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officially closed, but nearly everywhere the missionaries report that a certain number of dens are open secretly, and that the sale and smoking of opium goes on.
In some districts the magistrates have shown more energy, and persons found smoking secretly or selling without a licence have been punished. The central provincial autho- rities have issued proclamations forbidding the sale of smoking utensils and ordering the closing of all dens and the registering and licensing of shops for the sale of opium, but in most districts no official action of an effective nature appears to have been taken in pursuance of these proclamations. Nothing apparently has been done as regards the licensing of smokers and the gradual reduction of their allowance of opium. On the whole, however, there has been a decrease of the number of smokers, and from some districts we learn that smoking has actually become unpopular, and that smokers are looked on with contempt. In many districts the officials and gentry have set a good example to the people in abandoning smoking altogether, and this, taken in conjunction with the enhanced price of the drug and the fear of possible punishment, has had its effect. Though little has been done publicly to provide facilities for breaking off the habit, many persons are spontaneously making serious efforts to cure themselves. The last report received from His Majesty's consul at Kiukiang indicates a slight improvement in restriction of use, but less energy seems to have been shown by the officials in this province than in almost any other, or, at all events, such efforts as they have made have not been very successful.
CHEKIANG.
Sir Alexander Hosie was unable, owing to the absence of reports, to give any information as to this province, but the reports received since then from His Majesty's consul at Haugehow and His Majesty's vice-consul at Ningpo show that the authorities in Chekiang have been active in their efforts to suppress the use of the drug. Last autumn the governor issued orders (a) that all land devoted to the growth of opium should be registered, and that after May 1909 the cultivation was to cease altogether; (b) that the regulations as to the registration of smokers should be properly enforced with a view to their cure or subsequent disgrace.
Again in the spring the governor issued a series of lengthy and complicated regulations regarding the sale of opium. The first regulations dealt with the establishment of central commercial companies to control the sale both of raw and prepared opium in the various prefectures and districts, the limitation of the number of licensed shops, and the gradual reduction of the amount of their sales; the second dealt with the registration and licensing of smokers and imposed additional taxes (a) on smokers' licences of 40 cash per tael of raw opium and 60 cash per tacl of prepared opium purchased; and (b) on licensed opium shops to be calculated on the amount of their sales, and the third set of regulations laid down the duties and obligations of shops dealing in opium and the fees to be paid by them to obtain a licence. This is one of the cases in which His Majesty's Minister felt compelled to point out to the Chinese Government that the regulations introduced by the provincial authorities indicated an attempt to form a monopoly of the sale of opium, and to impose restrictions on dealings in foreign opium which, if carried into effect, would infringe our treaty rights, and requested that the provincial authorities might be instructed to exclude foreign opium from the operation of the clauses in the regulations in question which applied to the wholesale trade.
The consumption of opium in Chekiang has undoubtedly diminished; all opium dens, at all events in the large towns, have been closed; there has been a marked decrease in the number of smokers among civil officials, officers, soldiers, and generally among the public, though it is difficult to give accurate statistics as to the proportion, as it varies so much from district to district. The importation of foreign opium has decreased, but there has been a corresponding increase in the amount of native opium passed through the customs. The officials have been especially energetic in reducing the area of land under poppy cultivation, and the governor has memorialised the Throne that a reduction of 30 per cent. to 40 per cent. has been effected, that an attempt at the suppression of poppy cultivation throughout the province will be made this year, and that in 1911 it must absolutely cease. That much has already been done in this direction can be seen from the following reports from various prefectures. Prefecture of Hangchow: The prefect informed the governor that total prohibition was already enforcd. Prefecture of Ningpo: The cultivation is stated to be either totally suppressed or greatly diminished in all districts except that of Ning Hai Hsien, where permission was given to grow
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opium on account of the complete failure of the rice crops in 1907. Prefecture of Shaoshing: A considerable decrease is noted, though the officials did not show great energy in enforcing the measure. Prefecture of Taichow: This is a great centre of poppy growing. The authorities showed great activity, with the result that in some districts no poppy was to be seen last spring, while in others the reduction was raised from 10 per cent. to 90 per cent. Soldiers were sent out and destroyed a large proportion of the growing crops, and men were dispatched in all directions to warn the people not to plant poppy again under penalty of confiscation of their lands. Prefecture of Wenchow: In most districts a 50 per cent. reduction in area is reported. Prefecture of Ch'n Chou in Western Chekiang: Here it is said that absolutely no steps have been taken towards reducing cultivation.
FUKIEN.
The determined efforts of the authorities to suppress the growth of the poppy appear to have borne good fruit. As long ago as last December the reports of the missionaries received by His Majesty's consul at Foochow pointed to an almost total cessation of cultivation in that part of the province. The following sentences are taken from six reports received from missionaries: "So far as I can learn, there will he practically no opium grown here this year." "The cultivation of the
poppy has been much diminished this year. I have noticed none." "The cultivation of opium has ceased in this hsion and other grains are planted in its stead." "Cultivation ceased." "Cultivation almost nil. I have not seen a single field in travelling." "The cultivation of the poppy in the district of Hohchiang has diminished by one-half. It is now only grown in one or two places." All these missionaries also agreed in saying that there was a considerable decrease in the number of smokers, though smoking still went on chiefly in secret, all opium dens being shut,
In the Amoy consular district the authorities have shown themselves equally, if not more, in earnest. In the Tung-an district, formerly the principal source of native opium, the magistrate began a personal inspection of the villages when the time came for the poppy to show above ground and, when any was found, destroyed the crop and arrested the village elders. In one case where the villagers showed fight he had the villages burnt. The result is that the reduction of acreage under poppy in the Tung-an district has surpassed the most sanguine hopes: along roads where formerly nothing but poppies grow not a plant was to be seen this spring. In the other districts the story is much the same, the cultivation has been everywhere enormously reduced ; only in two small districts the missionaries reported that the orders against planting had not been obeyed, while a British merchant who was travelling in the province in April reported that about 30 miles from Foochow up the Min River he had found about 30 acres of land under poppy.
HUPEL.
"Little or no progress
was Sir A, Iosie's verdict as to this province, and after nearly a year's interval it is difficult to modify that verdict to any appreciable extent. The reports on the progress of the movement in Hupei are most contradictory, but it seems clear that even if the numerous regulations issued have had some effect in Hankow and other large cities, little or nothing has been done in the remoter districts. Considerable progress seems to have been made in suppressing the use of the drug among the high officials, military officers, and students in the cities of Wuchang, Hanyang and Hankow. A head office for the suppression of opium in Hupei has been established in Wuchang, and regulations were issued there imposing heavy penalties for the illicit sale or consumption of opium and for the sale of smoking utensils. The gentry and mercantile classes of Wuchang are said to be specially keen on the work of suppression, but the richer merchants of Hankow and Hanyang do not take the official action seriously and have laid in large stores of opium. All dens in Hankow have been closed, the officials themselves making several raids and severely punishing delinquents, but in the suburbs dens are still secretly open. His Majesty's consul at Ichaug reports that the dens at Ichang, Shasi, and other riverside towns have been officially closed, and that in March a deputy arrived to enforce the regulations for the registration and licensing of opium sliops and opium smokers.
The reports of the missionaries make it clear that outside the large cities the regulations of the Opium Suppression Bureau remain for the most part a dead letter.
se June
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