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Secretary of State for India acting through the Government of India. He refused to suspend his auction sales of opium when last summer he was urged by the traders to do so in the general interests of all concerned, but, on the contrary, he compelled them to protect the market value of their existing stocks by making further purchases at the auction sales which, in spite of such protests, he, as monopolist producer, insisted upon holding.
We desire very respectfully to ask whether what we cannot but regard as the off- hand and unfair treatment of the matter in the Under-Secretary's speech is to be taken as representing the final views of Sir Edward Grey on the position which has arisen between the Government and the traders, or whether, on the contrary, the Government do recognise that the traders under the circumstances are entitled to look for assistance from the Government, either in the direction of an arrangement by which their stocks may be taken over and gradually disposed of by the Government, acting either alone or in conjunction with the Government of China, or in some other direction which have the effect of averting the commercial crisis which otherwise appears
may to be inevitable.
A crisis has been temporarily averted by a combination of the opium merchants to maintain prices so as to reassure the banks and prevent default and failures among the China dealers, whilst trusting in the Home and Indian Governments to come to the rescue before it is too late. This combination has only become possible by the cessation of sales of certified opium and the reduction in the quantity of uncertified opium, but these measures, however valuable, are not alone sufficient.
We shall esteem it a great favour if you will kindly let us know when we may look for some definite action on the part of Government.
We are, &c.
E. D. SASSOON AND Co. DAVID SASSOON AND CO. (Limited).
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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[9278]
0.0
1220
[February 27.]
TRE 12 APF 3]
SECTION
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received February 27.)
(No. 74.) Sir,
Peking, February 12, 1913. IN continuation of my despatch No. 39 of the 23rd January, I have the honour to enclose consular despatches relating to opium cultivation in the provinces of Fukien, Szechuan, and Yunnan.*
Fukien-His Majesty's consul at Amoy, on the authority of missionaries and others, confirms previous statements that the poppy is being cultivated to a considerable extent in the Amoy district. The officials have received orders to suppress cultivation without causing disturbances, but they do not consider their military forces at present adequate to carry out these conditional orders and to interfere with the gathering of this season's harvest. His Majesty's consul at Foochow reports that he was informed by the civil commissioner on the 30th January that 1,000 soldiers, who had been sent into the Hsing-hua district some days previously, had arrived there and were engaged in up-rooting the poppy. The civil commissioner was confident that the rebels would not be allowed to interfere with the work of complete destruction. This information, however, does not appear to be borne out by a Reuter's telegram, delivered at Peking on the 30th January, stating that according to an official telegram no action had yet been taken to root up the poppy in the Hsing-hua district, and that the Ming pretender, who had a following of 1,500 men, was receiving a dollar per mow for protecting the poppy-fields.
In regard to Mr. Werner's reference to Chang-chou and Ch,uan-chou, I forwarded in my despatch No. 37 of the 22nd January an account from a Cantonese sent by his firm in Hong Kong to enquire into poppy cultivation in Chang-chou and Ch'uan-chou estimating the value of the opium under cultivation in these two prefectures at 20,000,000 dollars,
Szechuan The Chungking consular report deals with the eastern part of the province only, and is based on letters from Protestant and Rehan Catholic missionaries living at inland stations. The vice-consul states that the authorities have made conscientious and determined efforts at suppression, and their measures in most districts have been completely successful in the face of serious difficulties occasioned by distance and popular opposition. There has been, he adds, failure to enforce the orders against cultivation in a few remote spots in the mountain and border districts, but this is due rather to geographical obstacles than to any lack of will. The report is very satisfactory as far as the eastern portion of the province is concerned, but it still remains to be seen whether the other parts, especially the south-west, are clear of the poppy.
Tünnan. The acting consul-general, in his despatch of the 8th January, believes that, speaking generally, there is a distinct decrease in the area under cultivation this winter as compared with last year, and that this result is in great measure due to the steps taken by the provincial Government to stop the planting of the poppy. Cultivation
has, however, been seen, he states, in the east of the province. In a later despatch he gives notes of a tour made by M. Kok, a Dutch missionary, in northern Yünhan from October 1912 to January 1918. The first stage of the journey along the main road from Yunnan-fu to Lichiang (October to November 1912) revealed no opium cultivation, but the time of the year was in any case too early to furnish any signs of the poppy plant. M. Kok's return along the "small roads" skirting the borders of Yunnan and Szechuan gave evidence of no inconsiderable cultivation in regions inhabited by non- Chinese tribes, although it would appear that repressive measures are being attempted by the Chinese authorities. M. Wilden, the French delegate at Yunnan-fu, has informed Mr. Fox that the poppy has been planted this winter all along the Yunnan- Tonkin frontier, east and west of Laokay.
No reports have been received from Tengyueh as to the opium conditions in the
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