolutions are aimed at
5
correcting the abuse of opium and its derivatives in foreign concessions and settlements in China; in countries were opium is not prohibited for other than medical purposes a revision of the existing systems of regulation is recommended to the Governments concerned; cach delegation is urged to advise its own Government to investigate scientifically for itself the matter of anti-opium remedies, and the effect of opium and its products; international co-operation is advocated to prevent the smuggling of opium into countries where a prohibitory law prevails.”
It is unnecessary to dwell any further here on the proceedings or resolutions of the commission, as a report has already been printed in two volumes at Shanghae, the first volume containing the minutes of the proceedings, and the second the reports presented by the various delegations on the opium question as far as it concerned the country which they represented. It had been expected that the Chinese report would contain much valuable and reliable information in the shape of statistics of production and of the number of smokers in various years, but I am bound to say that the hopes expressed by Sir A. Hosie in this respect in his general report were doomed to disappointment. I shall deal later with Sir A. Hosie's own criticism before the commission of the data furnished by the Chinese Government, when I come to the question of the possibility of furnishing the Indian Government, at the end of the three probationary years, with a reliable and serious opinion, based on adequate grounds, as to how far the Chinese have fulfilled their share of the agreement to reduce the production and consumption of native opium proportionately with the reduction in the export of opium from India to China.
I shall now take, first, the capital, and then the provinces one by one in the same order in which they were dealt with in Sir A. Hosie's report, and shall give a short résumé, in regard to each, of the information that has reached me from various sources, and, where possible, a general impression as to the progress made, or the
reverse.
PEKING.
It has become a matter of some difficulty for any European to obtain accurate information as to the present position of opium smoking in the capital, as the Chinese have became so secretive on the subject. I am indebted for my information to Dr. Gray, the physician of His Majesty's Legation, who is at the same time doctor in charge of a hospital where large numbers of Chinese are treated, and who has taken considerable interest in the progress of the opium movement in China. Dr. Gray gives it as his deliberate opinion that opium smoking has almost disappeared in Peking, at all events among the classes with which he comes in contact. It is, he says, now very rare for a man either to seek treatment for the opium habit or to confess, when admitted to a hospital for other complaints, that he is still addicted to the drug.
Among the people about three-tenths have stopped smoking, and among the officials about eight-tenths. The latter, however, being subject to periodical examination, often stop for a short time and then relapse into their old ways. Among the officers of the army the habit has been entirely abandoned. It is now very difficult to purchase opiani in Peking illicitly. The shops are licensed, and the purchaser must be provided with a licence. The licence ticket costs 10 cents, and is available for three months. After that period the licence has to be renewed, and at each renewal the daily amount purchasable is reduced. Opium dens are, of course, forbidden, but a considerable number are still open clandestinely-perhaps about half as many as were open eighteen months ago. From time to time the native newspapers mention cases of raids made by the police on such secret dens, the penalty inflicted on the owners averaging a fine of 15 dollars, or a month's imprisonment with hard labour.
The price of opium has increased greatly, in the case of foreign opium by 50 per cent.; while the price of native opium, which comes chiefly from Shansi and Kansu, has doubled. Opium pipes are difficult to obtain openly, though they can still be bought secretly.
Unfortunately, Dr. Gray tells me that a great deal of opium is consumed in the form of anti-opium pills. After a large number of enquiries extending over a period of several months Dr. Gray places the number of habitual anti-opium pill takers at between one-half and three-quarters of the former total of opium smokers. This means that the manner of taking opium has merely been changed, but fortunately for a less baneful form, that is to say, that a man can satisfy his narcotic craving in a
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