6
7
We would emphasise the fact that we are by which we here suggest should be followed by our Government.
no means urging that the course prefer to see the terms of the existing agreement insisted upon by the British We would infinitely Government, and, willingly or unwillingly, carried out by the Chinese; but if this most desirable way out of the difficulty cannot be followed, if China persist in the dishonest and morally indefensible attitude which she has adopted with regard to the matter, and if Great Britain fail to induce ber to recerle from that position, then we respectfully offer our suggestion, in the absence, as we have pointed out, of any other plan whatever, and leave it in your hands, Sir, in the full confidence that you will give it all due consideration without inferring that in submitting it to you, we in any manner waive the least of our unquestioned rights in the case.
We have only to add, by way of conclusion, that if the Government of India should accept the proposal and desire to give three months' notice before putting it into practice, they should put a high reserve upset price on the opium, as they have just done in the case of sales to China, and finally, we would once more urge that if this step which we suggest commends itself to the British Government it is absolutely necessary that it should be taken at once. Any further delay in solving our; present difficulties will inevitably precipitate irremediable disaster.
We have, &c.
Certificated-
Enclosure 3 in No. I.
Stocks of Indian Opium to be dealt with.
Stocks in Hong Kong and Shanghai
Already sold by India, on account of 1918 import ::
Uncertificated-
In Calcutta godowns
Total
"
1918: January, February, and March sales, at 1,100°
::
Chesta.
27,000
2,760
Regulation of the Use of Opium.-In 1896 the importation of opium by private persons was forbidden and a factory for preparing the raw article was established. The Government enforced the administrative control of the drug while at the same time warning the people of the evils of opium smoking. In 1897, under the Formosan Opium Ordinance, smoking licences were granted to those recognised as confirmed opium smokers, after State medical examination. At the same time the sale of the prepared drug, the manufacture and sale of opium-smoking utensils, and the opening of divans were all regulated by the Government.
Prices. The sale price of prepared opium was fixed on the basis partly of the market price of crude opium and partly of the standard of living of the smokers, the rate being such as would tend eventually to overcome the taste for opium. The price of raw opium has gradually risen and the standard of living has slowly advanced since this date, so that the sale price of the prepared drug has been increased four times during the last fifteen years.
Licensed Dealers-Licensed merchants are chosen from among respectable persons in any particular district to sell the prepared opium which is of three qualities-to retail dealers at a fixed price, the rate of commission being 1 per cent. of that price.
Cultivation.-Cultivation of the poppy was forbidden in Formosa in 1897 under heavy penalties.
Opium Imports.-Raw opium, which is of the Benares, Patna, Persian, and Turkish varieties, is imported from abroad. Indian opium is bought direct from the Indian Government. The imports for the three years 1909-11 are given in the following table:**
1909.
1910.
1911.
29,760
Chests. 4.000 3,800
Indian Persian
Lbs. 133,919 200,605
£
Lbe.
£
Lba.
£
94,412
106,987
186,789
67,268
01,507
144,627
135,938
140,966
73,515
70,406
7,800
Turkish
7,500
3,852
129,488
94,111
36,926
29,876
37.060
Total
342,024
242,891
372,413
871,860
177,709
191,989
Shanghai settlements
Hong Kong for export..
Straita settlements
Indo-China
Java
Hong Kong, oWD (IES Macao,
Burmah, Siam, &c.
Grand total
•
Markets left at date
Chests. Obesta.
per month
400
"
400
800
::::::
M
་་
11
11
窗
::::::
200
200
200
70
65
05
800
1,600
Total
monthly
Or, 19,200 chests a-year.
Enclosure 4 in No. I.
Memorandum on State Monopoly of Opium in Formosa.
Japanese Policy. The question which attracted most attention in Japan and abroad when Formosa became a Japanese possession in 1895 was that relating to the prohibition of opium smoking. The Chinese inhabitants, who number over 90 per cent. of the total population, had been long addicted to this practice. The Japanese Govern- ment recognised that the use of opium had become a matter of babit in Formosa, and that for political and sanitary reasons it would be impolitic to force inveterate smokers to abandon it immediately. They aimed, therefore, at a policy of gradual suppression. It was decided to prohibit opium smoking by the general public, and to grant permission to confirmed smokers only to use the drug prepared by the Government. The Japanese appear satisfied that the opium policy of their Government in Formosa has been successful.
Revenue. The gross revenue from the sales of prepared opium was 498,4007. in the financial year 1901-11, the net revenue being about 20 per cent, of this figure. The gross revenue for 1911-12 was estimated at about 500,000l., in spite of the fact that the quantity consumed in 1911 was less than in the preceding year. The reasons given for this are the rise in price of the prepared drug and an increased demand for the better quality.
Opium Smokers.Opium smoking is practically confined to the Chinese inhabitants of Formosa. Those from the province of Fukien and their descendants number over 80 per cent. of the entire population and furnish 88 per cent. of the opium smokers. The remaining 12 per cent. include the Chinese from Kuangtung and elsewhere in China. The number of licensed smokers in 1900 was 169,064, and at the end of 1910 fell to 98,987.
Population. The population of Formosa in December 1910 was 3,341,217-
Japanese
Formosan Chinese from Fukten and Kuangtung Foreigners (almost all Chinese)
Aborigines
Total
08,048
3,106,223
14,840
122,106
8,341,217
References.
44
Japanese Rule in Formosa."
Y. Takekoshi. (1907.)
International Opium Commission. Formosa. Vol. II. (1909.)
Consular Report, Northern Formosa. (1909.)
Consular Report. Formosa. (1910 and 1911.)
"Financial and Economic Annal of Japan." (1912.)
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