CO129-417 - Public Offices - 1914 — Page 24

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petty isolated instances, never eastwards from Burma into China. The surplus opium available for smuggling from Yunnan into Burma in the past had undoubtedly been very large, and there are as yet no grounds for believing that the restrictive measures which have been attempted in that province have so far reduced its output as to render it inadequate to meet the local consumption, which presumably also has fallen off. In the Southern Shan States the local supply is less than the local demand, and the super- intendent is confident that there is no smuggling of opium into China. The capital of the Kengtüng State is, however, the centre of a considerable transit trade in the drug, the supply of which comes chiefly from the Northern Shan States, the Wa States, and the Chinese State of Mong Lem, for export to Siam and the adjoining French possessions. In the Northern Shan States opium is cultivated in North and South Hsenwi, in Manglün, and in the unadministered Wa States. The surplus is bought by Chinese traders in Lashio for export via Kengtüng to Siam and the French possessions, and they have hitherto had to supplement it by large imports from across the border in Yünnan, The superintendent estimates the annual outturn of the Northern Shan States at some 40,000 viss, each of 3.6 lb., of which 10,000 viss are needed for local consumption in the two States of Hsipaw and Twangpeng, where cultivation is prohibited, and in the States of North and South Hsenwi; 5,000 viss are consumed in Manglün or sent down to Kentüng direct, without passing through Lashio; and the balance, 25,000 viss, is collected at Lashio for trade purposes. Implicit reliance cannot, of course, be placed on the accuracy of these figures, but they are the best available, and, moreover, they agree fairly well with the independent estimate of the Southern Shan States, that the volume of the trade through Kengtüng to French territories and Siam reaches 30,000 viss. So long as the demand for opium from Siam and Tonkin continues there is little reason to believe that the trade will desert its customary channels, and the destruction of opium cultivation in Yunnan will require to be very complete before traders are tempted to abandon the assured profits obtainable from the export into Siam and Toukin for the doubtful profits to be realised from smuggling into Yunnan,

5. The charges brought against this Government by the Wai-chiao Pu are, in effect, that this Government exercises no control over the cultivation of the poppy in Burma, and takes no steps to prevent the smuggling of opium into China. The answer to the first charge is that cultivation of the poppy is prohibited throughout Burma, except in the narrow strip of land lying along the Yunnan frontier, and that cultivation in this strip has been permitted in the past only because the wholesale cultivation of the poppy on the Chinese side of the border has rendered impossible any prohibition on the British side. As regards the second charge, it is true, as already stated, that this Government has not hitherto considered itself to be under the obligation to prevent the smuggling of opium into China; but this omission is of little practical consequence, because, as a matter of fact, smuggling has hitherto been almost entirely from China into Burma. It might, therefore, be reasonably urged that a continuation of the present policy is a sufficient compliance with both our treaty obligations and The Hague Inter- national Opium Convention.

6. The Lieutenant-Governor, however, is not disposed to be contented with such a fulfilment of the obligations of this province. He has decided to suppress completely, within a limited time, the cultivation of the poppy in the Myitkyina and Bhamo districts. In the Shan States a measure of so drastic a nature is, under existing circumstances, undesirable and impossible. It is undesirable because opium is a main source of livelihood in many parts of the Shan States. It is impossible unless the whole of the Shan States, including the Wa country, which is at present under no administra- tion at all, were taken under direct administration similar to that in the plains of Burma. The cost of introducing administration of this nature would be enormous and ubremunerative, and problems would arise entailing armed interference on a large scale and a reversal of the existing policy of administration of the Shan States-problems of such magnitude as to be entirely incommensurate with the object to be achieved. As there is little, if any, smuggling of Shan States opium into China, the question of the suppression of opium in the Shan States is one which at present is entirely outside our treaty obligations to China. In the event, however, of greater success attending the preventive measures taken in Yünnan, opium cultivation may, if unchecked, increase, in order to supply an illicit demand from Yunnan, The Lieutenant-Governor therefore proposes to endeavour to devise steps to check the extension of opium cultivation and to regulate its production in the Shan States. This problem is one of great difficulty. Proposals to attain the object have been received separately from the superintendents of the Northern and Southern Shan States; but the Lieutenant-Governor is not satisfied that they will attain the end in view, and he has therefore directed these officers to

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consider the problem in consultation with each other and to submit a revised scheme. The Lieutenant-Governor has further decided to take steps to comply with the obligation of The Hague International Opium Convention to prevent the smuggling of opium into Chinese territory. Fortunately, effective means for achieving this object exist in "The Upper Burma and Arakan Hills Frontier Crossing and Disturbed Districts Regulation, 1907, under which persons who are believed to take part in smuggling may be warned not to reside or travel in the areas mentioned in the warning. As the smugglers are Chinese subjects, the regulation provides effectual means for dealing with them.

7. In conclusion I am to express a hope that the circumstances described in this letter and the measures which have been adopted will be regarded by the Government of India as a complete fulfilment by the Government of Burma of the obligations imposed on it by The Hague International Opium Convention.

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