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the months of October and November last. Suppressive measures had been vigorously conducted within the last two months and much of the crop had been destroyed. He is of opinion that there are still some patches of poppy cultivation here and there in outlying parts of the prefecture.
His Majesty's consul-general at Shanghai forwarded on the 15th March the copy of a report compiled by Mr. Ezra, who had sent two Chinese for the special purpose of investigating the conditions of opium cultivation in the province. These men left Shanghai on the 19th February and returned on the 11th March. According to their report, poppy was being grown in no great abundance in the Chinkiang prefecture. The neighbourhood of Haimen (50 miles north of Shanghai) aud Tungchow (60 miles north- west of Shanghai) was full of poppy, and large felds were under cultivation. The villagers at the latter place had stated that the senior of their local headmen owned two fields, and had twice uprooted a few plants in order to show his zeal in the anti-opium campaign. In the unfrequented districts around Nanking miles upon miles of poppy- fields had been seen, and there was an area of 30 miles under cultivation in the Kiang- ning prefecture. This does not appear, however, to be borne out by the statements of His Majesty's consul at Nanking, given above. According to the two Chinese, poppy was also being grown to some extent in hundreds of places along the Kiangsu-Honan and Kiangsu-Shantung borders, and the neighbourhood of Haichow was covered with the fields for a distance of 50 miles. The report states that "the foreign missionaries resident in the city [Haichow] confirm the fact that no attempt has yet been made by the local officials to restrict the growth." This is to some extent confirmed by the information furnished by His Majesty's consul at Chinkiang. In the northern district of Su-chien the poppy is reported by Mr. Ezra's two investigators to be cultivated extensively, and the supply in this district alone is declared to be adequate for the needs of thousands of smokers.
Honan.
The "Central China Post" of the 21st March published a report on the authority of a missionary that the poppy was being grown on fields belonging to the President, Yuan Shih-kai, as well as on those belonging to his relations. The Peking "Daily News" of the 17th March stated that strict orders had been telegraphed to the Governor to investigate the district concerned, and to carry out prompt measures of suppression at all costs.
Hupeh.
His Majesty's consul at Ichang reported on the 27th February that the prefect had gone on a special tour, and had found large areas under opium cultivation in the north- west. According to information received from the Belgian missionaries, the cultivation had increased greatly in the south-west district of Li-chuan. His Majesty's consul reported that apparently poppy was not being grown elsewhere in his consular district.
Szechuan.
The acting consul-general at Chengtu reported on the 2nd March that he had received information from missionaries that greatly increased cultivation had taken place in the Chien-chang Valley, in the south of the province, during the past year- more especially in the tribal territories beyond Chinese control. The poppy area iu this region embraced the prefecture of Ning-yuan, and the districts of Hui-lí and Yen-yuan, together with the intervening territory of the independent Lolos. Three good crops had been harvested in quick rotation. Feeble and ill-directed official efforts had been made to destroy these crops but without success. In Western Szechuan a general recrudescence had taken place in the prefecture of Ya-chou since the revolution, but the area under cultivation was less than in former years. The crop had been grown for the greater part in out-of-the-way places, and in the country under the jurisdiction of the native chieftain of Mupin and the tribal lands in the district of Fu-lin. Renewed instructions to suppress cultivation had been issued recently, but the area is difficult of control, a great part being mountainous. In Northern Szechuan there was an inconsiderable amount of cultivation in the prefecture of Pao-ning and the district of Chien-chou. A large amount was being grown in the districts of Kuang-yuan and Chao-hua. Little or no attempt at concealment was made, and the plants flourished in close proximity to the high roads. In the prefecture of Lung-an the enforcement of suppressive measures against the large crops had given rise to local
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disturbances. In Eastern Szechuan no effort had been made to check the cultivation around Kai-haien. The acting consil-general also reported that, in addition to the localities mentioned above, small crops were being undoubtedly raised in the more remote places throughout the province. He added that reports from many districts showed an apparently complete suppression of cultivation, and that the cultivation did not appear to have reached really serious dimensions anywhere but in the Chien-chang Valley, where a condition resembling anarchy prevails.
The acting consul at Chungking reported on the 3rd March that, with the exception of some districts close to the Kueichow border, opium cultivation had been effectively suppressed through Eastern Szechuan. The authorities, he stated, had been actively enforcing the removal of all poppies from these districts. The informa- tion from Chungking is not confirmed by the acting consul-general so far as Kai-hsien is concerned. A consular officer has also received information from a trustworthy source, based on observations made during a tour in the neighbourhood of Wan-hsien (25 miles south of Kai-hsien) to the effect that the poppy is growing there freely in all directions.
Yünnan.
His Majesty's consul-general at Yunnan-fu has forwarded information, dated the end of January, from missionaries in Northern and Eastern Yunnan, which shows a large amount of cultivation in those parts. In the Prefecture of Chao-tung the quantity under cultivation was larger than last year, and in the adjoining Prefecture of Tung- Ch'uan the poppy had been freely planted. In the Prefecture of Wu-ting the poppy, especially in remote districts, flourished probably in larger quantities than last year. Prohibitory proclamations had been issued, but little or nothing had been done to check the cultivation among the non-Chinese tribes. In the eastern Prefecture of Ch'ü-ching, the missionary had been on a recent tour, and had noticed a considerable quantity of poppy in fields along the high road. He was informed on good authority that it had also been planted in greater abundance in the hill country away from the main roads. The planting was more extensive than last year, but a large amount had been lately destroyed by soldiers, so that he estimated the local crop this spring at one-half of that of last year. Speaking generally, he considered that the officials in that prefecture were doing very little to prevent cultivation. In a later despatch His Majesty's consul- general reported, from a Chinese source, that the poppy had been sown this year in the districts of Tengyueh, Lung-ling, Yung-ping, Wei-hsi, and Chung-tien, in the west; in Szemao, Chen-pien, and Yung-kang, in the south; in Lo-ping, Chan-yi, Yung-shan, Ta-kuan, and Lu-tien in the east; in Yuan-mow and Lu-chuan in the north. He estimated, on the authority of a Chinese in touch with the local opium dealers, that the yield this season is expected to be three-quarters of the amount last year. The consul-general has received information from a Lative source that the tutu is doing his best to stop opium cultivation, and is constantly issuing orders to that effect. In the neighbourhood of large towns, the local officials, aided by the military, are able to prevent the planting of the poppy, but in more remote districts especially in those inhabited by the tribes-they are quite helpless. Several have offered to resign sooner than attempt to interfere with the people's poppy fields, and the soldiers told off for the destruction are beginning to complain that they are laying up trouble for themselves when they leave the army. The tribesmen in the districts bordering on Tonkin and Burma have threatened to emigrate if they are prevented from growing opium.
Kueichow.
His Majesty's consul-general at Yunnan-fu has forwarded information, dated the 27th January, from a missionary at An-shun, 50 miles south-west of the provincial capital, to the effect that the poppy had been planted in greater quantities than in any season during the last six years. The local officials, however, bad begun to take energetic measures for suppression, and, as a consequence, the farmers had begun to plough up the poppy
and sow beans. A missionary informant writing from Kuei-yang, the provincial capital, on the 1st February, stated that the poppy was widely planted, certainly in larger quantities than before the revolution. He continued that it was reported that in some districts the officials were taking strong measures to suppress cultivation, but that they seemed helpless in the district of the provincial capital itself. In a later despatch the consul-general reported, on trustworthy information based on a recent tour, that the poppy had been seen "growing everywhere in several districts in the Prefecture of An-shun, and also in the southern Prefecture of Hsing-yi.
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