[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Maiesty's Government.]
C.O
535
OPIUM
CONFIDENTIAL.
[May 20085 SECTION REC
REGE 13 JUN 13
[19956]
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received May 1.)
(No. 157.) Šir,
IN continuation of my despatch No. 74 of the 12th February, and referring to
Peking, April 16, 1913. No. 96 of the 3rd March, I have the honour to forward information relating to the cultivation of the poppy in the provinces of Fukien, Chekiang, Kiangsu, Honan, Hupeh, Szechuan, Yunnan, Kueichow, and Kwangtung.
Fukien
His Majesty's consul at Foochow reported on the 19th March that he had received information from a British missionary at Hsing Hua that 90 per cent. of the local had been uprooted, and that the remaining 10 per cent, was in out-of-the-way corners crop among the hills. In the adjacent district of Sien-yi the bulk of the plants had been uprooted; a portion of the crop had been harvested, but some of this was subsequently destroyed. The missionary in question stated that he had not actually witnessed the destruction of the poppy, but he believed that the local officials had really dealt with the matter in earnest. His Majesty's consul added that, to the best of his knowledge, the prayer of the opium growers to be allowed to reap this season's crop had not been granted.
The "Central China Post" of the 25th March stated in a leading article that "the soldiers have made considerable headway against the determined rebellion of the opium farmers in Fukien, though the latest reports indicate that there is a good deal of poppy still growing." The same newspaper of the 31st March received information from Amoy, dated a week earlier, that the taotai had begun a vigorous anti-opium campaign in the Tung-an district, 20 miles north of Amoy, but that one-third of the crop bad already been gathered.
Chekiang.
On the 4th April His Majesty's consul-general at Shanghai forwarded a report upon opium cultivation in the province, prepared for him by Messrs. Edward Ezra and Co., and based on the accounts of two Chinese, who had left Shanghai on the 17th February and returned on the 8th March. The latter said that they had seen more than 120 li (40 miles) of poppy-fields. There was a moderate amount of the cultivation in the prefectures of Hangchow and Shaoshing (30 miles south-east of Hangehow). A fair quantity was seen in the prefectures of Wenchow, Chin-hua (centre of the province), Yenchow (30 miles north of Chin-hua), and Ningpo. South of the prefectural city of Taichow (midway between Ningpo and Wenchow) very heavy cultivation was observed, and they reported that Taichow was practically covered with poppy-fields. In my despatch No. 39 of the 23rd January it was stated that' Reuter's Pacific Service bad reported from Wenchow that the Magistrate of Jui-an, a few miles to the south-west, accompanied by a large armed force, had traversed that district, and that local orders had been issued for the destruction of all poppy plants within a fortnight. Mr. Ezra's two investigators claim to have seen a fair quantity of poppy growing in the district of Jui-an,
Kiangou.
His Majesty's consul at Chinkiang reported on the 17th March that the growing poppy had been uprooted recently in the north of the province around Yaowan, but not at Suining. On the 27th March he forwarded information from a missionary stationed at Haichou to the effect that poppy cultivation had at no time ever ceased in the north-eastern districts of Haichou, Kan-yü, and Shuyang. The planting had decreased 80 per cent. before the revolution, but since then the area under cultivation had more than doubled. The increase was confined to the more remote parts of the districts, and the poppy was not being grown near towns or highways.
His Majesty's consul at Nanking reported on the 12th March that a considerable amount had been sown in that part of the consular district remote from towns during
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