[ { "id": 333625, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-231 - Acting Governor Marsh - 1887 [1-3]", "page_number": 447, "title": "CO129-231 - Acting Governor Marsh - 1887 [1-3]", "content_text": "that no torture be inflicted \n\nthe \n\npurpose. \n\nI have already given orders \n\n(Copy \n\nthese \n\ntrial. \n\ntheir \n\nSir, \n\nmen when put upon \n\nShave \n\nChong Chih-tung Governor General \n\nof the Two Kwong. \n\nTranslated by \n\n89 Alex. Hosie \n\nEnclosure 2 \n\nCentral Station's RECO \n\n0.0. \n\n7519 \n\n441 \n\nREGG 18 APR 87 \n\nNovember 18th. Fest \n\nHaving \n\nbeen directed by you \n\nto \n\nenquire and report with reference to dangerous characters residing chiefly in Hongkong, who live by committing \n\narmed attacks on villages territory, I beg to \n\nin Chinese \n\nto state that I have \n\nmade careful enquiries respecting \n\nand \n\ncredibly \n\ned that the persons \n\npersons whose \n\nclass \n\nof \n\ninformed \n\nand temporary \n\nresidence \n\nthis \n\nnames \n\nT \n\nT \n\nare \n\ngiven \n\nbelow, frequently commit robberies in China, and that they have no other \n\nmeans, \n\n30 far \n\nas \n\nI can ascertain, \n\nof procuring \n\na \n\nlivelihood. \n\nN. I was arrested by \n\nthe 13th \n\nof \n\nP. 0,573 Umar \n\nof last month; he \n\ntogether with four other had just landed from a salt smuggler at Lap Sap Nan, all carrying large \n\nbundles", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-231 - Acting Governor Marsh - 1887 [1-3].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 334945, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-234 - Acting Governor Cameron Governor Des Voeus - 1887 [9-12]", "page_number": 227, "title": "CO129-234 - Acting Governor Cameron Governor Des Voeus - 1887 [9-12]", "content_text": "The text appears to be a historical document related to Hong Kong. After proofreading and correcting OCR errors, the text is reformatted in HTML as follows:\n\n1he ASA -stated verbally that to proceed with witnesses and complainants to Hong Kong with all speed to confront the prisoners, and he begged to write to you to request that the prisoners should be handed over at an early date. When Colonel Li reported to that he had ascertained that eight notorious Criminals hiding in Hong Kong were in and requested me to write you to be good enough to request His Excellency the Acting Governor of Hong Kong to direct the criminals to be arrested and handed over, and directed Acting Captain Li to proceed to Hong-Kong and take them over.\n\nOn receipt of the above report I directed Colonel Li to send the Acting Captain forthwith to Hong Kong with witnesses and complainants to confront the prisoners and take them over, and I have to request you to write to His Excellency the Acting Governor of Hong Kong and ask him after the prisoners have been confronted with the witnesses and complainants in charge of the said Captain, to hand over the three criminals \"Cheng Sacoshu lien\" and \"Hu-tshih one\" to Captain Li for conveyance to Canton for trial, and thereby preserve the entente cordiale. Instructions have been given that no torture be applied at their trial.\n\nI have the honour to be Your most obedient servant.\n\n(S) Chang bhik-tung.\n\nTranslated by (Set) Alex Hosie.\n\nPage 224", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-234 - Acting Governor Cameron Governor Des Voeus - 1887 [9-12].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 391141, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-321 - Public Offices & Others - 1903", "page_number": 102, "title": "CO129-321 - Public Offices & Others - 1903", "content_text": "Athe-time for commencing work under the two first Concessions expired in January, and nothing had been done by the French, thus rendering the Agreements null and void, the Viceroy cancelled them, and if the Chinese Government are strong enough to support his Excellency, all that remains to the French concessionnaire, M. de Marteau, is the Petroleum Agreement, which he is said to be coming back to Szechuan to take up.\n\nSoon after my arrival here I found that Mr. Wilton was in daily communication with the Viceroy's Private Secretary, who, after rejecting the Mining and Petroleum Agreements, handed in by the former, himself produced new draft Agreements. These, of course, required amendment; but amendments to these amendments became so numerous, and the obstruction was so flagrant, that I advised Mr. Wilton to notify the Viceroy that, unless his amendments were accepted, he would leave on the 11th instant, and refer the whole matter to Peking.\n\nThis he did; obstruction began to weaken, and after the alteration of a few minor details, both Agreements were arranged and signed on the morning of the 11th instant, and Mr. Wilton left the same day at noon for Chungking. He took with him signed copies of each of the Agreements for transmission to you. I must add that, if these Agreements are ratified in Peking, the balance in favour of British mining rights in Szechuan will be due to the patience, perseverance, and ability which Mr. Wilton has proved himself to possess.\n\nThe question whether the Acting Viceroy will remain here is agitating the minds of Chinese and most foreigners in the province, both dreading that his removal will mean a recrudescence of trouble. It is known that his Excellency has been offered, and has refused, the command of the foreign-drilled troops at Peking, and it is hoped that he will be appointed to the substantive post of Viceroy, and thereby continue to maintain that order in Szechuan which the laxity of his predecessor so gravely imperilled, and which a weaker successor might find it difficult to uphold.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed) ALEX. HOSIE.\n\nOffice or Individual.\n\nForeign\n\n1903\n\n26 Nich\n\nLast previous Paper.\n\n10725\n\nPux by\n\n3\n\nNo.\n\n11442\n\n1\n\n(Subject.)\n\n98 DOMEST\n\nC.O.\n\n11442\n\n37 MB C.\n\nPlat at banton gouist therese\n\nOfficials.\n\nFeres copy deep from baston\n\nreporting discovery\n\nMr Lucas (Minutes.)\n\nAls Cotton 47 25\n\nthe Johnson\n\ncolla pre\n\n? Put by\n\nA.F.\n\nSw72873\n\nCPL 28\n\nat once\n\nWB & L (58)—1657--20000-13-2\n\nNext subsequent Paper.\n\n20910", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-321 - Public Offices & Others - 1903.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 395029, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "page_number": 366, "title": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "content_text": "Page 363\n\n2\n\npredecessor had tampered with transit pass goods, and the Viceroy has given me this as the reason for the latter's dismissal.\n\nIn this connection, I may mention that the Taotai at Chungking has been transferred by telegraph to the Intendancy of Chien-chang, owing, according to Mr. Sly, to a deficit in the li-kin collection; but the Viceroy informs me that the transfer is due to the importance of the new post and to the Taotai's knowledge of military matters.\n\nI had two other complaints from Mr. Litton. He had been informed by Chinese merchants in Yünnan Fu that the export of Indian rupees had been prohibited at Ta-chien-lu, and that they were unable to take away the price of Indian goods carried by them from Tông-yüch. I laid the matter before the Viceroy, and the prohibition was withdrawn so far as the Yunnan merchants were concerned; but the sub-Prefect of Ta-chien-lu complained of the interference with trade caused by the large export of rupees received through Thibet, and I imagine that owing to the low cash value (480) at Ta-chien-lu a lucrative business other than in Indian goods was being done with Yunnan.\n\nMr. Litton also stated that he had heard in a general way that transit passes for Burmese cottons for Chengtu were not being respected here. I brought the matter to the notice of the Viceroy, and informed him that, on receipt of details, I should again address him on the subject. His Excellency promised to make inquiries, and I have heard privately that the officer in charge of the li-kin station at the east gate was fined ten times (570 taels) the amount of an illegal levy and dismissed.\n\nBurmese goods appear to reach Chengtu by way of Yunnan Fu, Tung-ch'uan Fu, and Chao-tung Fu, and on arrival at Hsu-chou Fu (Sui Fu), they are carried to the provincial capital by water.\n\nAnother complaint brought to my notice was the very heavy taxation of Szechuan yellow silk intended for Burma, and the Viceroy has informed me that he has directed the revision and posting of a new Tariff.\n\nAt an interview which I had with the head of the li-kin office here yesterday, I asked him for a copy of the Tariff. He stated that when he took over charge of the li-kin a few months ago he found that each office had simply a manuscript copy of the Tariff, and that the amounts levied differed at each place. He has ordered a new Tariff to be printed for distribution among merchants, and has promised to furnish me with a copy.\n\nWhen his Excellency Ts'ên Ch'un-hsüan was Acting Viceroy he reported to the throne that the net annual amount of li-kin collected throughout the whole province was 400,000 taels.\n\nThe carriage of parcels through the Chinese post office established here has grown enormously, and as the li-kin office at the east gate of the city has been complaining of a serious deficiency in its collection, which it attributes to the parcels post, instructions have been given that li-kin or transit dues shall be levied on the contents of all parcels liable to taxation.\n\nThere is very little reliable news from Thibet. The authorities here profess to know nothing; but I gather from conversation with them that the new Amban has been considerably delayed by want of adequate transport.\n\nOn the 21st ultimo I received a telegram from a British missionary at Ta-chien-lu to the effect that fighting had commenced between the Thibetans and English; but, if this is true, the information must have reached you before it was received at Ta-chien-lu.\n\nThe three German officers referred to in my despatch No. 20 of the 30th November, finding on arrival at Batang on the 5th January that the road to the Brahmaputra was impracticable, proceeded southwards to Yünnan, and Mr. Nichols, the American, whose aim is to reach Lhassa, has also had to go south to A-tun-tzŭ.\n\nI am informed that the Russian, referred to in my despatch No. 19 of the 28th November as being resident in a lamasery at Ta-chien-lu, is a \"Mongol Lama\"—probably a Buriat—who has been there some years. The address of the letter sent to the Russian Consul was in Russian and Chinese.\n\nHis Majesty's Vice-Consul at Chungking has, he informs me, forwarded to you copies of his despatches addressed to me on the 22nd and 29th ultimo; but I may state that the Japanese mining engineer referred to therein is a Mr. Yamada, a professor of geology, who has been travelling in Szechuan for at least a year, and is now on his way back to Japan. He has no connection with the provincial Government, and, so far as I am aware, he is not the representative of any Japanese Company.\n\nSince his arrival here the Viceroy has expressed great dissatisfaction with the work carried on at the Arsenal, and on the 31st January the Director, with three minor officials and twenty young men selected from the Arsenal employés, left Chengtu for the United States.\n\n3\n\nThe Director is to visit the St. Louis Exposition, and thereafter place the young men as apprentices in various workshops, where they will remain for three years before returning to Szechuan. They are each allowed 1,200 taels for travelling expenses, and 500 taels a-year while in America.\n\nNew machinery is to be purchased for the Arsenal, and the Director and officials accompanying him will, after inspecting and pricing the required plant in the United States, proceed to England for the same purpose.\n\nOne of the officials proceeding with the Director, and recently appointed to the Arsenal by the Viceroy, was educated in America, has travelled extensively in England, and speaks English fluently. He expressed to me his preference for English machinery, but added that the price would probably decide whether it would be of American or English manufacture.\n\nNo steps have yet been taken by the Viceroy to raise capital for the construction of the proposed Chinese railway from Chengtu to Hankow.\n\nAn official \"Gazette\" office has been established here with Government funds. The \"Gazette,\" which will run from thirty-five to forty pages, and contain, in addition to official matters, such as Memorials and Imperial Decrees, information on trade, &c., as well as current news, will be published every ten days. As there will be no issue between the 11th of the twelfth, and the 20th of the first Chinese months, the annual number of \"Gazettes\" will be thirty-two, at the price of 4 dollars.\n\nA font of foreign-cast metal type has been purchased for 2,000 taels.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed) ALEX. HOSIE.\n\nPage 363", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 395260, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "page_number": 597, "title": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "content_text": "[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nSOUTH-WEST CHINA.\n\n**CONFIDENTIAL**.\n\nNo. 1.\n\n594\n\n[October 10.]\n\nSECTION 2\n\nSir E. Satow to the Marquess of Lansdowne-(Received October 10.)\n\n(No. 298.)\n\nPeking, August 17, 1904.\n\nMy Lord,\n\nWITH reference to my despatch No. 202 of the 2nd June, I have the honour to transmit to your Lordship herewith copies of two despatches which I have received from His Majesty's Consul-General at Chengtu relating to French activity in the Province of Szechuan.\n\nInformation as to the journeys of Vicomte Foy and of Messrs. W. Meischke Smith and Lanet will be found in Mr. Hosie's despatch No. 12 of the 4th May, of which I had the honour to transmit a copy in my despatch above referred to.\n\nI have, &c. (Signed)\n\nERNEST SATOW.\n\n(No. 22.)\n\nSir,\n\nInclosure 1 in No. 1.\n\nConsul-General Hosie to Sir E. Satow.\n\nChengtu, July 8, 1904.\n\nI HAVE the honour to report that M. Bons d'Anty informed me yesterday that he had received a telegram from his colleague at Yunnan-fu to the effect that Vicomte Foy's caravan had been robbed by \"pirates\" near Yüeh-hsi Ting, in the Chien-ch'ang Valley, and himself stripped of his clothing, that in this condition the Vicomte had made his way to Lu-ku, a place on the road between Yüeh-hsi Ting and Ning-yuan-fu,* where there is a French Mission station, and had thence travelled to Yunnan-fu.\n\nIn my despatch No. 12 of the 4th May, I reported that M. Foy left Chengtu on the 3rd May by river for Hsüchou-fu, whence he personally informed me he intended to travel to Yunnan-fu; but my French colleague now states he altered his plans on arrival at Chia-ting, proceeding west to Ta-chien-lu and down the Chien-ch'ang Valley to Yunnan.\n\nI have reported from time to time the disturbed condition of the Lolo country, and M. Bous d'Anty attributes M. Foy's mishap to insufficient local protection. He also speaks of a claim for 5,000 taels compensation.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed)\n\nALEX. HOSIE.\n\nInclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\n(No. 24.)\n\nSir.\n\nConsul-General Hosie to Sir E. Satow.\n\nChengtu, July 23, 1904.\n\nIN my despatch No. 22 of the 8th instant, I had the honour to report that Vicomte Foy had been robbed near Yüeh-hsi Ting, in the Chien-ch'ang Valley, and had proceeded to Yunnan-fu. I now learn that M. François, French Consul-General at Yunnan-fu, who recently obtained furlough, has just made a journey up the Chien-ch'ang Valley to Ya-chou-fu, whence he travelled to Chia-ting-fu and down the Min River, and the Yang-tze to Chungking. There can be no doubt that the Chien-ch'ang Valley is attracting the attention of the French, and it would appear as if they were beginning to look upon it as an alternative to the difficult railway route from Yunnan-fu into Szechuan, with its terminus at Sui-fu.\n\n* 28° north latitude, 103° east longitude.\n\n† About 150 miles due west of Chungking.\n\n‡ To the westward of and mid-way between Chengtu and Chia-ting.\n\n[2216 -2]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397944, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 434, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## 2\n\nMission, although it has a station in Batang, has not yet been able to gain a footing in Litang. I stayed in the yamen of the Commissary, whither the lamas came along with the owners of the animals and dictated the amount I had to pay for transport, and they urged the people to decline to supply horses for the use of my escort. It was only after the Commissary had ordered the instruments of punishment to be brought in that his demand was complied with. The lamaseries, too, are the trade monopolists of this part of the country. There are a few insignificant shops in Litang and Batang, but the food supply of the people is almost entirely in the hands of the lamaseries, which deal only when and on such terms as they please. They are great trade storehouses. The Litang Plain is exceedingly rich in gold, but the lamas will not allow the metal to be exploited. They are also the money-lenders, and gradually acquire control over the land and the people who cultivate it.\n\nTravelling in Chala is perfectly safe; but in the Litang and Batang States brigandage is common, especially in the vicinity of the passes. The northern road to Thibet, by way of Dawo and Dergé, is much safer, for the simple reason that the caravans can insure themselves against attack at the lamaseries, which play the rôle of insurance offices in much the same way as caravans in Manchuria could insure against raids by the Hung-hu-tzu. This explains, to a certain extent, why the trade by the northern road is much greater than by the official road through Litang and Batang. The brigands are said to be young tent-dwellers who hanker after some diversion to relieve the monotony of their pastoral life. At a Thibetan village at which I stayed, a tea caravan was raided overnight two days before my arrival and sixteen animals carried off. I asked the owner what he proposed to do, and whether he had lodged a complaint with the nearest Chinese authority. He replied that unless the animals were recovered by the villagers, who were making a pretence of scouring the country, he had no hope of seeing them again, and that any complaint to the authorities would be fruitless. The latter is perfectly true, for the States of Litang and Batang have each a garrison of only eighty-three soldiers, including the men at the courier stations, scattered throughout the State, and some of these men who usually formed part of my escort from place to place preferred to return to their stations by night in order to avoid being observed and robbed by brigands during the day. In a word, the troops at the disposal of the Chinese authorities are inefficient and altogether inadequate for the protection of the trade with Thibet.\n\nI have, &c. \n(Signed) **ALEX. HOSIE**\n\n(427)", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 411085, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-343 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "page_number": 262, "title": "CO129-343 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "content_text": "**CONFIDENTIAL**\n\n## CHINA TRADE\n\n(No. 469.)\n\n### No. 1.\n\n#### SECTION 4.\n\nSir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received December 29.)\n\nPeking, November 13, 1906.\n\nI HAVE received a despatch from Mr. Hosie, Acting Commercial Attaché, who is now in Shanghae (copy of which I have the honour to inclose), transmitting copies of correspondence with Messrs. Alex. Ross and Co. regarding the piracy, for use in China, of a British trade-mark registered in England in 1886, by a Japanese merchant in Osaka.\n\nThe circumstances detailed in this correspondence show the urgent necessity for an Agreement with the Japanese Government for reciprocal protection of trade-marks in China, the absence of which cannot fail to render of small advantage to British owners of trade-marks any legislation by China herself upon this subject.\n\nI have sent a copy of this despatch to His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Tôkið.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed) J. N. JORDAN,\n\nSir.\n\n### Inclosure 1 in No. 1.\n\nMr. Hosie to Sir J. Jordan.\n\nShanghar, November 2, 1906.\n\nI HAVE the honour to inclose copies of correspondence and other documents regarding the piracy, for use in China, of a British trade-mark by a Japanese merchant in Osaka. This, the \"crocodile\" mark of Sir Elkanah Armitage and Sons, of Manchester, which was registered in England in 1886, has been copied in every detail and registered in Japan, and the main object of the piracy appears to be to dispose of the copy, whose purchaser would then endeavour to displace the old British mark by applying for the registration of the copy in China prior to the coming into force of Trade-marks Regulations, in the belief that the date of application, or the date of registration in Japan, will be the date from which the registration in China will take effect.\n\nThese documents show the urgent necessity for a reciprocal trade-marks protection Agreement with Japan and the retention of section 25 of the draft Trade-marks Regulations, or its insertion in any new Regulations that may be under discussion.\n\nI have, &c. (Signed) A. HOSIE,\n\nActing Commercial Attaché.\n\n### Inclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\nMessrs. A. Ross and Co. to Mr. Hosie.\n\nShanghae, November 1, 1906.\n\nWE inclose, for your perusal, a statement of facts regarding the infringement of Sir Elkanah Armitage and Sons' (Limited) \"crocodile\" mark by a Japanese merchant in Osaka; also a copy of a letter from Mr. K. Sunagawa, barrister at Osaka, on the same subject. We shall be obliged if you will name a time when it may be convenient for you to receive a visit from our Mr. Ross in regard to this matter.\n\nWe are, &c.\n\n(Signed) ALEX. ROSS AND CO.\n\n[2268f-4]\n\n258", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-343 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 411627, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "page_number": 127, "title": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "content_text": "# \n3 \n126 \n4. \n\nhad then been found; and that I have lately been shown by the Company cigarettes of pure Chinese leaf with which they are experimenting.\n\n## Inclosure 3 in No. 1.\n\nI have, &c. \n**(Signed)** \nALEX. HOSIE.\n\n## Shanghae Custom-house Order No. 601.\n\n**NOTICE** is hereby given that from this date (22nd January, 1904) Chinese manufactures of foreign type will, until the Mackay Treaty, Article VIII, comes into operation, be liable to a single 5 per cent. ad valorem duty, and thereafter be free from further taxation.\n\n5 \nIf 5 per cent. ad valorem is not paid, the privilege cannot be enjoyed of exemption from further taxation, and the rule applicable to native produce must be applied: that if, after payment of export duty, there is a re-entry into another port, coast trade duty must be paid, and if there is a further conveyance into the interior customs dues must be paid at customs stations, and li-kin at li-kin stations.\n\nAs regards the dues previously levied in excess by the Shanghae Customs, if it is ascertained that after export the goods in question did not enter another port, or were not again conveyed into the interior, instructions will be given for the amount levied in excess to be ascertained and it will be returned to the firm concerned in the shape of drawback certificates.\n\nIn making this reply for your Excellency's information, I have the honour to request a reply in order that the necessary instructions may be issued to the Customs authorities concerned.\n\n## Inclosure 4 in No. 1.\n\n**Memorandum** from Deputy Commissioner to Commissioner of Customs, Shanghae.\n\n**Manufacturing Industries in China.**\n\nTHE right of foreigners to engage in manufacturing industries in the China open ports is recognized in the Japanese Commercial Treaty (Article VI, section 4) of 1896 (1895), previous to which date the Chinese Government did not concede the right.\n\nArticle III of the Protocol to that Treaty agrees that taxes on such manufactures shall be the same as are payable by Chinese subjects for the same things.\n\nThe only stipulation for a rebate on imported materials is found in Article VIII (section 9) of the Mackay Treaty, and that Article is not in operation.\n\n**(Initialled)** \n**(Signed)** \nH. E. H. \nJ. W. INNOCENT, \nDeputy Commissioner.\n\nSir,\n\n## Inclosure 6 in No. 1.\n\n**British Cigarette Company to Consul-General Sir P. Warren,**\n\nShanghae, January 14, 1905, \nI BEG to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 9th instant, covering copy of Prince Ch'ing's Minute to Sir Ernest Satow, relative to the 5 per cent. export duty on cigarettes.\n\nI laid the matter before my Board, and I am instructed to inform you that the proposed arrangements will be satisfactory to the Company.\n\nI would request you therefore to communicate this decision to Sir Ernest Satow with a view to having the necessary instructions issued to the local customs, so that they may cease to levy duty at the higher rate, and issue the necessary drawback certificates for the amounts overpaid during the last year.\n\nMy Board desire to express to you their thanks for all you have done to secure them justice in this very difficult matter, and further desire me to ask you if you will be good enough to convey to Sir Ernest Satow an expression of their thanks to him, and their high appreciation of his great exertions on behalf of the Company.\n\nThanking you in anticipation, I remain, &c. \n**(Signed)** \nH. A. KELLY, \nDirector.\n\nCustom-house, Shanghae, January 14, 1907.\n\n**(Translation.)**\n\nYour Excellency,\n\n## Inclosure 5 in No. 1.\n\n**Prince Ching to Sir E. Satow.**\n\nPeking, December 26, 1904. \nI HAVE the honour to acknowledge receipt of your Excellency's note of the 13th December, on the subject of export duty on cigarettes manufactured at Shanghae. (Note summarized.)\n\nMy Board have to observe that cigarettes are manufactured from \"`yen ssu`\" (prepared tobacco), but cannot themselves continue to be called by the latter names, just as foreign cloth manufactured from cotton yarn cannot itself be called cotton yarn. The duty on foreign cloth is not the same as that on cotton yarn, and there would seem to be a lack of equity in declaring that cigarettes must pay the same duty as \"`yen ssu`\" (prepared tobacco). The course previously taken by the Shanghae Customs in levying duty on cigarettes as on \"`yen ssu`\" was no more than a compromise based on analogy and adopted with a view of avoiding the difficulties of detail involved in the estimate of the value, and the proper course would have been undoubtedly to levy an ad valorem duty of 5 per cent. as on articles not enumerated in the Tariff lists.\n\nMoreover, as this Board had decided with a view to the encouragement of manufactures that only the single levy of 5 per cent. ad valorem should be made, and no further duties imposed, there were fully compensating advantages; but as your Excellency has debated the point in previous communications, insisting that duty should continue to be paid as on catties, this Board has no objection in agreeing to this. \"`yen ssu`\" at the rate of 4 m. 5 c., per hundred\n\nDear Sir John,\n\n## Inclosure 7 in No. 1.\n\n**Sir R. Hort to Sir J. Jordan.**\n\nPeking, February 14, 1907. \nI HAVE received, and now return, Mr. Hosie's Report on cigarettes manufactured in China.\n\nAs you are already aware, the 5 per cent. rate, with exemption afterwards, was applied to such cigarettes, just as to other foreign-type manufactures, but, at the request of the Legation, the original local treatment was reverted to and the native produce rate-export duty at port of shipment, coast trade duty at port of discharge, liability to local taxation as native goods afterwards-acted on.\" The Maritime Customs collect only these two duties, export and coast trade; whatever other charges is levied is demanded by other tax offices acting on their own rules.\n\nRegarding the general question of the treatment of goods at open ports after payment of import duties, the point has often been raised, but never settled. My own view is that payment of import duties-that is, full Tariff import duty in the case of foreign, or coast trade duty in the case of native goods-should free the goods in question while at, or within the area of, the port itself; but here we are met by several unsettled questions, e.g.:—\n\n| Point | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| (a.) | What are the boundaries of an open port ? |\n| (b.) | What is the port area of such open port? |\n| (c.) | Does freedom within the port area cover only goods in their original condition and unopened packages? |", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 411632, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "page_number": 132, "title": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "content_text": "# Inclosure 1 in No. 1\n\n## Report on the Draft Trade-marks Regulations of 1906\n\n2 \n\nTheir exclusion from the register, for while an open mark cannot be registered in England, it may be possible to register it elsewhere, and thereafter present it for re-registration in China under these Regulations.\n\n2. That old marks, that is, marks which, whether registered in foreign countries or not, have been in bona fide use in China since the signature of the Mackay Treaty, have to be registered.\n\nIn Article 1 of the proposed Trade-marks Regulations of 1904, it was provided that \"persons or firms who have had lawful use of marks in China prior to the 1st day of the 1st month of the 29th year of Kuang Hsü (29th January, 1903) may either apply to have them registered under these Regulations or may deposit specimens of such marks, with the particulars of the goods on which they were used and the names of the proprietors. The registration office will keep a special list of the marks thus deposited, in the order in which they were deposited.\" Here the merchant is given the option of registering or depositing his mark for arrangement in a special series. The feeling among British and other merchants here is that they should not be called upon to register these old marks, but be permitted to deposit them, paying lower fees than those prescribed for registration. This, too, is the view of home manufacturers, for the Manchester Chamber of Commerce recommended that the clause \"either apply to have them registered under these Regulations or may\" should be omitted, and that the clause \"and marks so deposited shall be entitled to protection as prescribed equally with trade-marks\" be added after \"deposited,\" the final word of the sentence.\n\nThere can be no doubt that to compel merchants, as the redrafted Regulations do, to register old marks would entail a very heavy expenditure in fees, and it seems unfair that these Regulations should be made retrospective.\n\n3. That insufficient protection is given to hong names.\n\nThis is a very serious matter, for many Japanese firms in Japan, whether intentionally or not, have the hong names of foreign merchants in China, and the Sub-Committee do not advance any proposal for a remedy, but they ask whether Regulation 1, Article 2, is intended to cover this point. Article 2, in its present faulty shape, does not cover this point, but it might be recast, for section 9 of the English \"Act to consolidate and amend the Law relating to Trade-marks of the 11th August, 1905,\" gives \"the names of a Company, individual, or firm represented in a special or particular manner\" as one of the five essential particulars which a registrable trade-mark in England must contain or consist of.\n\n4. That the fees are still too high and not in accordance with Article VII of the Mackay Treaty, which lays down that \"foreign trade-marks may be registered on payment of a reasonable fee.\"\n\nThe Sub-Committee point out that a comparison of the Chinese and English scales of fees and their application show that the Chinese is not less than three times greater than that of the English, and it seems hardly necessary to say that it would be unjust to expect foreign trade, which already provides so much of the legitimate revenue of China, and is at the same time the prey of arbitrary tax-gatherers, to be further handicapped by exorbitant fees for the registration of trade-marks and the various formalities connected therewith.\n\nThe Sub-Committee have put forward minor objections, pointed out other omissions, and drawn attention to several conflicting Articles in the Regulations; but the above are their most cogent objections, while their recommendations are not less important. They are:-\n\n1. That the Registration Bureau should be located in Shanghai.\n\nThere can be no doubt that the great bulk of the business connected with the registration of foreign trade-marks will emanate from Shanghai, and the establishment of a branch or mere transmission office here without any executive functions will lead to interminable reference to Peking and to inordinate delays. It is the general feeling, not only among British, but also among other foreign, merchants that the Registration Bureau should be established in the commercial metropolis of the Empire.\n\n2. That a duly qualified Comptroller, selected by the Patents Office, England, be appointed, and that the post shall continue to be held by a British subject so long as British trade in China predominates.\n\nIt is quite evident that little confidence will be placed in the ability or integrity of a bureau officered by native officials only, while the Treaty provision that the registration offices would be \"under control of the Imperial Maritime Customs\" has now been departed from.\n\n3. That it would be well to wait until Japan has concluded an Agreement with England in regard to the mutual protection of trade-marks in China.\n\nThis is not the least important of the recommendations, for it is well known that Japanese have already pirated and registered British trade-marks in Japan, and are waiting their opportunity to demand their re-registration in China as soon as the Registration Bureau is established. That similar attempts will be made in the case of open marks there can be no doubt, so that the approval or adoption of any Chinese Trade-marks Regulations prior to an Agreement with Japan would be disastrous to British interests.\n\nI may state that I have held conversations with many British and other merchants on the subject of trade-marks in China, and the general opinion is that they would much prefer to have no Regulations at all than be subjected to those that have been put forward by the Chinese Government, whether in 1904 or 1906. They would much prefer to continue their business on the present lines, without Regulations that would lead to endless litigation and annoyance.\n\nI have studied these Regulations carefully and compared them with the English Trade-marks Acts and Rules, and the conclusion at which I have arrived is that they are faulty, contradictory, incomplete, and altogether unsuited as a basis for negotiation. I have already alluded to one important point - the imperfect definition given of a trade-mark. The Articles under the heading \"Regulation 3 - Public Notification of Trade-marks\" are unintelligible. What they are evidently intended to deal with is objections that may be raised by third parties to the contents of applications for the registration of trade-marks, such as infringements, imitations, and the like, not with \"inaccuracies.\" Again, the \"Special Trade-marks Rules\" lay down that old marks, whether recorded in a local yamên, in the Board of Commerce, or in a custom-house, shall be registered without publication; but to register or deposit marks without publication would constitute a great danger, while priority of filing or recording should not be allowed to give any advantage whatever. Each mark should be decided on its merits. Nor should registration in a foreign country, unless accompanied by actual bona fide use in China, mean absolute right to re-register.\n\nNothing is said regarding the language of the \"Trade-marks Gazette.\" Naturally, it will be Chinese, but it should be bi-lingual, and the second language should be English.\n\nThere are numerous other points, but I have said enough to show that these Regulations, which have been drafted primarily to serve as a Trade-marks Act for China and incidentally to embrace foreign trade-marks by a sort of side-wind, are altogether unsatisfactory.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed) ALEX. HOSIE, Acting Commercial Attaché.\n\n## Inclosure 2 in No. 1\n\n### Report of the Sub-Committee appointed by the China Association\n\nThe Sub-Committee, consisting of Messrs. James McKie (Jardine, Matheson, and Co.), E. C. Pearce (Ilbert and Co.), and Leslie J. Cubitt (Scott, Harding, and Co.), met at Mr. McKie's house on Friday, the 4th January, 1907.\n\nThe draft Regulations were carefully gone through, seriatim, and the Sub-Committee beg to make their Report as follows:-\n\nBy way of introduction, it may be advisable to remark that the criticisms and recommendations made herein cover some points which may perhaps be considered of minor importance only, also some which may be modified or removed by explanations of the translator of the original text, but it has been thought better to omit nothing which, in the opinion of the Sub-Committee, calls for modification, explanation, or amendment, either in substance or in phraseology.\n\nPage 131", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 411958, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "page_number": 458, "title": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "content_text": "## Chargé d'Affaires on Coast-Trade Duty\n\nChargé d'Affaires on that day, but would appear not to have been transmitted to the Foreign Office.\n\nOn passing through Hankow on the 20th March, on my return to Peking, I discussed with His Majesty's Consul-General there the subject of coast-trade duty on brick-tea, and Mr. Fraser agreed with me that, although Chinese steamers were not specifically mentioned in the Commercial Treaty of Shanghao of 1902, there could be no doubt that section 3 of Article VIII was intended to cover Chinese steamers as well as junks and sailing-vessels trading to or from open ports. We resolved, however, to make a very careful search of the Treaties, and discovered that the first paragraph of Article III of the Supplementary Treaty between the United States and China of the 17th November, 1880, lays down that, in the coast trade of China, cargoes carried in United States' vessels shall not pay higher duties than cargoes carried in Chinese vessels. This discovery I communicated to His Majesty's Minister on my return to Peking on the 24th ultimo.\n\nPeking, May 6, 1907.\n\n(Signed) **ALEX. HOSIE**\n\n## Memorandum on Coast-Trade Duty and the China Merchants' Steam-ship Company\n\nIn a Memorandum on the formation and development of the China Merchants' Steam-ship Company, transmitted to the Foreign Office in No. 39 of the 17th February, 1877, it is stated that in the second Annual Report of the Company for the twelve months ending the 31st July, 1875, the Business Managers, in referring to certain disabilities under which the Company labours vis-à-vis foreign Companies, said: \"The steamers of the Company are placed on the same footing as foreign-owned vessels, under the Regulations issued (in 1868) by the Yamên of Foreign Affairs, with the following exceptions.\" As the exceptions do not concern the question now at issue they need not be repeated here. What the Managers undoubtedly meant was that the steamers of this Chinese Company were equally with foreign-owned steamers under the control of the Imperial Maritime Customs, and that the goods carried by the Company's steamers were liable to the same duties as goods carried by foreign-owned steamers. To this day the practice holds good, and all steamers, whether Chinese or foreign-owned, and all vessels having a foreign element about them, are under the control of the Imperial Maritime Customs. The fact that Li Hung-Chang, as Superintendent of Trade for the Northern Ports, memorialized the Throne praying that brick-tea brought to Tien-tsin in steamers of the China Merchants' Company should be exempt from coast-trade duty, proves that the practice was a rule from which he wished the Chinese Company to be excepted. His Excellency's prayer was granted, and the exemption from coast-trade duty, so far as the Company is concerned, enables the Chinese Company to offer better terms to shippers of brick-tea than any foreign shipping Company, and not unnaturally the shippers prefer to ship by the Chinese Company's steamers.\n\nAs regards the taxation of brick-tea between Tien-tsin and Kalgan, the note from the Wai-wu Pu of the 26th May, 1906, gives the following quotation from the Tien-tsin authorities: \"It has been the practice of the Company's (China Merchants) branch office at Hankow to contract to carry it (the brick-tea) to Tungchow and Fengt'ai, where it is handed over to the tea merchants to convey it themselves to Kalgan for sale. As regards the customs dues and li-kin payable at Tien-tsin, the established Regulations are always conformed to, the native customs duty on brick-tea being calculated at 12 candareens per picul, li-kin at 4 candareens, and industrial contribution at 32 candareens.\"\n\nIf these are the established Regulations governing the taxation of brick-tea, why was the brick-tea carried to Tien-tsin in Messrs. Butterfield and Swire's steamer charged 30 and 15 candareens duty and li-kin per picul respectively? The reason, no doubt, why the Chinese Company contracts to carry the tea to T'ungchow and Fengtai is that the owners of the tea are able to take delivery of it after it has paid, through the Company, native customs duty and li-kin on the above favourable terms.\n\nBut what chiefly concerns the British Shipping Company (Messrs. Butterfield and Swire) is the sea-carriage from Hankow and Foochow to Tien-tsin, and the question is, have we the right to say to the Chinese Government that native produce carried coast-wise in Chinese steamers shall pay coast-trade duty, which by the Regulations of 1861 and Treaties subsequently made between China and other Powers was fixed at half the export duty? We have already made arrangements with China in regard to duties and li-kin on goods carried in native bottoms. Article III of the Shanghae Treaty of 1902 says: \"China agrees that the duties and li-kin combined levied on goods carried by junks from Hong Kong to the Treaty ports in the Canton province and vice versá shall together not be less than the duties charged by the Imperial Maritime Customs on similar goods carried by steamers.\"\n\nIt may be said, however, that this is not coast-trade; but section 3 of Article VIII contains the following paragraph: \"Goods carried by junks or sailing vessels trading to or from open ports shall not pay lower duties than the combined duties and surtax on similar cargo carried by steamers.\" The inference from this surely is that certain fixed duties are payable on goods carried by steamers irrespective of nationality, and that it was quite unnecessary to specially include Chinese steamers with junks or sailing vessels in arranging the duties to be paid by the latter. The aim of this section of the Treaty was evidently to establish a uniform Tariff on goods, whether carried in foreign or Chinese bottoms, steam or sail.\n\n(Signed) **ALEX. HOSIE**. July 19, 1906.\n\nPage 436", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 415764, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-350 - Public Offices - 1908", "page_number": 459, "title": "CO129-350 - Public Offices - 1908", "content_text": "18\n\nand successfully resisted, payment, the Governor has introduced the system of taxation known as \"t'ung-shui,\" or consolidated provincial dues, on payment of which the goods are thereafter freed from further taxation throughout the province, the object being to mulet the goods before they pass into foreign hands.\n\nThe custom-houses at Manchuli and Pogranitchnaia are not yet functioning for reasons already stated, and I was informed by M. Konovaloff, the Commissioner of Customs at Harbin, that as the result of inquiries made by him the internal taxation of foreign goods in that part of the Kirin Province amounted to 10 per cent. ad valorem. Duty-paid goods which have entered Manchuria through its sea-board ports are not taxed in the inland marts so long as they remain under foreign control. That they are liable to a consumption tax in Chinese hands is evident from the fact that the Consuls at Mukden have found it necessary to protect a Chinese storekeeper against the tax-gatherer by issuing certificates that the goods sold by him are of foreign origin, and this has saved him from further molestation.\n\nLife and property are still insecure. Chinese highway robbers (usually called \"hung hu tzu\") have always been rampant in the Kirin Province; but the \"hung hu tzu\" are not all Chinese. While the Russian and Japanese armies have evacuated Manchuria, they have left behind them the scum of Europe, such as Greeks and Caucasians, who find a living by violence and plunder. In the city of K'uan-ch'eng-tzu the doors of all the large caravanserais where goods are stored are plated with iron as if to withstand a siege, shops are all shut at dusk, the road of 23 miles between the railway station and the city is unsafe after nightfall, and even during the day passengers have been attacked and robbed. Two consignments of silver going south from Kuan-cheng-tzu were recently carried off. The Manager of the Russo-Chinese Bank when he visits the Russian community at the Russian railway station of an evening rarely returns without an armed escort. In spite of the Russian police maintained by the Chinese Eastern Railway within the Railway Settlement at Harbin, cases of armed robbery are of almost nightly occurrence in the town, and visitors are warned against going out after dark. If such things take place in towns where there is a certain amount of protection, it can easily be imagined that where protection is altogether wanting a similar, if not a worse, condition of affairs exists.\n\nThe delay in the settlement of outstanding questions between China and Japan in Manchuria, such as the timber question on the Yalu, the transfer of telegraph lines and Government property to China, and the claims of the Japanese to fishing and mining rights and to export salt from the Kuantung territory to Manchuria causes a feeling of uneasiness which reacts on trade.\n\nOver trading, inflated prices, disorganized currency, ill-regulated and excessive taxation, insecurity of life and property, and delay in the settlement of certain international questions resulting from the war account for the present unsatisfactory condition of trade in Manchuria.\n\nThe Missing Millions.\n\nEverything points to the fact that a considerable portion of the money spent in Manchuria during the war still remains in the country, and the high prices ruling make its continuance there necessary until drop occurs. As a simple instance, I may mention that the hire of a \"jinricksha\" is 100 per cent. more than one would care to pay anywhere else in China. There can be no doubt that Russia expended in Manchuria proportionately far more than Japan. The former drew supplies of cattle from Mongolia and the Buriat country, where the prices realized are now hoarded, and wheat from the Kirin and Hei-lung-chiang Provinces, and, in fact, spent money foolishly and wantonly, whereas Japan's commissariat stores, even to fodder, were largely supplied by herself. There are rouble millionaires in Harbin, but, on the other hand, there are millions of roubles sunk in what is under present conditions unrealizable property. Unfortunately, money left in the country is being drained to Japan by Japanese women at the rate of several million yen a-year, and does not find its way into legitimate trade channels in Manchuria.\n\nI may add, in conclusion, that, from my own experience, I can fully indorse and justify the hostile criticisms which every thinking man in Manchuria makes and freely expresses regarding Japan's high-handed policy. China's weakness and Japan's selfishness and arrogance are swiftly undermining the interests of all other Powers in that part of the Chinese Empire.\n\nALEX. HOSIE.\n\nPeking, November 14, 1907.\n\n(Signed)\n\n19\n\nInclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\nPlan of the Town and Harbour of Tairen.\n\n[Not printed.]\n\nInclosure 3 in No. 1.\n\nMap of Antung.\n\n[Not printed.]\n\nQ\n\n456", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-350 - Public Offices - 1908.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 416127, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908", "page_number": 292, "title": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908", "content_text": "You will observe that no evidence is furnished in the letter that the imitations referred to in it are used on goods sold in China, nor is it quite clear that they are used on the same class of goods as their prototypes.\n\nSir,\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed)\n\nPELHAM L. WARREN.\n\nInclosure 3 in No. 1.\n\nMr. L. Canning to Consul-General Sir P. Warren.\n\nChina Association (Shanghae Branch), December 13, 1907.\n\nI HAVE the honour to inform you that on going through the publication, \"A Complete List of the Trade-marks registered at the Japanese Patent Office,\" I find the following marks registered by Japanese, which are, in my opinion, imitations of British marks.\n\nThe pages of these volumes are not numbered, but for the purpose of identification I record the class number.\n\nIn passing, I might mention that many of the designs and emblems which are recorded would not be granted registration in a Western country. I noticed, for instance, any amount of Japanese characters, English letters with no combination around them, Al,\" insects, birds, and animals, shipping marks, &c.\n\nIn Class 36 a mark like Messrs. Ilbert and Co.'s \"Cheling.\"\n\nIn Class 36 a mark like Messrs. Reiss and Co.'s \"Stag.\"\n\nIn Class 32 a mark like Messrs. Armitage's \"Crocodile,\" the well-known drill mark (Messrs. Alex. Ross and Co., agents).\n\nIn Class 31 a mark like Messrs. Scott Harding and Co.'s \"Empress and Attendants\" mark.\n\nIn Class 31 a mark like Messrs. Ilbert and Co.'s \"Three Joss.\"\n\nIn Class 31 a mark like Messrs. Scott Harding and Co.'s \"Chinese Wine Cup\"\n\nIn Class 31 a mark like Messrs. Scott Harding and Co.'s \"Two Genii.\"\n\nIn Class 31 a mark like Messrs. Ward, Probst and Co.'s \"Man and Tiger\" mark.\n\nIn Class 31 a mark like Messrs. Ward, Probst and Co.'s \"Man and Fish.\"\n\nIn Class 81 a mark like Messrs. Ward, Probst and Co.'s \"Woman and Frog.\"\n\nIn Class 31 a mark like Messrs. Ward, Probst and Co.'s \"Two Stags.\"\n\nIn Class 31 a mark like Messrs. Jardine, Matheson and Co.'s (Limited) \"Crab.\"\n\nIn Class 27 a mark like Messrs. James Greaves' Cotton Co.'s \"Tea Carrier.\"\n\nIn Class 24 a mark like Messrs. Scott Harding and Co.'s \"Chinese Wine Cup\" (another design).\n\nIn Class 18 a mark like Messrs. Ward, Probst and Co.'s \"Kirin.\"\n\nIn Class 81 Messrs. Armitage's \"Crocodile\" is again recorded, and in Class 27 and \"Chinese Wine\" Messrs. Scott Harding and Co.'s \"Empress and Attendants\" Cup\" also appear again, as well as Messrs. Ilbert and Co.'s \"Three Joss.\"\n\nI have interviewed the representatives of the firms mentioned, and they concur in the opinion that the marks above enumerated are infringements of their marks.\n\nIn conclusion, I would state that these marks are all used in piece goods and yarn, the Japanese classes being as under :-\n\n \n Class 36.-Towels, hats, &c.\n \n \n Class 32.-Woollen goods.\n \n \n Class 31.-Grey and white goods.\n \n \n Class 27.-Cotton and silk goods (presumably yarn).\n \n \n Class 24.-Silk goods.\n \n \n Class 18.-Seems to be no definite class of goods.\n \n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed) L. E. CANNING, Secretary.\n\nInclosure 4 in No. 1.\n\nSir A. Hosie to Sir J. Jordan.\n\nShanghae, December 14, 1907.\n\nDear Sir John,\n\nWARREN is sending you to-day a copy of a letter from the Secretary of the China Association, whom I have been urging to renewed efforts, and who has been going through the Japanese Trade-marks Register, giving a list of imitations of British marks registered by Japanese. As you will see, it is short and incomplete, but individual British firms, who are beginning to realize the danger, are now bestirring themselves, and it is likely that the list will be added to as time goes on.\n\nI find, however, that comparatively few British firms have their marks registered in Japan, so that a Convention which merely protects British marks registered in that country by British proprietors against infringement and use in China will be of little avail, and it seems to me that the struggle will come when the marks are produced for registration at the Chinese Trade-marks Bureau. Then it is that the British manufacturer or merchant will have to show prior registration in England as well as prior use in China.\n\nI am sending herewith a Japanese towel with an imitation of Messrs. Reiss and Co.'s trade-mark upon it. It is the second on Warren's list, and I hope others will follow.\n\nYours, &c.\n\n(Signed) ALEX. HOSIE.\n\nDear Sir John,\n\nInclosure 5 in No. 1.\n\nSir A. Hosie to Sir J. Jordan.\n\nShanghae, December 12, 1907.\n\nI HAVE been stirring up the China Association here to make good their London accusations against the Japanese in the matter of trade-marks, and every effort is being made to secure specimens of counterfeits and imitations. Municipal police detectives are being used for the purpose, and, if they are to be had, you may rest assured that specimens will be got. It is stated that the Japanese are careful not to expose false trade-marks in Shanghae, but I am not satisfied that the statement is altogether in accordance with facts. I am also having search made, and the results will be known in a day or two.\n\nThe accompanying articles from Japanese papers leave no doubt as to what has been going on in China.\n\nYours sincerely,\n\n(Signed) ALEX. HOSIE.\n\nInclosure 6 in No. 1.\n\nExtract from the \"Shanghae Times\" of December 11, 1907.\n\nInfringement of Trade-marks in China.\n\nRECENTLY the Japanese Patent Bureau requested a report from the Japanese Consul-General at Shanghae on the rumours which have been circulated to the effect that the Japanese have been guilty of the infringement of the trade-marks of foreigners in China, this having in some cases resulted in legal proceedings being taken. The report asked for has now been received from Mr. Ozaki, Acting Japanese Consul-General.\n\nMr. Ozaki admits that complaints have been made by foreign merchants against the dishonest practices resorted to by Japanese and Chinese, who have imitated foreign manufacturers, but he has not heard of any instance in which legal proceedings had actually been instituted. The Acting Consul-General adds that foreign merchants used in China.\n\n[2842 y-4]\n\nB 2\n\n288", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 416128, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908", "page_number": 293, "title": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908", "content_text": "4\n\nin China have enjoyed the special privilege of the protection of their trade-marks in China even before the time that the Chinese Trade-mark Protection Law came into force, and in virtue of their privilege they are entitled to demand from the Chinese authorities the prohibition of the sale or the confiscation of imitations of foreign goods.\n\nThere are instances in which the sale of Japanese goods has been stopped on this ground. As an instance, he quotes the case of a lamp chimney made in Osaka bearing a trade-mark consisting of a cow's head and a combination of two Chinese characters, \"So-ko.\" The sale of the chimney in question has been prohibited on the ground that the trade-mark is an imitation of that used by a German firm for a lamp chimney, though that mark is a deer's head and a combination of two Chinese characters, \"Tai-ko.\" The sale of a Japanese imitation of a German lamp, for which there was a large demand, was also prohibited, as it had a combination of two Chinese characters-\"Ken-shin\"-as inscribed on the German lamp.\n\nSome of the dishonest Japanese merchants who have placed imitations on the market have, it seems, actually made demands upon the Consulate-General that action should be taken for the removal of the prohibition which now exists. He cannot, however, he says, officially make a protest against the action of the Chinese authorities, since many of the trade-marks used by the Japanese are almost analogous in design with those used by German merchants, it being impossible to make a distinction between the two at a glance.\n\nThe Acting Consul-General deplores the fact that such dishonest practices should have been resorted to by the Japanese, pointing out that it can only impede the progress of Japanese industry, which continues to grow rapidly, and he suggests that the suppression of such practices is particularly necessary in the case of trade with China. He fears that, should foreigners retaliate by violating Japanese trade-marks in the future, Japan will be involved in heavy loss. He goes on to say that imitations are largely found among perfumed waters, soaps, and other toilet goods imported from Japan, and he believes that there are many dishonest men in and about Osaka who are exclusively engaged in manufacturing imitations of foreign goods.\n\nIn considering all the circumstances, he finds that the imitations have been made only in comparatively few cases by the Japanese themselves; but generally speaking the Japanese have been acting on orders received from unscrupulous Chinese merchants. (These unsophisticated Japanese again!) However, it is a fact to be lamented that Japanese imitators, tempted by temporary profits, have been acting as agents for dishonest Chinese merchants, sacrificing their own reputation and confidence. The Acting Consul-General is determined to take action against the importation of these imitations of foreign goods from Japan if the practice does not cease. We are glad to hear it, for the offence has been perpetrated for a good many years now without anything having been done to check it. “JAPAN CHRONICLE.\"\n\n5\n\nTrade-mark complaints coming from the foreigners' side have not been infrequent of late, and it seems desirable that a thorough investigation be instituted with the object of removing the whole cause of the trouble. Hitherto in many trade-marks disputes the complainants appear to have lost their case on mere technicalities, and that is the unsatisfactory feature of the matter. True, it is for the owners of trade-marks to overlook no technicalities in order that their interests may be fully protected. But a trade-mark law-like any other law containing many loopholes to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous persons to the injury of those whom it aims to protect is certainly not a good law, and should be revised. Not that we are prepared to point out such defects in our present Trade-mark Law, but seeing that there exists discontent against its working, it seems unwise to take no notice of it. Let the impression go abroad that it is very difficult to get trade-mark violators convicted under the law, the consequence will be very serious. The victims of sharp practices will stop going to law, with the result of encouraging the nefarious trade of the makers of imitation goods. The upshot will be a dangerous blow to the reputation of Japanese manufacturers in general. Or view the matter from another point. Should the insecure feeling about our trade-mark administration become general, there is no telling what may happen as the time approaches for the opening of the Grand Exposition of 1912. It is possible that foreign manufacturers will refuse sending their goods for exhibition, and it will be needless to say why. To be prepared against these eventualities it appears urgent that active measures be taken to make the evasion of the law impracticable and bring its evaders within the reach of adequate penalty. Or at least full explanation should be issued for the benefit of those who seek registration, so that there may be no chance of their suffering from the omission of nice technicalities.\n\nWhile we are on the subject, a word is due to Osaka manufacturers. In spite of its being the chief manufacturing centre of the country, Osaka has long since won an unenviable notoriety for sending abroad cheap and shoddy goods. Now it is in danger of becoming a centre of spurious manufacturers. Some say Osaka worships money and commercial morality is at very low ebb there. It is inconceivable, however, that Osaka, with a population of nearly a million and a prosperous business, is a home of sharpers and swindlers. The bulk of her inhabitants, including her principal citizens, are no doubt honest, hardworking people. These should see that the good name of their city is threatened, and it behoves them to rise in protest and league themselves against the dishonest parties. A stain to Osaka is a stain to Japan, and the curse of the nation will fall on her if her influential business men and bankers should fail to recover her reputation.\n\nInclosure 8 in No. 1.\n\nInclosure 7 in No. 1.\n\nExtract from the \"Japan Times\" of November 30, 1907.\n\nTrade-mark Frauds.\n\nFROM Osaka comes a report that the Commerce Bureau of the Southern Prefecture has just issued a note warning the local export merchants against the practice of making fraudulent use of trade-marks. The action taken is said to be the result of advices received from the Japanese Consuls in China in reply to inquiries sent out by the Central Patent Office, the information being to the effect that spurious imitation goods were most numerous among imports from Osaka. It is said further that the specific instances quoted in the Consular Reports all refer to the cases of infringement of trade-marks registered by foreigners. The revelation cannot fail to be very painful to those who cherish the hope that Japan will be able to build her international commerce solely on the principle of a fair field and no favour, and it is a national hope. In view of this, the step taken by the Osaka Commerce Bureau is not untimely; but we think it not enough-the central authorities should move in the matter.\n\nup\n\n(No. II.). Sir,\n\nSir A. Hosie to Sir J. Jordan.\n\nShanghae, December 26, 1907.\n\nI HAVE the honour to inform you that I am transmitting to you to-day a jar of Gosnell's tooth paste, together with a Japanese imitation. The latter I purchased in a Chinese shop in the French Settlement here, and it is a good example of the intent to deceive.\n\nOn the face of the Japanese jar the word \"beautifying\" is mis-spelt, and \"M. Matsuya and Co., Naniwa,\" is substituted for \"John Gosnell and Co. (Limited), London,\" while “trade-mark\" replaces \"Extra Moist\"; but on the dark label on the side Gosnell's \"London, England\" is superseded by \"London, Naniwa,\" and the \"Extra Moist\" removed from the face reappears on the red label encircling the jar. On the dark label, too, \"Patronised by the Queen\" appears in place of \"Patronized by the Queen.\"\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed)\n\nALEX. HOSIE,\n\nActing Commercial Attaché.\n\n289", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 416152, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908", "page_number": 317, "title": "CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908", "content_text": "[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's\n\n313\n\nGovernment.251\n\nJapanese of foreign trade-marks, the property of others, and of colourable imitations of these marks can have only one meaning - an intention to deceive the buyer; and, in view of clause 3 of Article 2 of the Japanese Trade-marks Law, which provides that \"trade-marks in regard to which the apprehension exists that they will deceive people cannot be registered,\" it seems to me that Japan might well be called upon to remove from her Trade-mark Register all marks registered by Japanese which can be clearly proved to be the property of others, and to amend the law so as to make it a punishable offence to counterfeit and produce colourable imitations of the marks of others.\n\nAs the Japanese are allowed by law to claim as Japanese trade-marks British marks which they have counterfeited and succeeded in registering at the Patent Bureau in Japan, any Convention between Great Britain and Japan for the reciprocal protection of their trade-marks in China would, in my opinion, be of little practical value until the Japanese law is amended or an Agreement arrived at between Great Britain and Japan for the protection of their respective trade-marks in the country of the other. Such a Convention, if signed now, could merely protect in China from infringement by Japanese British trade-marks actually registered in Japan as British and would not cover the case of British marks which have been counterfeited and registered in Japan as Japanese marks.\n\n(Signed) ALEX. HOSIE,\n\nShanghae, February 17, 1908.\n\nActing Commercial Attaché.\n\nCHINA TRADE,\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[10265]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n1440 08\n\n[March 25.]\n\nSECTION 1.\n\nBoard of Trade to Foreign Office.-(Received March 25.)\n\nSir,\n\nBoard of Trade, March 24, 1908. WITH reference to your letter of the 10th instant, transmitting a copy of a telegram from His Majesty's Ambassador at Tôkió as to the interpretation of Article 1, paragraph 2, and Article 2 of the British counter-project for a Convention with Japan for the mutual protection of trade-marks in China and Corea, I am directed by the Board of Trade to state, for the information of Sir E. Grey, that Sir C. MacDonald has correctly interpreted their intention in putting forward the alterations to which he refers. It would, however, appear to be necessary, in order to make matters perfectly clear, to introduce a corresponding alteration in the preamble of the draft Convention, and this might possibly take the shape of the insertion after the words \"trade-marks of their subjects\" of the words \"and of making provision for the mutual protection of trading names and Hong marks.\"\n\nI am, &c.\n\n(Signed)\n\nT. W. P. BLOMEFIELD.\n\n[2889 bb-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-351 - Public Offices - 1908.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 416712, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-352 - Public Offices - 1908", "page_number": 39, "title": "CO129-352 - Public Offices - 1908", "content_text": "2\n\nGJ\n\nmaterials are also coming from America. The opening of the railway from Kungyik to Sunning will undoubtedly be of benefit to this port, as the line will tap a very rich district which cannot at present be easily reached from Kongmoon. So far, Sunning has drawn its supplies from the south, through the inconvenient harbour of Kwanghoi, or by a roundabout and uncertain route by way of Sunchong. When the railway is opened the journey from Kongmoon to Sunning will not take more than six hours, instead of from twelve to eighteen hours, as at present. Kungyik, the northern terminus of the line, is still little more than a town site, laid out, however, in accordance with foreign rather than native ideas. It is opposite the well-known town of Tanshuihow, and is in the hands of a Company. The river bank has already been well bunded with stone, and before long substantial houses will probably be built.\n\nOn the 17th December, 1907, a correspondent writing from Fatshan gives the following account of the progress of construction ---\n\n\"The work of constructing the Sunning Railway is rapidly proceeding, and it is now announced that the section to the north of Sunning city is to be opened on the 1st of the Chinese twelfth month (4th January). Peculiar interest attaches to this scheme, as the whole work connected with it--the inception of the idea, the flotation of the Company, the designing, &c., the construction, and the subsequent management is kept strictly in Chinese hands. Considering how large a proportion of the population of this and adjoining counties have resided in America or other foreign countries, and how difficult of access the city of Sunning has hitherto been, there is little to wonder at in the spirit of enterprise shown, but that Chinese have organized so well and carried out the scheme so thoroughly is as remarkable as it is gratifying to observe. By the courtesy of the officials I was to-day allowed to ride on one of the construction trains over this line, and to my inexperienced eye it seemed as though a very satisfactory piece of work had been done, the running being smooth and the embankments, &c., apparently firm. Unlike the Canton and Samshui line, it passes through a difficult country, and has to take a winding course to negotiate the intervening hills.\n\n\"The port of Kungyik, which is the northern terminus of the line, is another striking illustration of the enterprising spirit prevailing in this district. A large town with broad, straight streets has been planned, and many of the lots are already occupied. Unfortunately, the buildings here, though ambitious in size, have been less substantially built, and the evidences of the ravages of last September's typhoon are still all too striking. The bunding here, however, will compare favourably with that in any European settlement, and the situation on a fine navigable river in the centre of so prosperous a district ought to make it a great trade centre, perhaps partly at the expense of the Treaty port of Kongmoon.\n\n\"Work has also been begun on the section of the line from Sunning to Chunglan. Eventually it is intended to continue it southwards to the sea coast, where a port is even talked of on the lines of Kungyikfu, but capable of receiving vessels from foreign countries.\"\n\nThe same correspondent, writing on the 14th February last, says:—\n\n\"Last December I described a trip over this line just before its opening. It has now been working for a month, and being in that part of the delta last Monday, I travelled over it once again. Considering that no foreign aid has been invoked, it is only fair to state that the line is very adequately managed, and, indeed, by local standards would be deemed a fair success. Although the trains are made up of both passenger cars and freight or construction trucks, they appear to keep punctually to the time-table. The rolling-stock is also good, the first-class coaches being indeed luxuries. It was also gratifying to see the thoroughness with which the third-class carriages are swept out on each arrival at the terminus. (Like some British lines, it has no second-class coaches.) The fares, however, are unreasonably high. At present it must be hard to make the line pay, for at the large town of Kungyikfu, which forms the northern terminus, most of the lots either are not yet built on, or are still in the builders' hands, and the steamers which are to start from there for Canton and Hong Kong are not yet in existence. The work is, however, being carried out with thoroughness, and in a few years it will no doubt be one of the great ports of the province.\"\n\n3\n\nThe accompanying plan shows the alignment of the railway traced on a German map. The starting point in the north is Kungyik (Kung-yi); Sunning or Sanning is the Cantonese pronunciation of the name of the district city of Hsin-ning, to the east of which the line passes, and Samkahoi is the southern terminus of the line on the seaboard.\n\n(Signed) ALEX. HOSIE,\n\nPeking, April 27, 1908.\n\n* Not reproduced.\n\nActing Commercial Attaché.\n\n37\n\nPage 37\n\nPage 37", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-352 - Public Offices - 1908.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 417309, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-353 - Public Offices - 1908", "page_number": 21, "title": "CO129-353 - Public Offices - 1908", "content_text": "20\n\n4+\n\nto convey the meaning that marks duly registered in either country, and in use in China, should, although not registered in the country of the other, be afforded as full protection as if they had been registered in both countries. The non-protection of British marks registered in England and in use in China, but not registered or in use in Japan, will give Japanese the opportunity of appropriating these marks and registering them in Japan as Japanese marks (which has already been done), and when the Chinese Trade-marks Regulations come into force there will be nothing to prevent the Japanese holders of these counterfeit marks from claiming their re-registration as Japanese marks in China against the original British proprietors of the marks who did not register their marks in Japan, possibly because they were in use in China only. Or if, again, it is decided by the Chinese Regulations that all marks in use in China prior to a certain date shall be placed in a special list, as has been proposed, the Japanese holder equally with the British owner will demand that his mark be placed in that list, and if the counterfeit is unassailable, according to Japanese law, it will be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to secure justice. This is one of the many difficulties likely to ensue, unless a Convention fully safeguarding all British trade-marks in use in China can be successfully concluded.\n\nThe necessity for such a comprehensive Convention as will embrace British marks, unregistered as well as registered, in Japan may be gathered from the following illustration. The proprietor of a British trade-mark uses it on goods in China, but not in Japan, and does not therefore register it in Japan. When the Chinese Trade-marks Regulations come into force he registers that mark for his exclusive use in China. A Japanese subject may, however, counterfeit, imitate, or colourably imitate that mark and even register it in Japan, thus making it, according to Japanese law, unassailable (cf. \"Crocodile\" mark). He can introduce goods bearing that counterfeit mark into China, and, as registration in China will be optional, there need be no dispute at the Chinese registration office as to the bona fide ownership of the mark. In such a case the British proprietor would have no redress, whether in Chinese or Japanese Courts, in China.\n\nJapanese law recognizes priority of registration, not priority of use. Had a Trade-marks Law existed in China there can be no doubt that the old British marks now in use in this country would have been duly registered under that law. That, however, was impossible, and when the Chinese Trade-marks Regulations again come up for discussion care must be taken that priority of use shall receive due consideration, that ample time shall be given for the filing of marks, and that, to permit of objections being raised, a sufficient interval shall elapse after publication of the marks for which application for registration is made before registration or re-registration is granted.\n\n(Signed) ALEX. HOSIE,\n\nPeking, August 15, 1908.\n\nActing Commercial Attaché.\n\n0\n\nOffice or Individual.”\n\nForeign\n\n1908\n\n14 Oct\n\nLast previous Paper.\n\nHONG KONG\n\nSTRAITS\n\nNo. 37615\n\n(Subject.)\n\nChina Trade\n\nDOMESTIC.\n\n37615\n\n15.30. 08\n\nfurther confl.corre ap\n\n(Minutes.)\n\n4. Stuble\n\nDr Antrobus Jongres\n\nThe Amenian Govt suggest that it's representatives should be given Plews potentiang.\n\ndeprecated\n\nAug 31\n\nThis at the Brand puim conference\n\nThe Action of Sin E. Grey suggestion.\n\nwith 35408\n\nAug 28\n\nMinisters has\n\nSeft 21\n\nSection 1\n\nSection 1\n\nCouls sent t Str but hey bury H.I mae\n\n25000---17-7. 100005--W. & S. Ltd.-20902- 250I-W. MA. Ltd.—23140–— 2500-11-07.\n\nNext subsequent Paper.\n\nHofe has better still be held back for 58H 16/10\n\nWe can't send out the Conference frother, got (see a 2383)\n\nThe rest fort matter.\n\nRht. Oct. 24 at puce.\n\nGr. 16", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-353 - Public Offices - 1908.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 417991, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-353 - Public Offices - 1908", "page_number": 703, "title": "CO129-353 - Public Offices - 1908", "content_text": "698\n\n#!\n\n16\n\nBoard suggested a tax of 4 cash on production, but this was reduced to 3 cash at the request of the Governor-General, who, in his Proclamation imposing the tax, explains that he is acting under the directions of the Board of Finance, and that the additional levy is to compensate for the loss of revenue derived from opium. As the annual output of salt in Szechuan amounts to about 500,000,000 catties, of which some 100,000,000 catties are exported to Hupei, the annual revenue derivable from this new tax should fall little short of 2,000,000 dollars (about 200,000l).\n\nFurther proof of the curtailment of production is found in the fact that the Director-General of Native Opium Taxation, whose head-quarters are at Wuchang, the capital of the Province of Hupei, has recently represented to the Grand Council that, owing to the decrease in the revenue from native opium taxation, it is impossible for him to remit the full amount which he has been directed to furnish out of this revenue. He states that since the enforcement of the prohibition of opium the consolidated tax has yielded a smaller return; that many offices do not collect sufficient to pay expenses; and that, with the shortening of the time-limit, the revenue will be still further reduced, and it will be necessary to close several offices during the current year. As, therefore, the abolition of opium necessarily entails decrease in the revenue from its taxation, he requests that some other means may be found for making up the deficiency. The answer to this representation is a Memorial by the Board of Revenue stating the steps that have already been taken in the provinces for making up this deficiency by an addition to the price of salt, which is a Government monopoly, and instituting from the 1st of the coming Chinese year (22nd January, 1909) a new tax on opium, in the shape of a fee, to be paid by every person buying the drug, amounting to 40 and 60 cash per Chinese ounce of raw and prepared opium respectively. The Memorial further states that, if it be found at the end of next year that these additional levies on salt and opium are insufficient to make good the loss of revenue hitherto derived from opium taxation, the Head Consolidated Opium Tax Office will have to provide the deficiency. A translation of this Memorial, which was approved by Imperial Decree on the 24th October and appeared in the \"Official Gazette\" of the 7th November, is annexed.\n\nALEX. HOSIE,\n\nPeking, November 10, 1908.\n\n(Signed)\n\nActing Commercial Attaché.\n\nAppendix (A).\n\nExtract from the \"Official Gazette\" of the 30th July, 1908.\n\nMEMORIAL by the Board of Laws and the Imperial Commissioners for Law Reform reporting on a Memorial by the Governor of Kiangsu recommending the enactment of special penal laws against the sale of morphia.\n\n(Translation.)\n\nOn the 14th December, 1907, a Memorial was submitted by Ch'en Ch'i-tai, Governor of Kiangsu, in which he proposed that special laws should be laid down providing for the punishment of those convicted of selling morphia or of manufacturing needles for its injection. In accordance with the Imperial Rescript, \"Let the proper Department consider the matter and report,\" the Memorial was referred to the Board of Laws.\n\nThe Memorial of the Governor was as follows:——\n\nMorphia contains poisonous substances fatal to human life, but foreigners use it in compounding medicines for treating certain diseases, and its use has now spread to China, where it is taken by injection to satisfy the craving for opium. Its effects are very similar to those produced by opium, but whilst there is some chance of curing the opium habit, when recourse has once been had to morphia its use cannot be abandoned, and as time goes on, and more injections are constantly made, the whole body finally becomes corrupted and death ensues.\n\n17\n\nIn view of the fact that this drug is still more pernicious than opium, clauses were inserted in the Commercial Treaties with Great Britain and America prohibiting its importation except under special Customs permit and for medical purposes, and the 10th Article of the Rules for the Prohibition of Opium submitted to the Throne by the Government Council last year provided that instructions should be sent to Customs authorities to call attention to this Treaty provision, and that shopkeepers, whether native or foreign, should be strictly prohibited from manufacturing morphia or instruments for its injection.\n\nUnfortunately, there are still unprincipled persons who, in their greed for gain, delude people into using morphia, and, as all the opium saloons have been closed owing to the enforcement of the prohibition of opium, and the poorer people cannot procure the utensils for opium smoking, when they find that they can satisfy their craving with morphia at a fraction of the cost there are few with sufficient strength of mind to resist doing so. This being the case in Kiangsu, the same conditions are probably to be found in other provinces, and it therefore appears advisable that special laws should be provided so that one man's punishment may act as a deterrent to a hundred others.\n\n\"By law it is an offence punishable with decapitation to manufacture, or cause others to manufacture, poisons dangerous to human life; and further, if a man be poisoned, the seller, if aware of the purpose for which the poison was bought, is liable to the same penalty as the murderer. Now, if a person manufactures morphia, which is poisonous in its effects, and sells it to another to satisfy his craving for opium, if the latter finally dies through inability to abandon the use of morphia the case is really similar to that of a man who manufactures poison for the purpose of committing murder. The law formerly in existence against opium provided for the death penalty, and as morphia is much more dangerous than opium the death penalty in accordance with the law against the manufacture of poisons would not be excessive. However, the object of its manufacture is not murder but gain, and as, too, the victims of the craving voluntarily bring their death upon themselves, the conditions are somewhat different, and I would therefore venture to suggest that the Board of Laws should be directed to consult with the Commissioners for Law Reform with a view to drawing up special enactments on the subject.\"\n\nWe were instructed by Imperial Decree to report on this Memorial, and have the honour to observe, in the first place, that morphia is a natural salt, forming the essential constituent of opium, from which it is extracted by chemical processes and made into medicines for treating diseases. It possesses the property of producing sleep, whence its name morphia, from Morpheus, the God of Sleep, is derived, and its effects are still more powerful than those of opium.\n\nLast year an Imperial Decree was issued ordering the entire abolition of opium, and the Regulations prepared by the Government Council contained a provision that arrangements should be made for the prohibition of the import of foreign opium so that the evil might be cut off at the source. It was also provided that, as morphia and the instruments for its injection were still more injurious than opium, full effect should be given to the 11th Article of the British Commercial Treaty and the 16th of the American Treaty, and instructions be given to the Customs to prohibit the importation of any morphia not covered by special permit and imported for medical purposes. Shopkeepers, whether native or foreign, should also be strictly forbidden to manufacture morphia or instruments for its injection, so that this evil might be completely eradicated.\n\nThese Regulations were sanctioned by the Throne and circulated, but, in spite of the stringent nature of this prohibition, it appears that there are still unprincipled persons who delude people into using morphia, and the trade has not been entirely suspended. The prohibition of opium is now being enforced, opium saloons have been closed, and the poorer classes having no other means of allaying their craving have recourse to morphia, being attracted thereto in the first place by its cheapness. As time goes on their consumption of morphia constantly increases, and they cannot abandon its use; their system becomes full of the poison, and in the end their bodies become covered with sores from the injecting needle and their health is ruined. Seeing that the evils of morphia are so difficult to avoid even now before opium has been entirely eradicated, after the abolition of opium it is to be feared that there will be still greater danger of falling a victim thereto, and we shall merely pass from Scylla to Charybdis.\n\nThe Governor's suggestion that a special enactment against morphia, founded on the law against the manufacture of poisons, should be laid down, springs from an earnest desire to extirpate the evil and preserve the lives of the people. The original law against the manufacture of poisons provided that, whether any person was actually killed or not, the maker was liable to decapitation, the punishment being thus more severe than in the case of ordinary homicide, on the grounds that this class of criminals made murder their trade. Now, in the case of persons manufacturing instruments for the injection of morphia and selling them to people for the purpose of satisfying their craving for opium, the maker is on the same footing as a person manufacturing poisons, but as his object is merely gain and not murder, and as, moreover, the victims of the craving bring about their own death, the conditions are, as the Governor has pointed out, somewhat different, and justice requires that the law should be made slightly less severe.\n\nAs regards the sale of morphia by shops, the Customs should be directed to enforce the provisions of the British and American Treaties prohibiting the import of morphia except under special permit for medical purposes, and a punishment must be fixed for any evil-disposed persons in the interior who may conspire to carry on an illicit trade in the drug. A person who knowingly sells poison is liable to the same punishment as the actual murderer, and a person who sells morphia, knowing its poisonous properties, should therefore be liable to the same punishment as the man who manufactures the instruments for its injection. Again, under the now obsolete law against opium, the person preparing and the person selling the drug were liable to the same punishment (strangulation), and therefore, although the death penalty need not be decreed either against the person making instruments for the injection of morphia or the person selling the drug, the two classes of offenders should be treated as being on the same footing.\n\nAfter careful deliberation we venture to recommend that those convicted of manufacturing instruments for the injection of morphia should be sentenced in accordance with the law against the manufacture of poisons, the punishment being reduced from decapitation to banishment to ...\n\nF\n\n[2050 i-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-353 - Public Offices - 1908.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 421520, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-360 - Public Offices - 1909", "page_number": 309, "title": "CO129-360 - Public Offices - 1909", "content_text": "In proof of the commercial relations between Fa-ku-men and Hsin-min-t'un (Hsin-min Fu) I am enabled to give the following figures relating to the traffic handled during the twelve months ended the 31st August, 1908, by the Imperial Railways of North China between Hsin-min Fu and Newchwang via Kou-pang-tzu and between Hsin-min Fu and stations south-west of Kou-pang-tzu as well as the share of that traffic between Hsin-min Fu and the Fa-ku-men district :--\n\n1. Hsin-min Fu to Newchwang-\n| Commodity | Tons |\n| --- | --- |\n| Millet (Kao-liang) | 1,100 |\n| Other grain | 5,370 |\n| Beans and bean-cake | 39,904 |\n| Bean oil | 800 |\n| General merchandize | 460 |\n| Total | 47,134 |\n\n2. Newchwang to Hsin-min Fu-\n| Commodity | Tons |\n| --- | --- |\n| Kerosene oil | 810 |\n| Sugar | 84 |\n| Salt | 11,206 |\n| Timber | 2,067 |\n| General merchandize | 1,681 |\n| Total | 15,208 |\n\n3. Hsin-min Fu to stations south-west of Kou-pang-tzu--\n| Commodity | Tons |\n| --- | --- |\n| Millet (Kao-liang) | 11,040 |\n| Other grain | 38,745 |\n| Beans and bean-cake | 1,070 |\n| Bean oil | 120 |\n| General merchandize | 11,397 |\n| Total | 62,372 |\n\n4. Stations south-west of Kou-pang-tzu to Hsin-min Fu--\n| Commodity | Tons |\n| --- | --- |\n| Salt | 16,310 |\n| Grain | 240 |\n| General merchandize | 22,428 |\n| Timber | ... |\n| Total | 39,026 |\n\nFrom the above it will be seen that the traffic between the Fa-ku-men district and Tiehling for the twelve months ended the 31st August, 1908, amounted to 28,050 tons, against 55,830 tons between the Fu-ku-men district and Hsin-min-t'un (Hsin-min Fu) for the same period. In other words, the traffic of the Fu-ku-men district carried by the Imperial Railways of North China at Hsin-min-t'un is double its traffic with the South Manchurian Railway at T'iebling.\n\n(Signed) ALEX. HOSIE,\nActing Commercial Attaché,\nPeking, October 21, 1908.\n\nThe above figures show that the total quantity of goods carried by the Imperial Railways of North China during the twelve months ended the 31st August from Newchwang and places south-west of Kou-pang-tzu to Hsin-min Fu was 54,324 tons and from Hsin-min Fu to Newchwang and places south-west of Kou-pang-tzu junction 109,506 tons, a total to and from Hsin-min Fu of 163,830 tons.\n\nThe Chinese Customs authorities at Hsin-min Fu have supplied the following figures representing the Fa-ku-men district's share of the above rail-borne traffic.\n\n5. Hsin-min Fu to Fa-ku-men district-\n| Commodity | Tons |\n| --- | --- |\n| General merchandize | 10,540 |\n\n6. Fa-ku-men district to Hsin-min Fu-\n| Commodity | Tons |\n| --- | --- |\n| Beans | 19,510 |\n| Bean-cake | 25,250 |\n| Grain | 680 |\n| Total | 45,290 |\n\nA grand total of 55,830 tons, or over 34 per cent. of the total traffic handled by the Imperial Railways of North China between Hsin-min Fu, Newchwang, and the country to the south-west of Kou-pang-tzu junction.\n\nFrom the same source I have been supplied with the following figures representing the traffic between Fa-ku-men district and Tiehling for the twelve months ended the 31st August:-\n\n7. Tiehling to Fa-ku-men district-\n| Commodity | Tons |\n| --- | --- |\n| General merchandize | 8,550 |\n\n8. Fa-ku-men district to Tiehling-\n| Commodity | Tons |\n| --- | --- |\n| Beans and bean-cake | 15,300 |\n| Grain (all kinds) | 4,200 |\n| Total | 19,500 |", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-360 - Public Offices - 1909.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 422097, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-361 - Public Offices - 1909", "page_number": 126, "title": "CO129-361 - Public Offices - 1909", "content_text": "## 124 \n\n2 \n\nThe increasing centralization of authority in Peking, and the growing desire to profit by competition, may result in admitting British manufactures to a greater degree. At a recent interview, I spoke at some length to Tieh Liang about the drawbacks connected with the present system of purchasing armament, and impressed upon him the necessity of finding a wider market for obtaining his supplies.\n\nUnder the system hitherto in force, whereby each province had sole management of its purchases of war material, it will be seen from the following incident that it was difficult for a Viceroy, with the best of goodwill, to buy in the cheapest market. A technical representative of a British manufacturer showed to the Viceroy at Tien-tsin that the agency charges for packing, freight, and insurance, which had been originally calculated at 10 per cent. of the value of the consignment, and now stood usually at 15 per cent., were more than double the actual expenses incurred, and served principally as a fund to be distributed as secret commissions to the subordinate officials concerned in the transaction. The Viceroy promised to reflect over the suggestion that he should obviate all this by purchasing direct from the manufacturers, but, after a few days' consideration, he decided that the existing scheme of things could not be disturbed.\n\nIn the supply of electrical plant and machinery of various sorts, the German agencies are also generally admitted to be in advance of their British competitors, and, in view of the rapidly growing demand for public lighting, water-works, steam rollers, &c., in Chinese cities, it appears to me worthy of consideration whether a system of direct representation could not be instituted by British manufacturers in this branch of industry as well as in the arms and ammunition trade.\n\nI would suggest, if you see no objection, that this correspondence might be communicated confidentially to the China Association, and, if possible, circulated in the same way amongst some of the leading firms connected with the China trade, in order that their views may be obtained as to what steps should be taken to acquire a larger share for Great Britain in this important branch of business.\n\nI have, &c. \n(Signed) \nJ. N. JORDAN.\n\n## Inclosure 1 in No. 1.\n\n**Report by Sir A. Hosie on the alleged Monopoly by German Firms of the Trade with China in Arms, Ammunition, Materials for Arsenals, &c.**\n\nSome twenty years ago, an important British merchant firm in China represented a leading British armament firm, but did very little business. The latter being dissatisfied withdrew the agency. The merchant firm then obtained the agency of a leading German arms manufacturer, and engaged a clever German to manage the department, which was left entirely in his hands, without any supervision from the heads of the firm. After a few years, the German left the firm, and started in business on his own account. The British firm, being left with nobody who understood the business, lost the bulk of the trade of the arms department. The German manufacturer withdrew his agency, and handed it over to the late assistant of the British house. This man made such a success of the business that other German firms organized departments for dealing with the trade in arms, ammunition, war material, and machinery generally. They secured agencies for leading British and Continental manufacturers, and went into business with characteristic thoroughness. This special department (\"Technischesabteilung\") of each firm employed a staff of trained engineers and experts, as well as experts from the German army to deal with arms and ammunition.\n\nA number of these men were sent into the interior of China for the express purpose of learning the language, with the result that to-day there are in each of these technical departments several men who can speak and correspond in Chinese. No serious attempt was made for many years by British merchant firms in China to contest the field, and when they did wake up to the fact that a lucrative business was being done in war material and machinery, they discovered that the German firms held a monopoly as well as the agencies for leading British manufacturers. Even then, the British merchants worked in a half-hearted way, considering it quite sufficient to place inexperienced men in charge of a highly technical business.\n\nAs worked by British merchant houses in China, British manufacturers had reason to be dissatisfied with the results shown by such agents, and it is not surprising to find that agencies were cancelled and transferred to German merchants. It was at this time that the cry of bribery and corruption was first raised, while, as a matter of fact, the German firms had no reason to use these weapons against British firms as the competition by the latter was too feeble to be noticeable. It is quite true that high commissions are paid, but it is equally true that the system is not a monopoly of German merchants. When it came to competition between the merchants of the two nationalities, the Germans had energy, method, trained technical knowledge, language, and commission to assist them against British commission alone. Another respect in which British merchants have failed and are failing in their dealings with the Chinese is their attitude towards the latter. They fail to maintain that close relationship with the Chinese which is so characteristic of Germans seeking business. There are, of course, failures amongst German firms to get or keep a hold of this business, and such failures are due to the same causes which have militated against British firms. There is a well-known German firm in Shanghae which, with a change of membership, rapidly lost a large connection which it held up to a recent date.\n\nThe holding of British agencies by German firms is undesirable; but British manufacturers have in the past been compelled to adopt this method of doing business, the alternative being to have their own representatives in China and incur an expenditure which they did not see their way to meet. One great obstacle in the way of British manufacturers of arms, ammunition, and arsenal machinery and material is the employment of Germans by the Chinese. These engineers are engaged for the Chinese by German manufacturers, and they have naturally a predilection for and an interest in the supply of German material with a bias against the manufactures of other countries. The experience of German engineers has been gained in the use of German material, and their previous associations make them favour German manufactures.\n\nBritish firms and representatives of British manufacturers complain of the employment in China of two Germans, one in the army and the other as a general looker-on. In the case of ordnance, the former finally decides on the merits or demerits of any guns submitted for trial by the Chinese War Department, and they allege that it is notorious that this man is interested in favouring the guns of a well-known German manufacturer, and that guns submitted by other makers are rejected, even if they give better results. They maintain that under existing circumstances, they have no assurance of a fair trial.\n\nGerman firms are in close touch with all the arsenals in China, and by giving long credits, they usually succeed in securing a continuation of orders. High interest is, of course, charged on outstanding accounts. They make a point of sending agents into the interior, even into the remotest provinces, to visit arsenal authorities and advise them as to their requirements.\n\nAlthough German merchant firms hold almost a monopoly of the trade, it does not follow that they supply only German material, and I am informed by the representative of a large British manufacturer that some of his best customers are Germans. I am also informed that, owing to the number of hands through which arms, ammunition, &c., have to pass and the commissions which have to be paid to the heads of Government Departments, the laid-down prices frequently amount to three times the original cost.\n\nALEX. HOSIE, \n(Signed) \nActing Commercial Attaché. \nShanghae, February 17, 1909.\n\n## Inclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\n**Acting Consul-General Ker to Sir J. Jordan.**\n\n(No. 11.) Sir,\n\nTien-tsin, February 1, 1909. \nIn reply to your despatch No. 3 of the 13th ultimo, I have the honour to report that there are no British firms at Tien-tsin engaged in the arms and ammunition trade. Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, and Co. (Limited) are agents for the Nobel Explosives Company (Limited), but the only goods of this firm that they actually handle are safety fuses for industrial purposes. Their agent here informs me that they have long since given up the attempt to get orders for arms or ammunition from Chinese Government Departments, recognizing the practical monopoly established by German firms. Some twenty years ago, Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, and Co. obtained the services of the late...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-361 - Public Offices - 1909.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 423511, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-363 - Public Offices & Others - 1909", "page_number": 115, "title": "CO129-363 - Public Offices & Others - 1909", "content_text": "## C.0 38162\n\n[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nI immediately addressed a written protest to the Chinese Government, and requested that the Viceroy might be telegraphically instructed to put a stop to the vexatious proceedings lately instituted by the Opium Prohibition Bureau of Canton, which I said were quite at variance with the written statement of the Wai-wu Pu that the Chinese Government had no intention of interfering with the wholesale trade in foreign opium. I pointed out that the arrangement concluded between the British and Chinese Governments provided for a gradual extinction of the foreign opium trade, so that as far as foreign opium was concerned there was no necessity for measures which inflicted grave injury on British merchants conducting a still legitimate trade under treaty provisions.\n\nHaving heard from the acting British consul-general at Canton that the Viceroy Yuan Shu-hsun refused to give an assurance that the enforcement of the prohibition regulations would not be allowed to interfere with the wholesale trade in foreign opium and that the imports of foreign opium into Canton had entirely ceased, I addressed a second note to the Wai-wu Pu and followed this up by verbal representations to his Excellency Liang Tun-yen at an interview on the 4th instant. I had received your letter of the 22nd September two days previously, and was therefore able to include the regulations issued by the Viceroy of Nanking in my representations. I disclaimed any intention of interfering with any regulations which the Chinese Government or provincial authorities might think fit to issue to control or suppress the trade in native opium, but I pointed out that the eventual suppression of the trade in foreign opium was already provided for by the arrangement concluded between our two Governments. The action taken at Canton last year in consequence of my representations proved that it was possible to enforce regulations in regard to the sale of native opium without affecting the wholesale trade in foreign opium, and I therefore requested his Excellency to issue instructions to all high provincial authorities, in accordance with the repeated assurances of the Chinese Government, that foreign opium should be excluded from the operation of any regulations applying to the wholesale trade, so that the legitimate interests of the British importers should not be unnecessarily interfered with. His Excellency promised to send instructions in the sense desired by me.\n\nI am, &c.\n**J. N. JORDAN**\n\n## CHINA TRADE\n\n**CONFIDENTIAL**\n\n[40571]\n\nNo. 1.\n\nRro 23 NOV 09\n\n114\n\n[November 4.]\n\n## SECTION 1\n\n**Memorandum by Consul-General Sir A. Hosie on the Investigation of Opium Cultivation and Production in China.**~(Received November 4, 1909.)\n\n1. IT is admitted that there has been considerable reduction in the cultivation and production of opium in China during the last three years; but the figures for production, given in the Chinese memorandum presented to the International Opium Commission at Shanghae in February 1909, were, according to the Chinese commissioners themselves, merely guesswork, and the alleged reduction in 1908 as compared with 1906, which was based on these figures, was therefore guesswork and unreliable.\n\n2. At the end of 1910 China has to prove to the British-Indian Government that she is reducing the production and consumption of native opium pari passu with the reduced export of opium from India.\n\n3. As China has not the machinery available for ascertaining the amount of land under poppy, it is extremely doubtful whether at the end of 1910 she will be able to state with any degree of accuracy the amount of reduction in cultivation, production, or consumption.\n\n4. Under the above circumstances it seems desirable, as a check, that steps should be taken by the British Government, prior to the close of 1910, to ascertain as far as possible the extent of poppy cultivation and opium production in China.\n\n5. In Manchuria and the northern and north-western provinces of China the poppy is a summer crop (April to September), while in the south-western provinces it is a winter crop (November to April), so that to determine generally the extent of poppy cultivation in China prior to the close of 1910, personal investigation should be carried out in Manchuria and in the northern and north-western provinces from the end of April to September 1910, and from November onwards in the south-western provinces.\n\n6. Such investigation could best be carried out by a consular officer in China of sufficiently high rank to entitle him to gain easy access to the high Chinese provincial authorities when necessary, and to command the respect of his fellow consular officers, with whom he would always require to be in close touch during his investigations.\n\n7. Were such personal investigation made in 1910, an excellent basis for comparison with subsequent years would be secured.\n\n**ALEX. HOSIE**\n\n10, Louisville Avenue, Aberdeen,\nOctober 18, 1909.\n\n`[2494-1]`", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-363 - Public Offices & Others - 1909.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 429633, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 370, "title": "CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nOPIUM.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[39995]\n\nCO 35950\n\n[November 3.]\n\nSECTION 3.\n\nRec\n\nNo. H\n\nRraf 24 NOV 10\n\nSir,\n\nIndia Office to Foreign Office.-(Received November 3.)\n\nIndia Office, November 2, 1910.\n\nI AM directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated the 29th October, 1910, enclosing a telegram from Mr. Max Müller on the subject of the proposed opium arrangement with China.\n\nIn reply I am to suggest that Mr. Max Müller should be informed that his presumption regarding the Chinese official is right; that Sir Alex. Hosie's suggestion may, if necessary, be acted on; and that His Majesty's Government are of his opinion that the inclusion of such a clause as that mentioned in the last part of his telegram is not desirable.\n\n&c.\n\nI am,\n\nCOLIN G CAMPBELL.\n\n[2980 c-3]\n\n369", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 429638, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 375, "title": "CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nOPIUM.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\nC O\n\n[November 3.]\n\n35950\n\nSECTION 8.\n\n[40048]\n\nRear 24 NOV 10 No, 1.\n\nSir A. Hosie to Sir Edward Grey.--(Received November 3.)\n\n(No. 2.) Sir,\n\nPeking, October 19, 1910. WITH reference to my despatch No. 1 of the 14th instant, I have the honour to transmit to you herewith, in duplicate, a report on the cultivation of the poppy and the production of opium in the provinces of Shansi, Shensi, and Kansu.\n\nAs I have only just received a second instalment of notes by Mr. Coales, dated the 1st September, from Ta-t'ung Hsien, a city five days' journey to the north-west of Lan-chou Fu, the capital of Kansu, and as his next communication may not reach me for months and is unlikely to influence the conclusion at which I have arrived in regard to that province, other parts of which have necessarily remained unvisited, I have deemed it advisable to transmit the report as it stands without further delay.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nALEX. HOSIE.\n\nEnclosure in No. 1.\n\nReport by Sir A. Hosie on the Cultivation of the Poppy and the Production of Opium in the Provinces of Shansi, Shensi, and Kansu.\n\nTABLE of Coins, Weights, Measures, and Distances mentioned in this Report.\n\n1 Tael = 1,100 to 1,400 2s. 6d. (approximately).\n\n1 Chinese oz. = 1¼ oz. English.\n\n1 Catty = 16 Chinese oz. = 1¼ lbs. English,\n\n1 Picul = 100 catties = 133⅓ lbs. English.\n\n1 Mou = 0·1515 acre English.\n\n1 Li = ⅓ statute mile.\n\nNOTE—A tael of silver is not a coin. It is a weight which varies in every province and indeed in every place in a province.\n\nA li is generally reckoned to be one-third of a statute mile, but it varies according to the nature of the country. In mountainous regions it is shorter, and on level ground frequently longer than one-third of a mile.\n\nA mou, a land measure fixed by treaty at 733⅓ square yards, also varies in extent in different provinces.\n\nI RETURNED on the 3rd September from a four months' journey in the provinces of Shansi, Shensi, and Kansu, which are known to have been great centres of opium production and exportation in the past, and two of which—Shensi and Kansu—continue to be great producing and exporting provinces. In my investigation of opium production in China I considered it advisable to visit Shensi and Kansu immediately on my arrival in China—(1) because they are the most inaccessible of all the great opium-producing provinces, and (2) because, unlike most of the other great opium centres, the season of production is the summer months, during which I could be on the spot, and thus be in a position to form an estimate of the extent of cultivation in various parts of these provinces, even should that estimate prove only approximate.\n\nThe information contained in this report, which deals specially with opium, is set forth at greater length in and forms part of a general report on the whole journey which I have prepared with a view to presenting a better and more comprehensive insight into the conditions prevailing in Shansi, Shensi, and Kansu, so that a closer acquaintance with the whole question of opium production in these provinces will be obtained if the two reports are read together.\n\n[2980 c~8]\n\nB\n\n374", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 429647, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 384, "title": "CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "18\n\nFrom what I have seen and heard, the conclusion at which I have arrived in regard to Kansu is that on the whole there has been a reduction in cultivation, and that that reduction amounts to something under 25 per cent., or about half the estimate communicated to me by the high authorities of the province.\n\nPeking, October 19, 1910.\n\nALEX. HOSIE,\n\n[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nOPIUM.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[39622]\n\n36653\n\n[November 4.]\n\nSECTION 1.\n\nNo. 1.\n\nSir,\n\nForeign Office to Mr. T. L. Maxwell.\n\nForeign Office, November 4, 1910. I am directed by Secretary Sir E. Grey to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 8th ultimo, enclosing a copy of a resolution respecting the opium question in China passed at a meeting of the representative board of British Anti-Opium Societies, held on the 29th September last.\n\nIn reply to this communication, I am to state that His Majesty's Government are at present carefully considering, in friendly communication with the Chinese Government, the course of action to be pursued with a view to co-operating with that Government in measures for the restriction and ultimate extinction of opium traffic and the opium habit in China, and that they anticipate that the settlement which they hope shortly to complete will be found not to be wanting in generosity to China or at variance with the policy of the Chinese Government itself.\n\nI am, &c.\n\nF. A. CAMPBELL.\n\n[2980 7--1]\n\n383", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434669, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 83, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# [This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.\n\n**OPIUM.** \n**CONFIDENTIAL** \n`(13298)`\n\n## No. 1.\n\n`Co 13345` [April 10.]\n\n`BEC 088 82 SECTION 125 PR II`\n\n**(No. 1)**\n\nSir,\n\n### Consul-General Sir A. Hosie to Sir Edward Grey-(Received April 10.)\n\nChéngtu, Szechuan, March 4, 1911.\n\nI HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith, in duplicate, my report on the cultivation of the poppy and the production of opium in the province of Szechuan.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nALEX. HOSIE.\n\n### Enclosure in No. 1.\n\n**Report by Sir A. Hosie on the Cultivation of the Poppy and the Production of Opium in the Province of Szechuan.**\n\nSZECHUAN was for many years the greatest opium-producing province in China, and the province whence the bulk of native opium consumed in the east and south of the Empire was derived. Poppy cultivation was general throughout the province to the east of the Min River, which enters the Yang-tsze at the city of Hsu-chou Fu (locally called Sui Fu), in latitude 28° 43′ north, and longitude 104° 32′ east; but the chief opium centres were the department of Hu Chou (latitude 29° 50′ north, and longitude 107° 25′ east), to the east of the port of Chungking, and the district to the west of the K'ai Hsien in latitude 31° 9′ north, and longitude 108° 25′ east. To the west of the Min River, the production of opium was never of much importance.\n\nNo exact figures for the total annual production of opium in Szechuan have ever been obtainable, because China has no machinery for compiling accurate statistics; but in 1904, when I held the post of consul-general for the province, I endeavoured to arrive at an estimate of that production, and I came to the conclusion that it exceeded 200,000 piculs, of which over 180,000 piculs were consumed in the province itself, and the balance of over 20,000 piculs exported to other provinces, mainly by the Yang-tsze route. According to this estimate, therefore, the production of opium in Szechuan was about four times the annual importation of Indian opium into China. In the memorandum presented by the Chinese delegation to the International Opium Commission at Shanghai in February 1909, the production of opium in Szechuan in 1906 was estimated at 238,000 piculs, and 159,000 piculs in 1908; but it was admitted that the latter figures were arrived at by simply cutting down the 1906 figures by one third, because the production of opium in the neighbouring province of Yunnan, which is quite independent of Szechuan, was alleged to have been reduced by one-half. The only reliable figures regarding opium in these western provinces (Szechuan, Yunnan, Kueichow) are the quantities exported down the Yang-tsze past the port of Ichang, in the province of Hupei, and across the Yunnan frontier to Tong-king. The exports down the Yang-tsze were 51,827 piculs in 1908, 51,817 piculs in 1909, and 28,350 piculs in 1910. It is estimated that about one-third of these quantities was Yunnan opium, and a very much smaller proportion the product of Kueichow; but it may be doubted if Yunnan opium ever reached that percentage, for on arrival in Szechuan, it was frequently adulterated with Szechuan opium, and the mixture passed off as the product of Yünnan, which is of superior quality and has always brought a higher price than the Szechuan drug.\n\nGenerally speaking, the cultivation of the poppy in Szechuan occupies the ground from the end of October till the middle or end of April; but in the highlands in the north of the province, the harvest is frequently not gathered till summer, as in the case of the provinces of Kansu and Shensi. When the Imperial decree of the 20th September, 1906, commanding the suppression of opium cultivation and consumption within a formulated period of ten years, and the regulations for carrying out that suppression in November, were issued, it was too late in the year to affect the poppy season of 1906-7 in Szechuan; but orders were given that there should be a reduction in cultivation of 50 per cent. for the season of 1907-8, the reduction of the remaining...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434671, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 85, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# 84 \n## 4 \n\nHsi Liang, who was Viceroy when the Imperial edict of the 20th September, 1906, was issued, was afterwards transferred to Yüunan and Kueichow, and is now Viceroy of Manchuria.\n\nI am indebted to Mr. W. H. Wilkinson, His Majesty's Consul-General at Chêngtu, and to Mr. W. S. Toller, His Majesty's Acting Consul at Chungking, for allowing me access to replies on the subject of opium received by them from missionaries in various parts of the province. These replies all bear out the conclusion at which I have arrived.\n\nChêngtu, Szechuan, March 4, 1911.\n\nALEX. HOSIE.\n\n## 0 \n\n| Date | Last previous Paper | Points to |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| 19 April | 13346 | Hongkong |\n\n## Affairs of China \n### Railways\n\n| Date | Paper | \n| --- | --- |\n| 25 PR | 13346 |\n\n| Points of further | \n| --- |\n| 7. Stable |\n\nNot my interesting \n\n| corr | sent |\n| --- | --- |\n| \"Pints to It kong\" | 27 |\n| 3R | 25 |\n\n(23.413), Wt.28.032-50. 40,000 11/10. A.&E.W. \n\nsubsequent Paper", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435162, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 576, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## CONFIDENTIAL\n**C.O. 6 OPIUM 10008 [May 15.]**\n\n**(This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.)**\n\n**SECTION 2.**\n\n### No. 1.\n\n**(No. 2.) Sir,**\n\n**Consul-General Sir A. Hosie to Sir Edward Grey.--(Received May 15.)**\n\nYunnan-fu, April 15, 1911.\n\nI HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith, in duplicate, my report on the cultivation of the poppy and the production of opium in the province of Yunnan.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nALEX. HOSIE.\n\n### Enclosure in No. 1.\n\n**Report by Consul-General Sir A. Hosie on the Cultivation of the Poppy and the Production of Opium in the Province of Yunnan.**\n\nYUNNAN has always ranked next to Szechuan as the second greatest opium-producing province of China, and the quality of its opium has always held the first place in the estimation of consumers of the native drug throughout the Empire. The total annual production of the province prior to the introduction of the measures for the suppression of cultivation and consumption taken in obedience to the Imperial decree of the 20th September, 1906, has been variously estimated at from 30,000 to 78,000 piculs; but, while the former estimate is unquestionably too low, the probability is that the latter errs in the other direction, and that 60,000 piculs would be a nearer approximation to the actual production--a production shared in about equal proportions by Eastern and Western Yünnan. The superior quality of the Yunnan drug, with its higher marketable value, has always led to adulteration with Szechuan opium, so that much of the so-called Yunnan opium exported eastwards by the Yang-tsze route has, especially in recent years, been the product of Szechuan, while the export of Yunnan opium to Tongking through the port of Mengtza has occasionally been supplemented by the product of Szechuan and Kueichow.\n\nI left Chêngtu, the capital of the province of Szechuan, on the 8th March, and, travelling down the Min River to Hsü-chou Fu (Sui Fu), where it joins the Yang-tsze, I proceeded west, and following up the valley of the Hêng River, which enters the Yang-tsze on its right bank to the west of that city, entered the independent sub-prefecture of Ta-kuan Ting in the north of the province of Yunnan on the 18th March. In this sub-prefecture I found no trace of the poppy, and continued my journey southwards to the city of Chao-tung Fu, which is situated in an immense plain measuring 40 by 15 miles, in former years the greatest opium-producing centre in Eastern Yünnan. Writing of this plain, which I visited in June 1882, I said that, judging from the number of withered poppy stems to be seen among the summer crops of maize and beans, it must have been one field of poppy, and such it continued to be annually until the measures of suppression were introduced. From the time that I entered Yunnan I heard that the poppy had not been cultivated for three years, and, as regards the Chao-t'ung plain, this was fully confirmed by members of the English Methodist Mission, one of whom has been resident in this and the neighbouring prefecture of Tung-ch'uan Fu for over twenty years. Not only had no opium been cultivated on the plain for three seasons, but, so far as they could ascertain, there was no cultivation of the poppy within the whole of the prefecture.\n\nFrom Chao-t'ung Fu I travelled south to the prefectural city of Tung-ch'uan Fu, situated in a plain measuring 5 miles in length and 2 miles broad at its widest part. A great part of this plain, which has an excellent water supply, was formerly devoted to opium production; but, as in the case of the Chao-t'ung plain, the poppy had entirely disappeared for three seasons. Here, however, a report reached me that poppy was still being grown to the west, and I accordingly made a detour through parts of the district of Hui-tse Hsien, the senior district of Tung-ch'uan Fu, the independent sub-prefecture of ...\n\n[2011 p-2] \n\nopium marked and labelled as provided in paragraph 1, and such opium shall pay the new rate of import duty, and shall not be re-exported in bond to other treaty ports.\n\nIn addition to the annual reduction of 5,100 chests already agreed upon, the British Government agree further to reduce the import of Indian opium during each of the years 1911, 1912, 1913, and 1914 by an amount equal to one-fourth of the total ascertained amount of the uncertificated opium in bond in Chinese treaty ports and in stock in Hong Kong on the date of signature plus one-fourth of the amount of uncertificated Indian opium landed during the ensuing two months at Shanghai and Canton.\n\nRECE & Reo 16 JUN 11 \nNo. 1. \n[18425] \n570", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435163, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 577, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## \n\nIn the Hui-tsê district, the sub-prefecture of Chiao-chia Ting, and the department of Hsün-tien Chou, I found the poppy under cultivation, mostly in flower. In the Hui-tsê district, I found thirty-eight plots; in the Chiao-chia Ting sub-prefecture, twenty-seven plots; and in the Hsün-tien Chou department, seven plots—a total of seventy-two plots. The largest of these measured 300 by 100 yards. Many were half that size, and the smallest plot was only 20 by 5 yards. Of the seven plots seen in the department of Hsün-tien Chou, two were by the roadside, and within 40 miles of the provincial capital.\n\nI should mention that the bearers and porters whom I had engaged at Sui Fu to convey me to Yunnan-fu refused to accompany me on this detour owing to the mountainous and inaccessible nature of the country, and that I had to employ local men for this part of my journey.\n\nAs regards Eastern Yunnan, I am of the opinion, from personal investigation and from information received during my travels, that in the former chief centres of production, the cultivation of the poppy has either practically ceased or been very largely diminished, and that, although the poppy is still grown in remote and unfrequented districts, its cultivation therein has not been materially extended, and is being carried on with considerable trepidation and is chiefly for local consumption. It is true that raw opium could be purchased secretly at most places along the road I travelled, but that supply is derived from old stocks held by private individuals, who employ friends and agents to dispose of it retail.\n\nWhile carrying out my investigation in the province of Szechuan, I telegraphed to His Majesty's acting consul at Tengyueh asking him to be good enough to furnish me with a few notes on opium cultivation in Western Yunnan during the present season, and the following is the summary of the information with which Mr. Rose has kindly furnished me. He had recently returned from a frontier tour, during which he had passed through many of the tribal districts, and he states that in the plains surrounding the cities, there was no trace of the poppy, nor was there any extensive cultivation in the hills of the purely Chinese zone, but the tribal area showed a considerable increase. He estimates that the area under poppy in the whole of the frontier districts has increased from 27,000 in 1910 to 43,000 English acres in 1911, and the production of opium from 5,000 to 8,000 piculs. He adds that the measures taken by the Chinese authorities to diminish this production are by no means effective.\n\nTaking, therefore, the province of Yunnan as a whole and making due allowance for the disappearance of the poppy from the great opium-producing centres of Eastern Yunnan and from the plains within the Chinese zone in the west without any marked increase of cultivation in other parts of the province (except in the frontier tribal districts), it may, I think, be fairly assumed that the estimated production of 60,000 piculs of Yunnan opium prior to the introduction of the measures of suppression has been very materially reduced, and I venture to hazard the opinion that the output of 1910-11 will not exceed 15,000 piculs; in other words, that there has been a reduction of about 75 per cent. In the absence of reliable statistics of any kind, it is, of course, impossible to furnish exact or authoritative figures; but the above estimate is the result of personal investigation in a part of Yunnan which formerly included several large opium-producing centres and of a careful examination of information derived from other sources.\n\nTo his Excellency Hsi Liang, who held the post of Viceroy of the provinces of Yünnan and Kueichow from the 10th May, 1907, to the 25th February, 1909, belongs the chief credit for the present great reduction in the cultivation of opium in Yünnan. During his tenure of office, his Excellency was untiring in his efforts to eradicate the poppy from the province; he proclaimed that all cultivation of the poppy must cease in Yunnan by the 21st January, 1909, and that no opium was to be allowed to pass any customs station or li-kin barrier after the 21st September, 1908. To allay discontent among holders of stocks, the latter time limit was extended by the Acting Viceroy Shên Ping-kun, now Governor of Kwangsi, who held office from the 26th February to the 16th November, 1909, and proved himself no less energetic than his predecessor.\n\nIn 1910, overtures were made to the present Viceroy, his Excellency Li Ching-hsi, by the delegate of the Government of Indo-China in Yunnan-fu with a view to the removal of the embargo on the export of Yunnan opium to Tonquin. This permission was refused at the time; but on the 11th instant, a proclamation was issued by the Viceroy permitting holders of old stocks to export for a period of four months from the 30th March to the 25th July, 1911, the conditions being that opium so exported shall pay double the former native customs duty and li-kin or 63 taels per 1,000 Chinese ounces (equal to 100 taels a picul), and that such opium must be sent direct to the port of Mengtzu and there sold to an official opium department, which will arrange for its disposal, export, and payment of export duty.\n\nI have said that opium could be purchased secretly at most of the places through which I passed on my way to Yunnan-fu, and I may add that the price varied from 1 dollar to 1 tael per Chinese ounce (14 oz. English) for the raw drug. In Yunnan-fu, the price is now 1 tael, so that raw opium here is at present worth its weight in silver, or about six times the price prior to 1907.\n\nYunnan-fu, April 15, 1911.\n\nALEX. HOSIE.\n\nPage 571", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435461, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 241, "title": "CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.\n\n**CONFIDENTIAL**\n\n[25427]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n24845\n\n238\n\nREC'd: 29 JUL 11\n\n[June 30.]\n\n## SECTION 2.\n\n(No. 3.)\n\nSir,\n\n**Consul General Sir A. Hosie to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received June 30.)**\n\nOn the Yuan River, Province of Hunan, May 31, 1911.\n\nI HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith, in duplicate, my report on the cultivation of the poppy and the production of opium in the province of Kueichow.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nALEX. HOSIE.\n\n### Enclosure in No. 1.\n\n**Report by Consul-General Sir A. Hosie on the Cultivation of the Poppy and the production of Opium in the Province of Kueichow.**\n\nKUEICHOW, which lies to the south of Szechuan and the east of Yunnan, has long been known to be a producer of opium on a large scale, but its opium is of inferior quality and less valuable than the product of the other two provinces. It is a province of mountains, hills, and narrow valleys, and it was in these valleys and on terraced hill sides that the poppy was cultivated and the opium harvested. Cultivation was general throughout the province, but the western half bordering on Yunnan was the chief centre of production and had the reputation of yielding a superior drug. It is impossible to state with any degree of accuracy the amount of opium annually produced prior to the movement for the suppression of opium inaugurated by the Imperial Decree of the 20th September, 1906, but during the journey through the province which I have just completed I made every endeavour to arrive at an approximation, and the result of my enquiries addressed to those engaged in the trade and to those in any way conversant with it is that there used to be placed on the various markets of Kueichow opium to the value of about 9,000,000 taels, which at the then average wholesale price of 216 taels per picul would represent 41,666 piculs. This quantity does not, of course, include what was consumed on the spot and did not reach a wholesale market. The Chinese memorandum presented to the Shanghai Opium Commission in February 1909 gives the production of the province in 1906 as 48,000 piculs, and it may, I think, be assumed that the total annual production of Kueichow previous to the suppression movement was between 40,000 and 50,000 piculs.\n\nIf, then, the above was the quantity produced in 1906, it may be asked, what was the quantity produced in 1908, and what reduction has taken place since that year? The Imperial decree of the 20th September, 1906, and the regulations which that decree commanded to be formulated were issued too late to affect the crop of 1906-7, and the first season during which any diminution of cultivation could be looked for was the season of 1907-8. The Chinese delegates to the Shanghai Opium Commission claimed that the crop of 1908 had been reduced from 48,000 in 1906 to 32,000 piculs, that is, 30 per cent.; but that claim was based on the assumption that a reduction of 50 per cent. had been effected in the province of Yunnan through the energy of his Excellency Hsi Liang, and that, as Kueichow is under the same Viceroyalty, some diminution, if not so great, must have been carried out in that province; but it is known that the Viceroy took no active steps in regard to Kueichow, leaving, as is usually the case, that province to be dealt with by its own authorities. As a matter of fact, no steps were taken beyond the issue of proclamations, and these were not taken seriously by the growers. There was no diminution in the crop of 1908 nor in that of 1909, and it was not till the autumn of the latter year that cultivators took fright at the insistence and increasing stringency of the proclamations. Some were deterred from sowing, and the crop of 1910 was smaller than that of 1909; but some of these who had refrained from sowing, finding that there was no interference with the crops of others and that no punishment was inflicted, recommenced sowing in the autumn of 1910, even, I was asked to believe, on a larger scale. This, however, was not universal, for during my...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435463, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 243, "title": "CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## CONFIDENTIAL\n## SECTION 2\n\nThe fields of poppy seen by me were similar in size to those in Shensi and Kansu last year. Ninety-eight plots were distributed as follows: seventy in the Lang-tai Ting sub-prefecture, eleven in the district of Shui-ch'êng Hsien, and seventeen in the prefecture of Ta-ting-fu. All along this road, the people were deeply aggrieved at the action of the authorities, who had taken no active steps to stop cultivation until the present season, and then only when the crop was nearing harvest.\n\nFrom the city of Ta-ting-fu, I proceeded south-east to Kuei-yang-fu, the capital of the province, a six days' journey, passing through the remainder of the prefecture of Ta-ting-fu, the department of Chien-hsi Chou, and the districts of Ching-chên Hsien and Kuei-chu Hsien, the latter district containing the capital. In all these, I found the same evidences of destruction as well as seventy-seven plots, mostly mixed with other growing crops, from which a harvest would be reaped unless previously raided. Of these, three were in Ta-ting-fu, twenty in Chien-hsi Chou, forty-five in Ching-chên Hsien, and nine in Kuei-chu Hsien. The last three of these plots were concealed in barley and within 6 miles of the capital.\n\nAt Kuei-yang-fu, I exchanged visits with his Excellency Pang Hung-shu, who has been Governor of Kueichow for four years, and in the course of conversation, I asked him what reduction of poppy cultivation had, in his opinion, been effected throughout the province. After stating in some detail the measures of suppression that had recently been taken, his Excellency said that he considered that there had been a reduction of 70 to 80 per cent., and he asked me at what conclusion I had arrived. I replied that, although I had seen the poppy growing all along the roads I had travelled, the cultivation today was very much less than in 1882 when I travelled in Kueichow, but that it was impossible for me to express any decided opinion until I had visited the eastern part of the province. His Excellency gave me the assurance that no poppy would be sown in Kueichow during the coming autumn.\n\nConsiderable stocks of opium are held in Kuei-yang-fu and other prefectures, and repeated applications for permission to export them have, up to the present, been persistently refused. The present value of raw opium is quoted at from 960 taels to 1,200 taels per picul according to quality. These are five times the prices for which the drug could be purchased before the suppression agitation began.\n\nI left the city of Kuei-yang-fu on the 19th May and proceeded east through the districts and departments of Lung-li Hsien, Kuei-ting Hsien, Ping-yüeh Chou, Ch'ing-p'ing Hsien, Huang-p'ing Chou, Shih-p'ing Hsien, and Chên-yüan Hsien, to the city of Chên-yüan-fu, the head of navigation of the Yuan River, which flows through the province of Hunan into the Tung-t'ing lake. During these eight days, I saw only four patches of poppy, one concealed in peas in the district of Lung-li Hsien, one in rape in the department of Ping-yüeh Chou, and the other two in barley and rape respectively in the department of Huang-p'ing Chou.\n\nIt will be observed from the above that during twenty-nine days' overland travel by high-roads and by-roads in the province of Kueichow, I saw only 211 plots of poppy, that opium is no longer produced or is cultivated only in small quantities in districts which were covered with poppy in 1882, and that many of the plots were not entirely poppy, but a mixture of poppy and barley, rape, peas, beans, or other crops. During my journey, I was frequently told by farmers that, although they had harvested their crop of 1909-10, increasing stringency had compelled them to take no further risks. Those who took these risks during the season of 1910-11 are now bewailing their temerity.\n\nThe impression that I have gathered regarding Kueichow, both from personal investigation and information derived from other parts of the province which I have necessarily been unable to examine, is that there had been a very great reduction in the cultivation of opium during the season of 1910-11, that this reduction has been effected not without the employment of force in practically one season, and that it may fairly be fixed at 70 per cent.\n\nI left Chên-yüan-fu by boat on the 28th May and entered the province of Hunan the next morning.\n\nALEX. HOSIE\n\nOn the Yuan River, Province of Hunan,\nMay 31, 1911.\n\n## No. 1.\n**India Office to Foreign Office**-(Received July 1.)\n\nIndia Office, June 30, 1911. WITH reference to previous correspondence on the subject of the opium arrangement with China, am directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council to forward a copy of a telegram from the Government of India, and to suggest that Sir John Jordan may be instructed to bring the difficulty to the notice of the Chinese Government, and to ask them to accept concurrent numbering of Bengal and Malwa chests for the current year.\n\n### Enclosure in No. 1.\n\nI am, &c.\n**EDWIN S. MONTAGU**\n\n### Government of India to the Earl of Crewe\n\n(Telegraphic.)\nJune 29, 1911. PLEASE refer to clause 1 of article 8 of opium agreement, which requires chests exported to China to bear consecutive numbers from 1911. It is now impossible to number in one series both Bengal and Malwa opium chests of 1911 consignments, seeing that the greater part of exports had left from India before we received intimation of the above provision. We are taking necessary steps to regulate numbering for 1912 and thereafter.\n\nAddressed to Secretary of State for India and repeated to British Minister at Peking.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 } ]