CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911 — Page 422

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in Urumchi and elsewhere. Proclamations were also issued forbidding the sale of opium accessories, and also smuggling into the capital.

under

Unfortunately, this report was not supported by facts.

poppy

These measures looked well on paper, and at the end of 1909 the governor was able, as he thought, to report to the throne that opium was no longer grown in the province.

As in Kansu, the area had been reduced near the towns and main roads, but the plant had been sown as usual in the remoter districts. In the spring of 1910 the central Government, not content with the governor's assurances, directed the Tu Chih Pu (Board of Finance) to telegraph to its representative at Urumchi, Mr. Liang Yu-shu, who is in charge of the Ts'ai Chêng Chii (Finance Office), to enquire into and report on the manner in which the opium campaign had really progressed. Mr. Liang, whose own deputies in different parts of the province informed him of the true state of affairs, being unwilling to involve the governor in trouble, showed him the telegram and said he would not report for three mouths, but that then he must report the truth. The governor, stirnulated into energetic action, dispatched a number of deputies throughout the province to investigate and insist on the opium regulations being strictly enforced." Such an excellent opportunity for squeezing the local officials was not lost, and some of the deputies did not scruple to demand large sums of money for sending up favourable reports. Thus, I learnt on good authority, 20,000 taels were demanded of the Manass magistrate, who, being unable to pay, was reported for lack of zeal and cashiered.

In the Kuch'eng neighbourhood a serious riot involving loss of life occurred in consequence of the Government's belated action. Poppy cultivation had been stopped in the more populons districts, but in the valleys, and at the foot of the Bogdo Uia, the eastern extension of the Tien shan, the plant had been sown as usual by the "Hua Ko," and was now almost in flower. When the magistrate went out to direct personally the destruction of the forbidden plant the attitude of the Kansu men became so threatening that the Prefect of Urumchi was sent down to assist him with soldiers. The agitation culminated in a riot in which the prefect was attacked, and some villages burnt by the malcontents, infuriated by seeing their crops destroyed. A pitched battle with the soldiers ensued, in which over 100 persons were killed. Order was, however, soon restored, and the ringleaders captured and put to death. To compensate those whose crops had been destroyed, the Government distributed a sum of money among them, and also provided means for them to return to their homes in Kansu and Shensi. Many of them, however, remained in the province and joined in the riot of August, in which part of the provincial capital was burnt.

In consequence of the riot at Kuch'eng the Financial Secretary Liang was unable to delay his report to the Board, which was to the effect that the cultivation of the poppy had not been completely stopped as the Governor bad stated in his memorial. The latter's conduct was subsequently censured in an edict of September 1910, and referred to the Board of Civil Office for the determination of an adequate punishment. Later on in August a serious riot occurred in Uruntsi, which resulted in part of the city being burnt, and the Governor in consequence of his supineness in dealing with it has now been ordered to return to Peking. The riot had no connection with the opium question, and is therefore outside the scope of these notes. For lack of zeal in enforcing the opiura regulations the magistrates of Kuch'eng and Manass have also been

cashiered.

For the better prevention of opium growing the provincial Government has latterly adopted regulations similar to those now being enforced in Kansu. In those places where the poppy was formerly cultivated every ten families are to be mutually responsible for infractions of the regulations which will also render the village headmen and local officials liable to punishment. The super-tax hitherto levied on poppy land is now naturally abolished.

As has been mentioned above the opium produced in the Hsin Chiang was insuffi- cient for local consumption, and supplies had to be drawn from elsewhere chiefly from Kansu, where the drug is abundant and cheap. The trade has now been prohibited, and the onus of preventing it falls chiefly on the magistrate of Hami, in whose district the most important trade routes across the desert from Kausu converge. At the time of my journey the preventive officials were very active, almost daily captures of opium being made. Travellers' baggage and merchandise were being searched at each resting-place in the desert, and I was told that in this way 3,000 ounces of opium had been captured within the fortnight before I arrived. Persons found in possession of opium are not only liable to punishment, but their goods, animals and vehicles are

also confiscated. The profits of a successful venture are, however, so great that kind of device is resorted to in order to elude the vigilance of the preventive every officers. Even officials do not disdain to engage in the traffic, and there is a deputy now awaiting punishment in Urumchi for this offence. He was bringing to the Hsin Chiang part of the annual subsidy from the interior, and thought to make his journey more profitable by smuggling opium. His official status did not prevent his cart from being searched, and he has now to pay the penalty of his cupidity. Abuses among the preventive officers no doubt, exist, a usual way in which they nullify the regulations being to understate the amount of opium smuggled when reporting a capture, reserving for their own profit the remainder.

The vigilance of the officials in preventing smuggling as well as the reduction of cultivation has been so far successful as to raise the price of opium to almost prohibitive heights. The trade being now illicit all transactions are on a cash basis, the cash being paid before delivery, so that there can be no market rate, and each sale is a matter of bargain between buyer and seller. My own enquiries showed that the price for 100 Chinese ounces was 150 taels to 200 taels at Hami, 240 taels to 280 taels at Urumchi, 180 taels at Karashar, 160 taels at Kucha, 130 taels at Aksu, and 160 taels at Kashgar.* I regret that as 1 did not pass through Ili, where there is a large Chinese population, I was unable to learn the price there. The lower price at Aksu and Kucha may be due to the importation of opium from the Russian province of Semire- chensk. I heard complaints from some Chinese officials that opium is smuggled across this frontier. There are numerous Dungans in this Russian province, some of whom chose to remain there after the retrocession of Ili, while others have since emigrated, and they also find it profitable to grow opium. The Chinese officials allege that no effective measures are taken on the Russian side to restrict cultivation or to prevent smuggling into Chinese territory. On the Chinese side they tell me the trade routes are watched, and Dungans of Russian nationality found smuggling opium are hauded over to their own authorities for punishment. I have no means of knowing how far the Chinese allegations are true.

Opium-smoking has been prohibited in the new dominion since the end of 1909, and compared with Kansu, where the habit is not suppressed, I saw very little of it. It is probable, however, that, while the high price of the drug may place it beyond the reach of the humbler classes, the vice is practised in secret by those who can afford to pay. It is certain that one, at least, of the highest officials in the capital at the time of my visit was an opium-smoker, and the habit is still practised by many of the yamên underlings. Wherever we have had dealings with this latter class my remaining servant has been asked if he had brought opium, and ridiculed as a fool for not taking advantage of the opportunity to smuggle afforded by his travelling with a foreigner. Nevertheless it must be admitted that opium-smoking is now in public opinion bad form, and public opinion will do more than any regulations to prevent the spread of the habit.

I have already mentioned that opium-smoking is not practised by the Turki population of the Nan Lu. An analogous habit, however, prevails in the use of hashish, a drug which is prepared from the hemp plant. It is largely produced in Chinese Turkestan and is a staple export to India. In the access of zeal, which the first opium decrees produced, the governor, to whose notice this other vice was brought, issued orders that the manufacture of hashish was to be stopped. An attempt was also made to prohibit its export to India. The local officials at the time made a show of carrying out the governor's orders, but the matter has latterly been tacitly dropped and the manufacture and export of the drug now proceed without hindrance.

In the progress made in the suppression of the opium evil, the Hsin Chiang compares favourably with the neighbouring province of Kansu. This happy result, however, must, I think, be attributed to the strong attitude of the central Govern- ment and the honesty of one of its officials. The cashiered governor, whose reputation for integrity and good intentions is high, has hardly proved strong enough to control the territorial officials of this remote province, and his retiring disposition has continually prevented him from learning the true condition of affairs. The advent of a new governor, who is believed to be able and energetic, seemed to me to be received in the provincial capital with satisfaction even by the officials. The pressing need of this province is a man at the head of affairs at Urumchi, who will hold the

*The Hsin Chiang tael exchanges for approximately 38. at Kashgar, but at the rates current in Shanghai in May 1910 would be there worth not more than 28. 8d.

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