CO129-405 - Public Offices - 1913 — Page 544

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Enclosure & in No. 1.

Instructions issued by the Wai-chiao Pu to Yü Tê-chün, a Senior Clerk, on his appointment to proceed to Shantung for the Joint Investigation of Opium Cultivation.

(Translation.)

THE prohibition of opium throughout China is an important policy of the moment. The Shantung Tutu has reported that poppy cultivation has been prohibited throughout the province, and that it has entirely ceased; further, that the appoint- ment of officials for joint investigation is urgent in order to prove the reliability of bis statements. Yü Tê chun, senior clerk, is therefore now appointed to proceed to Shantung and travel from place to place in the company of the officials appointed by His Britannic Majesty's Minister at Peking, by the Ministry of the Interior, and by Shantung province, observing the conditions and making a thorough investigation, He shall keep a record of the conditions discloser, to be compared in a friendly manner, as occasion presents itself, with the records drawn up by the other Chinese and the foreign deputies; this record to be presented to the Ministry for its determination on his return to Peking after completion of the investigation. No delay or carelessness

must occur.

Enclosure 9 in No. 1.

Instructions issued by the Ministry of the Interior to Liu Hsiang-yün, a Senior Clerk of that Ministry, on his appointment as Deputy. (Translation.)

A LETTER has been received from the Wai-chiao Pu as follows:-

"With regard to the joint investigation by Great Britain and China of opium in the provinces of Hunan. Anhui, and Shantung, officials have already been appointed to proceed respectively to Hunan and Anhui for the joint investigation. In Shantung the opium crop appears early, and it is of great importance to proceed with the joint investigation. An agreement has now been arrived at with His Britannic Majesty's Minister that officials shall be appointed shortly to start at the same time as those who have been deputed to proceed to Anhui and to meet on the 24th instant at Tsinan, This Ministry has already appointed Yu Tê-chun, one of its senior clerks, to proceed at the proper time in company with the British official. I have the honour to request that you will shortly name the official whom you will appoint and inform me in reply."

The above official is therefore appointed deputy and ordered to proceed to that province with the others.

Enclosure 10 in No. I.

Bir J. Jordan to Consul Smith.

(No. 8.) Sir,

REFERRING to

Peking, April 10, 1913. my instructions to you forwarded to the Wai-chiao Pu, I have to inform you that the two Chinese delegates, of the 16th April, copy of which has been appointed by the Wai-chiao Pu and the Ministry of the Interior, propose arriving at Tainan on the 23rd instant. Provincial delegates will, I understand, be added at Tsinan.

You should leave the provincial capital on or about the 24th instant. The inveati- gation should be conducted in two parties, and to each party should be attached two Chinese deputies, one metropolitan and one provincial.

From the information at my disposal, it would appear that cultivation of the is indicated principally within three areas.

poppy The first of these embraces the country to the west and south-west of Tsinan, as far as the borders of Chihli on the west and bounded by the Yellow River on the south-west. Taking Ping-yuan on the railway as a starting point, the district of Ling-ching, the prefecture of Tung-chang, and the districts of Shou-chang and Shih-p'ing should be examined.

The second area is of smaller extent. Taking Tai-an on the railway as a convenient starting point, the districts of Lai-wu, Nan-yi, and Hsin-t'ai should be visited.

It will be advisable that Mr. Fitzmaurice should undertake the inspection of these two areas.

The third area lies to the south-west and south-east of Yen-chow. Teng-hsien, on the railway, will probably prove a convenient starting place. The districts of Yu-tai, Shan-hsien, Ts'ao-bsien, Kü-yu, Chia-hsiang, and Tei-ning should be visited on the south-western and those of T'an-cheng, Chu-chou, I-shui, Meng-yin, and Fei-hsien, on the south-eastern side.

It will be advisable that you should take charge of the party investigating

this area.

You should obtain introductions for yourself and Mr. Fitzmaurice to mission stationa situated on the line of your itineraries. It might be as well, when conversing with the missionaries, to explain that neither you nor Mr. Fitzmaurice are travelling for the purpose of promoting the trade in Indian opium, but solely with the view of collecting evidence on which it may be decided whether Shantung is or is not entitled to be placed on the list of provinces into which Indian opium shall not be conveyed. The two parties should endeavour, as far as possible, to avoid main roads, as it is unlikely that the poppy will be found in their vicinity.

It may be found necessary to make some changes in the tours outlined above, as a result of your information and observation on the spot. In that event, you and Mr. Fiązmaurice are at liberty to make the requisite modifications without further reference.

A diary should be kept recording briefly the results of each day's search during the tour of investigation. If the poppy be found in any particular locality, every endeavour should be made by you and Mr. Fitzmaurice to obtain the joint attestation of the Chinese deputies, to which I attach great importance. The reports based on these diaries should deal with opium matters and nothing else. Special prominence should be given to the questions of opium cultivation and the import or export of native opium; these are matters of the utmost importance. The prevalence of opium smoking_and the success or failure of the official repressive measures should also be dealt with. It is not unlikely that smoking may have been replaced to some extent by eating opium, and this point should be examined.

The joint investigation will be conducted in accordance with article 4 of the Opium Agreement of May 1911. Duplicate copies of this article, in English and Chinese, are enclosed, and it will be as well for you and Mr. Fitzmaurice to have them at hand in the event of any difficulties with the Chinese deputies as to procedure.

I am, &c.

J. N. JORDAN

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