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way that does not stupify him, sap his energies, or curtail his working hours. Many Dr. Gray men take a pill now and then and go on with their work just the same. instances one of the Chinese assistants at his hospital who was formerly a moderate smoker, but now swallows anti-opium pills containing opium, and keeps on taking this homeopathic remedy without in any way impairing his efficiency as a hospital
assistant.
As for morphia, Dr. Gray says that there were undoubtedly a large number of smokers who left off opium and took to hypodermic injections of morphia at the time of the anti-opium edicts and for some months after their issue. But this craze has died down, and Dr. Gray tells me that it is at least six months since he has seen a The reason man come to the hospital with marks of the needle pricks on his arms. for this diminution is the great difficulty of procuring the drug or the injection needles. There is a certain amount of morphia taking going on, as it can still be clandestinely bought in certain Japanese chemists' shops. For those who are willing to pay the cost of this comparatively expensive luxury it can always be got, but Dr. Gray considers that if one were to compare Peking with other large cities in Europe and America there would be no difficulty in proving that the number of morphomaniacs in certain other cities is immeasurably greater.
MANCHURIA.
The reports received from the consul-general at Mukden prove that much has been done in the past year in Manchuria, both in regard to reducing the area of cultivation In the last general report on the and to diminishing the number of smokers. suppression of opium it was stated that, according to the approved proposals of the Board of Finance, poppy cultivation was to cease in the province of Hei-lung-chiang at the end of 1908, and in Kirin and Fengtien during 1909. In December of last year His Majesty's acting consul-general at Mukden reported that orders had been issued to the local authorities throughout Manchuria to entirely prohibit the growth of the poppy in the districts under their charge after the spring of 1909. In so large a country as Manchuria it is a practical impossibility to estimate the comparative extent of land under poppy cultivation in successive years, but there should not be equal difficulty in ascertaining after this year how No reports have reached far the orders of total prohibition have been carried out. His Majesty's Legation from Mukden since the end of last year, when His Majesty's acting consul-general reported that be fully believed in the sincerity of the high provincial authorities as set forth in their numerous anti-opium proclamations, but that it was difficult, if not impossible, at that time to furnish a reliable estimate as to the diminution in the area of land under poppy cultivation. The Newchang commissioner of customs estimated the consumption of the province for the year at 8,000 piculs, whereas before the anti-opium edict of 1906 it had averaged 12,000 piculs, plus an export of 3,000 piculs, making a total output of 15,000 picals. The export of opium from Manchuria has practically ceased, and in 1908 only 3 piculs of foreign opium were imported through the two ports of Newchwang and Antung. The commissioner estimated the opium smokers to amount to about 2 per cent. of the total population of the three provinces, though of course the proportion varied considerably in different districts. This meant that there had been à decrease of one out of every three smokers.
At Mukden itself there is effective police supervision and proper control of the licensed houses and of the sale of the drug. The use of opium in inns, restaurants, brothels, and other public resorts had entirely ceased by the end of last year; there was no smoking amongst the local officials, at any rate in public, and the Viceroy had dismissed several officials for opium smoking. The diminution in the number of smokers is put by the Chinese themselves at 50 per cent., but this is probably an exaggeration. Mr. Acting Consul-General Willis reported at the end of last year that a similar condition of things seemed to prevail in all the larger cities of Manchuria, though not perhaps in all the outlying districts where the execution of the Viceroy's orders depended solely on the inclination and energy of the chief local authority; public feeling against the opium habit was steadily growing everywhere, and those who still indulged in the vice did so in private-in itself a good sign. The general consensus of available testimony tends to show that even in the remoter districts of Manchuria there has been a decrease both in cultivation and in smoking. Mr. Willis drew attention to the increased use of morphia by subcutaneous injections, which threatened to become a worse evil than
the disease it was intended to cure; the syringes and morphia were apparently distributed about the country by Japanese pedlars.”
Mr. Willis's general conclusions are borne out by His Majesty's vice-consul at Antung, who reported that in the province of Fengtien the restriction of the area under poppy cultivation was being steadily persisted in, that in some parts total prohibition had been enforced by the uprooting of the crops, and that, although there were a certain number of officials who treated the question with laxity, yet public opinion throughout his consular district was generally in favour of total prohibition.
The Viceroy of Manchuria, in a memorial to the Throne dated the 12th April, stated that in the province of Fengtien the people were not greatly addicted to the vice; that the enforcement of the prohibition among the official classes had not been difficult to carry into effect; that the soil was not particularly suitable for the growth of the poppy; and that he would take proper steps to see that the order forbidding its cultivation after the spring of 1909 was enforced, and other crops, such as grain, cotton, indigo, &c., planted in its stead.
It is gratifying to be able to report that shortly after the termination of the Opium Commission orders were issued for the closing of the opium dens in the Japanese settlement in Antung, though the actual closing was not carried out till the end of July. These dens, to the number of about 150, had hitherto offered every inducement to opium smokers to indulge in the vice.
CHIHLI.
Sir Alexander Hosie was able to report favourably last year on the condition of things in the metropolitan province of Chilli and on the energy and determination displayed by the Anti-Opium Bureau. On the whole the information received since then from His Majesty's consul-general at Tien-tsin donotes further progress,
A memorial by the Viceroy of Chihli published on the 21st January announced his decision to prohibit totally the cultivation of opium throughout the province after the spring of 1909, so that here, as in Manchuria, it will be easier to observe the effective value of this summary measure, which has been adopted by several provincial governments as the only satisfactory way of grappling with the question of suppression.
In a further memorial, dated the 19th April, the Viceroy explained that it was this conviction that had induced him to issue such a summary order against cultiva- tion of the poppy. In regard to suppression of smoking, he stated that strict measures had been taken to stamp out the habit among officials, and several delinquents had been dismissed. Every effort had been made to discourage the use of the drug among the general public, and the system of licences had been strictly enforced. Large quantities of anti-opium medicines had been distributed, and the Viceroy claimed that between 20,000 and 30,000 cures had been effected in the 200 institutions specially established for that purpose. All opium saloons had been closed, and the number of licensed shops was being reduced, 800 having already been closed. Severe measures had been taken to check illicit trading in opium and also in morphia, over 1,300 convictions for selling opium without a licence having been recorded.
He bad taken
steps to make good the loss in revenue by an increase in the salt tax and by imposing higher fees on opium licences, and would take further steps if necessary.
A report received from a missionary in the north of the province said that the system of quarterly licences for the use of opium had had excellent effects; that the number of smokers had been reduced by 20 to 25 per cent.; that there were only three licensed opium shops in the city where he lived, and that the cultivation of the poppy had already been prohibited in the district. Reports were received from missionaries during the earlier part of the year covering a large portion of west central Chill, and these showed that the restrictions on smoking were well enforced, most of the officials had abandoned smoking, the renewal of smokers' licences was insisted on, and no opium deus were open; but the restrictions on cultivation were only enforced in some places, while in others the attitude of the authorities was not sufficiently uncompromising, and farmers were reported to have sown both poppy and wheat on the same ground, their idea being that if they were allowed to grow poppy they would root out the wheat, and, if not, they could root out the poppy and still have their wheat crop.
His Majesty's consul-general made the usual complaint as to the nature of the romedies employed against the opium habit, and said that in many cases they were more dangerous than the disease.
isc June
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