[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.
OPIUM.
9492
RECO
February 10
CONFIDENTIAL.
[6310]
No. 1.
SECTION 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received February 10.)
(No. 39.) Sir,
Peking, January 23, 1913. IN continuation of my despatch No. 506 of the 23rd December last, I have the honour to forward additional information as to opium cultivation in the provinces of Fukien, Chekiang, Kiangsu, Anhui, and Szechuan.
L
Fukien. On the 7th January Reuter's Pacific Service reported that at least 200,000 mou (32,260 acres) were under opium cultivation in the district of Hsinghua, situated on the coast between Amoy and Foochow. The news was confirmed by a letter to the editor of the "Peking Daily News" on 9th January, stating that similar information had been sent three days earlier to the Reform Bureau in Peking from an American missionary living in the Hsinghua district. On the 16th January His Majesty's consul at Foochow telegraphed that the latest general statement from Hsinghua gave the amount under cultivation as enormous, that the country south of that city and in the adjacent district of Hsien-yu was covered with poppy, and that no one had ever seen so much under cultivation, On the 31st December a special correspondent to the China Press," an American newspaper published in Shanghai, writing from Hsinghua, reported that he had been along the main road from that city to Hsien-yu and had seen the poppy thickly planted on both sides of the road without any attempt at concealment. In his despatch No. 5 of the 11th January, which was enclosed in my despatch No 37 of the 22nd January, His Majesty's consul-general at Shanghai forwarded an instructive account, dated 29th December, from a Cantonese, sent by his firm in Hong Kong to enquire into poppy cultivation in the two perfectures of Chang-chou (west of Amoy) and Chuan-chou (between Amoy and Hsinghua). As a result of bis enquiries he placed the value of the opium fields under cultivation at 15,000,000 dollars, and calculated that opium to a farther value of 5,000,000 dollars was being grown in the mountainous regions in those parts, making a total of 20,000,000 dollars as the value of the opium under cultivation in the two prefectures.
Chekiang. After the outbreak of the revolution this province constituted itself the leader of the several provinces which, contrary to the terms of the opium agreement, proceeded to draw up and enforce regulations differing in details but all aimed against the trade in foreign opium. On the 18th January Reuter's Pacific Service reported from Wenchow that the plains and both banks of the river in the district of Jui An, a few miles to the south-west of Wenchow, were planted with poppy a month ago for a distance of forty miles. The magistrate and a large armed force had traversed the district and local orders were issued for the destruction of all poppy plants within a fortnight.
Kiangau. On the 7th January His Majesty's cousul at Chinkiang reported that cultivation of the poppy had been resumed on a more extended scale than ever in the northern districts of Sin-ning, Su-chien, Pi chou, Shu-yang, and Haichow; an enormous number of fields bad been sown around Yao-wan, Pi-chou, and Su-chien; an order had been published prohibiting cultivation but it had remained a dead-letter; the gentry themselves were taking part in the cultivation and were certainly doing nothing to discourage it. On the 30th December, a special correspondent to the China Press" reported that Su-chien had been one of the greatest opium growing districts in China ten years ago but that not a single acre was under cultivation in 1909. He estimated that at least half the former area had been given up to the poppy last autumn. On the 7th January a special correspondent to the same newspaper reported that he had recently spent more than a month in the countryside of the northern district of Feng-hsien and that the poppy was being planted there in larger quantities than had been the case for many years.
Anhui. On the 8th January His Majesty's consul at Wuhu reported that the poppy was being cultivated in the northern districts of Po-chou, Shou-chou, and Ying-chou.
Szechuan.-In my despatch No 342 of the 1st September, 1911, it was recorded
[2806 k-1]
281
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.