5
sanctioning the immediate prohibition of import into any province which had completely suppressed the cultivation of opium, an act of such conspicuous grace on the part of your Government that, in addition to the blessings it conferred on China, it obtained the acclamations of the whole world.
Fukien province opened a campaign against opium at a very early date. During the last years of the Ch'ing dynasty officials and people combined in absolute abolition of the drug, and that the poppy was absolutely eradicated throughout the province is acknowledged by humanitarians of every nationality. But after the revolution no leisure was found to pursue the opium policy owing to the urgency of military affairs, and in every part the common people, with a view to gain, seized this opportunity for secret cultivation. This was the outcome of the disturbed state of the times, and there is no object in concealing the fact. But since last spring order has been more or less restored locally, and the people and the Government alike look on the opium policy as a matter of primary importance. In every district, although the opium was nearly ready for harvesting, it was thoroughly destroyed without the slightest compassion. The country in Hsing Hua district was the chief area of cultivation, the people not realising the purport of the agreement, and feeling that to suppress the cultivation before suppressing the import was merely robbing the farmers of their livelihood to fill the pockets of the foreign merchants. They therefore combined and rose in revolt; troops had to be employed to root up the opium, and it was not till over a thousand people had met their deaths that the purpose was achieved and the poppy utterly destroyed. This province has dealt with the opium question with the utmost harshness and severity, and it is only our anxiety to obtain our object and suppress the import without delay that has enabled us to bear the thought of this terrible suffering. It is certainly the first time in the history of any of the provinces that an enormous income has been thrown away and the lives of the people regarded as of no more value than dirt. Your Excellency, too, probably finds this condition of affairs too sad to be endured.
The British Government has now consented to the prohibition of import into Anhui, Hunan, and Shantung, but Fukien, which suppressed opium at a very early date, and which displayed the utmost energy in removing the evil, cannot find a place on the list of closed provinces! This is a general disappointment. We have a high respect for the sincerity and friendliness shown by your Excellency in all international relations, and for your humanity, and we make so bold, therefore, as to beseech your Excellency to lay before the British Government a detailed account of the distress due to the stern manner in which the poppy in this province has been destroyed, and the miseries suffered by the people in consequence of the suppression of opium: and we beg that you will press for the early prohibition of import, so as to grant us liberty in suppressing opium, and enable us to pass safely over these dark waters. Such would, indeed, be an act of commiseration on the part of His Majesty's Government and a real assistance conferred by your Excellency. On behalf of our 30,000,000 fellow- provincials we thus lay bare our minds and pray your Excellency to deign to cast your eyes on our request.
We have, &c. (General Anti-Opium Society at Fukien),
MA HSI-HOU, Secretary.
Enclosure 5 in No. 1.
British Minister states that the season is now too late for personal examination; but he will instruct His Majesty's cousul to make investigations and will communicate with us again.'
"This being so, the prohibition or otherwise of the import rests entirely with the British consul. This Society would humbly submit that Fukien opened its anti-opium campaign at a very early date, and that its success in the past is known to both Chinese and foreigners. At the close of the late dynasty the whole province had been swept absolutely clear of opium, as humanitarians of every race acknowledge under their own hands, expressing their willingness at the same time to demand from the British Government that the import of Indian opium should be prohibited. Unfortunately, however, the revolution broke out, and the urgency of the military situation submerged the opium question, and the common people seized the opportunity for the surreptitious planting of the poppy, so that the British commissioners, on reaching out-of-the-way places, took photographs of the poppy for the purpose of withstanding the prohibition of import; but this was the result of the general upheaval, and so there is certainly no purpose in vehemently denying the fact. Order having this spring been more or less restored, the opium campaign was pushed forward, and in spite of the fact that the opium everywhere was on the point of harvest, it was all eradicated in the most thorough manner, without any show of clemency. In Hsiang IIua district, for instance, where most poppy was grown, troops were employed to root it up, millions in money being cast away, and human life regarded as less than nought. Fukien's determined destruction of the poppy may be announced to all the world, and she will not be ashamed. Great Britain has now sanctioned the closing of three more provinces, Anhui, Hunan, and Shantung, but Fukien is still left out in the cold to the general disappointment. In addition, therefore, to addressing a demand to the consuls at Foochow and Amoy, and praying the philanthropists of every country to maintain the right, this Society has the honour to address this despatch to your Excellency (the Governor), humbly imploring you to meet their prayers, and desire the Special Deputy for Foreign Affairs to present to the consuls at Foochow and Amoy a formal demand that they shall request the British Minister in the interests of justice to sanction the more speedy closing of Fukien to the import of Indian opium.'
In accordance with the above I have the honour to request you to take such action as you may think fit, and let me have a reply."
Now the success attained by Fukien in the suppression of opium is magnificent, and as the opium in every district has now all been eradicated by a determined effort and at a cost of great suffering, it is only right that this province should claim equal treatment with the three provinces of Anhui, Hunan, and Shantung, the closure of which Great Britain has now sanctioned, that so she may not be left out in the cold. therefore earnestly beg your Excellency and the consul at Amoy to show your zeal for the public welfare by assisting the suppression of opium. I have the honour to request you to propose to the British Minister in Peking that he permit the prohibition of the import of Indian opium to be put forward, so that Fukien may at an early date attain her object of utterly putting an end to opium.
In addition to replying to the civil Governor and addressing a despatch to the British consul at Amoy, I have the honour to communicate with your Excellency in the above sense, hoping you will transmit this proposal to His Majesty's Minister.
Awaiting the favour of a reply, I avail, &c.,
Mr. Wang (Special Deputy for Foreign Affairs in Fukien) to Consul Werner. (Translation.) Sir,
June 26, 1911. I HAVE received the following communication from the civil Governor :— "The Anti-Opium Society reports as follows:-
"Some time since we sent a telegram to the Wai-chiao Pu requesting them to approach the British Minister with a demand for the closure of Fukien province. We have now received a telegram from the Wai-chiao Pu as follows:-
"We have received your two telegrams. The subject of the prohibition of the import of Indian opium into Fukien las already been brought before the British Minister (see our telegrams to the Tutu and the civil Governor of Fukien). The
Sir,
Enclosure 6 in No. 1.
Consul Warner to Mr. Wang (Special Deputy for Foreign Affairs).
Foochow, July 14, 1913. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge receipt of your despatch of the 26th June (recites despatch), to which pressure of work has prevented me from replying
sooner.
You state that all the poppy plants in the Fukien province have been eradicated, aud, although I am not personally able to deny this assertion, yet I am in receipt of information that in those places where the poppy plants were harvested they were taken
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