1
106
province was practically clean of the poppy (except for a slight recrudescence at the time of the revolution of 1911) for some years, until cultivation recommenced during 1918 and 1919 in the extreme west near the borders of the tribal country, and also in the east along the Yang-tsze above and below Chungking. No reliable reports have been received in regard to the situation in the west, but, as regards the east of the province, His Majesty's consul at Chungking reports that there is conclusive evidence to show that considerable progress has been made towards suppression again.
As regards Kueichou, His Majesty's consul-general at Yunnan-fu reports that every encouragement short of written authority has been given by the provincial authorities to grow the poppy, and that a special bureau under the guise of a Military Accounts Department has been instituted to collect the revenue from the opium produced. The opium has been seen growing in the districts of Chenyuan, Shihping, Hsinchow, Huanping, Chingping, Pingyueh, Huanghsien, Kueiting, Lungli, Kueiyang, Chingchen, Anping, Anshun, Ch'ienhsi and Chihchin, and in the month of May the reaping of the opium crop was paralysing all other work.
As regards Yunnan, reports state that opium was grown this year in the districts of Chaotung, Tungchuan, Lutien, Kutsing, Luchuan, Wuting, Hsuntien, Yuanmow, Karwa, Kwangnan, Tengchung, Likiang, Chienchuan, Hoching and elsewhere; in fact, generally speaking, almost all over the province where the soil and climate are suitable. In one district the price of opium was 1 dollar per ounce in February, 50 cents in March and 30 cents in May.
Manchuria (Fengtien, Kirin, Heilungchiang).
A small amount of cultivation has been carried on in mountainous parts on the borders of the three provinces, notably on the Korean frontier. The inspecting officials are no doubt often squared, but inspection and suppression are by no means easily carried out in these wild regions.
Hsinkiang.
Reports on the cultivation of the poppy this spring in Chinese Turkestan have not yet been received.
Summary,
To sum up, the poppy is shown to have been cultivated on a fairly extensive scale this season in the following provinces: Shensi, Hunan, Hupei, Honan, Fukien, Kueichou, Yunnan and Szechuan. The Southern authorities are nominally responsible for the cultivation in Hunan, Hupei, Fukien, Kueichou, Yunnan and Szechuan; and the Peking Government for cultivation in Fukien, Honan and Shensi. In general, it may be taken that the military authorities, who are in most cases a law unto themselves, and whom the Southern and Northern Governments cannot or dare not coerce into obedience, are entirely to blame for the cultivation which continues.
June 1920.
No. 46.
Mr. Clive to Earl Cuzzon.-(Received January 28, 1921.)
My Lord,
Peking, November 27, 1920. I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith a copy of correspondence with the Wai-chiao Pu respecting opium cultivation in the province of Fukien.
As your Lordship will observe, the attitude of the Chinese authorities towards the question gives every cause for dissatisfaction. Not only Fukien but very many other provinces of China are drifting rapidly back to the state of things existing before the opium treaties, and the amount of opium now grown-more or less openly -in China is so great as to make the attempt to kill the abuse by preventing importa- tion from abroad little more than a farce. One result of this lamentable condition is that Chinese-grown epium is constantly smuggled from place to place within the country, and it is a cause of bitter complaint by British owners of Yang-tsze steamers that their ships are frequently stopped and penalised by the customs authorities
107
because smuggled opium has been found on board, having been stowed away by members of the native crew helped by accomplices on shore without the knowledge of the ship's officers or any of the Europeans concerned. The difficulty of detecting the hidden opium during the voyage is, of course, very great when the crew are banded together, and resolute action against smuggling by the ship's officers has, in at least one recent case, resulted in the murder of the zealous officer.
I have, &c.
Enclosure 1 in No. 46.
Wai-chiao Pu to Mr. Clive.
R. H. CLIVE.
(Translation.) Sir,
August 2, 1920. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Sir Beilby Alston's letter of the 12th May, in which he enclosed three photographs of poppy fields in full bloom in the province of Fukien, two in a part under northern jurisdiction and one under southern jurisdiction. The latter expressed the hope that an example would be made of those responsible.
On receipt of the above letter this Ministry wrote to the officer occupying the joint posts of Military and Civil Governor requesting him secretly to send an officer to the localities concerned for the purpose of making an investigation. From the reply which has now been received from him it is learnt that, disregarding the photograph of poppy fields in a part of Fukien under southern jurisdiction, he handed the remaining two photographs to the former magistrate of Te-bua district, Li Hung-chou, and to his own aide-de-camp, Liu Chin-yung, and despatched these officers to make close examination of the localities concerned. He had subsequently received from them the following joint report :-
"We proceeded together on the 1st June with all speed to the territory of P'u-t'ien, and after exhaustive search in all directions discovered not so much as the trace of a single poppy plant within the lines occupied by our forces. But at Hue- t'ing and Hou Shan, two places on the boundary of the Tien and Hsien-yu districts, opium has been illicitly cultivated in a few places, and here Mr. Cole took a couple of photographs. These two places are both some 10 miles from the district city, and taking the distance into consideration they are probably the two photographs of places referred to in the British Minister's note as being within northern jurisdic tion. Thus there can be no doubt that the places where the photographs were taken were Hua-t'ing and Hou Shan,
"Now these two localities are in the neutral ground between the northern and southern lines. In general, the troops keep strictly within their own lines for fear lest, by crossing the boundary agreed upon, misunderstandings and collisions might arise. In consequence, the above two places were rarely visited by our forces, with the result that a few of the stupid and ignorant country people, greedy for their petty profits, engaged in illicit cultivation. Subsequently the district magistrate, Pao Wei, discovered the state of affairs, and wrote on the 28th April requesting Colonel Wang Hsien Ch'en to send his aide-de-camp Ch'en K'an, to the locality in order to enforce the uprooting of the crop, and the country was then cleared of the poppy. The remainder of the Pu Han territory is entirely under northern control and in none of the places through which we passed was there any trace of the poppy."
The Military Governor, when forwarding the above report, observes that it appears that the two photographs sent by the British Minister were taken at places in the neutral zone between the northern and southern lines, and that as soon as poppy cultivation was discovered officers were sent to uproot it and clear the country of the crop; it can be seen that he, in his capacity of Military and of Civil Governor, together with his subordinates, bas been not insincere in his efforts to suppress opium, The Governor requests me to write to you in accordance with his reply.
In transmitting the above to you for your information, I avail, &c.
(Seal of the Wai-chiao Pu.)
543
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.