[
    {
        "id": 228547,
        "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": "CO129-028 - Bonham - 1849 [1-3]",
        "page_number": 275,
        "title": "CO129-028 - Bonham - 1849 [1-3]",
        "content_text": "To the Honourable the KNIGHTS, CITIZENS, AND BURGESES of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled,\n\nThe Petition of the undersigned Inhabitants of the Colony of Hongkong,\n\nHumbly sheweth,\n\n1st, That Your Petitioners have made repeated representations to Her Majesty's Government, by Memorials and otherwise, praying for relief from the heavy burdens under which they labour, whereby the prosperity of this Island has been retarded.\n\n2d, That these representations induced Your Honourable House to appoint a Select Committee, to take into consideration the present state of our Commercial relations with China, and report thereon.\n\n3d, That the Report of that Committee was laid before Your Honourable House eighteen months ago; but there is no evidence, up to the present time, that any of the most important recommendations in the Report have received the attention of Her Majesty's Government, except as regards the tenure of the Land, which it would seem to be in contemplation to offer in perpetuity.\n\n4th, Your Petitioners therefore feel it their bounden duty to call the particular attention of Your Honourable House to that Report, praying that measures may be adopted for improving our commercial relations with this Empire, and ameliorating the condition of the inhabitants of this Island.\n\n5th, That considering the Island as necessary for the protection of the British Trade carried on at the Five Ports—necessary also as a safe dépôt for British manufactures and produce—as well as a safe retreat for all foreign residents in China, in the event of disturbed relations, your Petitioners are of opinion that all classes of our countrymen deriving advantage, directly or indirectly, from the trade with this Empire, should in common justice bear equally the expenses incurred in affording them protection and facility for conducting their business, provided for by the Treaty existing between the two countries.\n\n6th, It is also worthy of notice, that while the expenses of this Settlement, amounting to about £39,000 per annum, bear so heavily on the inhabitants of this place, they would form but a light and appropriate charge on the general trade, yielding upwards of Five Millions sterling Revenue on Tea alone to the British Empire, and Two to Three Millions on Opium, Cotton, and other produce, to British India. Your Petitioners therefore pray that the chief part of these Expenses be charged against the Revenue derived from that Trade.\n\n7th, Your Petitioners urgently pray the attention of Your Honourable House to the recommendations of the Select Committee in their Report, in which it is stated,\n\n\"That they do not think it right that the burden of maintaining that which is rather a post for general trade in the China seas, than a Colony in the ordinary sense, should be thrown in any great degree on the mercantile or other firms who may be resident on it.\"\n\n\"That a share in the administration of the ordinary and local affairs of the Island should be given, by some system of Municipal Government, to the British residents.\"\n\n\"That some short code should be drawn up for the more convenient administration of Justice.\"\n\n8th, Your Petitioners further represent, that although this Colony has been established for upwards of seven years, the Inhabitants have no share in the Legislature either by elective representatives or by nominees selected by the Governor, a privilege which has not been withheld from any other British Colony.\n\n9th, Your Petitioners cannot too strongly express their conviction of the bad moral effect produced on the minds of the Chinese by the present system of forms adopted in the Supreme Court, and by the heavy Fees authorized to be levied by the Court, in consequence of which the ends of justice are too often frustrated, whereas these forms and Fees, in the opinion of Your Petitioners, should be the simplest and lightest that circumstances will admit of.\n\nYour Petitioners therefore humbly pray Your Honourable House to take the premises into your early consideration, and to grant such relief as to Your Honourable House may seem proper,\n\nAnd Your Petitioners will ever pray.\n\nHONGKONG, January, 1849.\n\n[Signed]\n\nJardine. Mathews\n\nMr. Scott\n\nMacvicar & Fletcher & Co.\n\nW. Bowrd.\n\nJ. Larkins.\n\nCharles J. F. Stuart.\n\nGeo: Lyall & Co.\n\nJamieson\n\nDent & Co.\n\nLindsay & Co.\n\nBush\n\nJohn Carr.\n\nAug: Howell.\n\nCharles Markwick.\n\nTurner & Co.\n\nFrue Copy.\n\nEdger",
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    {
        "id": 230626,
        "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": "CO129-034 - Sir Bonham - 1850 [9-12]",
        "page_number": 45,
        "title": "CO129-034 - Sir Bonham - 1850 [9-12]",
        "content_text": "Page 43\n\nEXHIBITION OF THE INDUSTRY OF\n\nALL NATIONS.\n\nCorrespondence between the Hongkong and Canton Committees.\n\nHONGKONG, 25th June, 1850.\n\nJohn Bowring, Esq., LL.D., H.B.M. Consul; R.B. FORBES, Esq., U.S. Consul; and the other Foreign Consuls, Canton.\n\nGENTLEMEN,—At a Public Meeting held yesterday for the purpose of devising the best means of procuring specimens of the Produce and Manufactures of China, to be sent to the Exhibition of all Nations, to be held in London in 1851, a Committee of the following Gentlemen, the Honble Mr Edger, Mr Bush, U.S. Consul, Mr Stuart, and Mr Campbell, were appointed to do all that to them appeared necessary to further the objects for which the Meeting was held.\n\nThe Rules laid down by the Committee in London, require that a Central Authority in each country should be constituted by the Government of that country. As regards China, therefore, the Government of Peking would require to be applied to. This, however, would not in all probability lead to any satisfactory result, as the object would not be understood, and an application might even tend in some measure to defeat the efforts that may have to be made to obtain the specimens required.\n\nIt seemed therefore advisable to the Meeting, that a Central Committee should be appointed in this place, in order to conform as near as possible to the rules laid down in England, that that Committee should advise with the Committees which will be necessary to form in Canton and Shanghai, should correspond if necessary with the proper parties in London, and receive and forward from this, the articles that may be collected.\n\nWith that view the present Committee has been constituted, to be a connecting link and central point, and to assist as far as they are able in promoting the general object.\n\nIt is one in which nearly all nations are interested, and which they are expected to promote; it is one therefore, it is to be hoped, that will engage the attention of all in China, in which all will unite to carry out with energy, and if with combined effort, it will no doubt be effected in a manner worthy of the Foreign Community.\n\nWe cannot expect that articles will be forwarded by Chinese; we must therefore do so for them.\n\nPurchasers must be made and Committees will require to be appointed to make proper and suitable collections.\n\nThe Committee intend inviting parties here to put down in Paper the amounts they will guarantee towards the funds that may be needed; and should, after the sale of the articles in London, any loss occur, which is not likely, it will be divided proportionally to each, according to the amounts put down.\n\nThe Committee would recommend the same course to be followed at Canton, and the Manager of the Oriental Bank has kindly and liberally offered to advance the amount that may be thus guaranteed.\n\nAs the time now remaining for carrying out the objects we have in view, is very limited, you will no doubt agree with this Committee, that the measures that may be necessary should be adopted without delay; and although the aid and interference of Governments are purposely dispensed with, we would still hope that you will not object among your respective Countrymen, to assist in organising a plan with which all will be willing and anxious to co-operate.\n\nTrusting that the importance of the object we have in view will be a sufficient apology for addressing you on this occasion,—We have the honour to remain, Gentlemen, your obedient servants,\n\nFor the Committee,\n\nA. CAMPBELL.\n\nBRITISH CONSULATE, CANTON, 27th June, 1850.\n\nGENTLEMEN,—I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your favour of the 25th instant, and am much gratified to find that the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations has excited so much interest.\n\nI imagine the official communications which have been made to Hongkong are from the Colonial Department.\n\nOur instructions have been received from the Foreign Office, through Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, who has already, in conformity with those instructions, communicated with the Imperial Commissioner, as I have done with the local authorities, and with such other influential Chinese as are likely to assist in advancing our common objects.\n\nIn conformity with the directions I received to take such measures as I deemed most advisable for interesting both the British and the Foreign community, I requested all the Foreign authorities and Consuls with the leading merchants present in Canton, to assemble at the British Consulate on the 25th instant. The call met a universal and most cordial response. A large and influential Committee was immediately formed—various Sub-Committees were charged with the management of the details. I have reason to believe that the appeal for pecuniary co-operation will be liberally and even munificently met; and among the Sub-Committees is a Committee of Correspondence charged with the duty of communicating with the Committees of Hongkong, Shanghai, and any other localities with which it may be desirable to hold intercourse. I have the honour to enclose a copy of the proceedings for your information; and as your own views may be somewhat modified by what has taken place here, I am quite sure that your aid and co-operation will be highly valued.\n\nMr Forbes, who has most cordially lent his very valuable assistance, is now at Macao. The French, Dutch, Prussian, Peruvian, and Chilian Consuls are on the Committee, as is Dr Parker, the United States' Chargé d'Affaires. We cannot as yet say what amount of assistance we may derive from the Chinese, but we do not despair of some success among them, and have taken the necessary steps for that object.\n\nIn countries so remote as this, the mode of action cannot be strictly limited to the rules applied by our Government where Diplomatic relations are free and unrestrained, and where the disposition to co-operate is strikingly and so encouragingly manifested.\n\nI venture to anticipate that we shall be able to forward no unworthy contribution to the Exhibition, and I am sure that every favourable interpretation and every reasonable facility will await our combined exertions.\n\nI do not delay a post (not as the Chairman of the Canton Committee, but in my Consular capacity) in replying to your letter; and I can assure you that I shall be delighted to do every thing in my power in furtherance of a purpose nobly and generously conceived, and which ought to be carried out in the same spirit. I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant,\n\nJOHN BOWRING.\n\nA. CAMPBELL, Esq.,\n\nand the Committee at Hongkong.\n\nH.B.M. Consul\n\nCANTON, 7th June, 1850.\n\nSIR,—Your letter, dated 25th instant, addressed to Dr Bowring and all the foreign Consuls here, on behalf of the Committee formed at Hongkong for assisting the views of H.B.M.'s Commission for the Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations to be held in London in 1851, has been communicated to us, and the letter which Dr Bowring proposes to write to you in reply will inform you how warm has been the interest exhibited here on the same subject at a Meeting held at the British Consulate on the 25th inst., when a Committee of Canton residents was formed and plans organised for the better carrying into effect the views of the meeting.\n\nWe would beg to refer to Dr Bowring's reply in which we fully concur, and hope an active and friendly co-operation of the Hongkong and Canton Committees, along with other Committees formed in other parts of China, will tend to offer interesting and complete contributions towards the realization of the grand plan in view.—We are, Sir, your most obedient servants,\n\nROBERT S. STURGIS, for R.B. FORBES,\n\nU.S. Vice-Consul\n\nROBERT BROWNE,\n\nH.B.M. Consul.\n\nH.G.T. REYNVAAN,\n\nVice-Consul de France.\n\nW.W. PARKIN,\n\nPeruvian Consul.\n\nRICHARD CARLOWITZ,\n\nPrussian Consul.\n\nTO\n\nArch. Campbell, Esq.,\n\nHongkong.\n\nPage 43",
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    },
    {
        "id": 230627,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-034 - Sir Bonham - 1850 [9-12]",
        "page_number": 46,
        "title": "CO129-034 - Sir Bonham - 1850 [9-12]",
        "content_text": "HONGKONG, 6th July, 1850.\n\nJOHN BOWRING, Esq., LL.D., Chairman of the Canton Committee.\n\nSIR, The absence of two of our Committee has prevented us acknowledging sooner the receipt of your letter of 27th, in reply to ours of the 25th ultimo, as also of the letter handed us through you, from the other Consuls at Canton.\n\nIt is with much pleasure we learn that such active measures had already been adopted by the Foreign Community in furtherance of the object respecting which we were induced to address you, and that our suggestions and wishes relating thereto, had in a great measure been anticipated.\n\nYou will perceive by our previous letter, addressed to you in your Consular capacity, that we always considered that details and other measures must necessarily be left to Committees formed at the places where selections of articles had to be made, but we see no reason to modify our views, and agreeing with those expressed at the Meeting held here, that there should be one Central Authority for all China, as most approaching the rules laid down by the Commissioners in London, and being consequently a measure most likely, under the circumstances, to meet with their favourable interpretation.\n\nIt was also the opinion that the adoption of such a measure would remove the objection and necessity of residents at our Five Ports acting independently of those at the others, and give to the exertions that might be made by all, that character of unanimity and combination so desirable, and most likely to lead to a satisfactory result; and we trust, Sir, with you, that the purpose so nobly and generously conceived by the consort of H. B. Majesty, will be carried out here in the same spirit.\n\nThe Meeting that was announced here on the 13th, and which took place on the 24th of last month, was not in consequence of any intimation from the Government of this settlement; it was not until the Meeting had assembled, that we were made acquainted that any instructions had been received from home; and we were not even then aware that your attention had, through Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary here, been directed to the subject.\n\nWe were appointed as a Committee to act in the only manner in which it was thought we could be of use; at the same time it is very far from our wish to be considered the Central Authority, if it is thought desirable to place it elsewhere.\n\nWe and others here are only anxious that a Central Authority generally, and if possible officially, recognised, should exist somewhere; and that for the purposes of the Exhibition, there should be a common fund, both being requisite in our opinion to the effectual carrying out of the object in which we are all interested. But we think that the circumstance of Canton acting independently of Shanghae and other places, will rather tend to defeat than promote that object, and by no means give to the undertaking the appearance and character which we had hoped it would have assumed.\n\nIf however you can succeed, as you think you will, in obtaining the recognition of your Committee as the Central Authority for China, by the Viceroy of Canton, the difficulty will be removed; and we shall then be glad to afford all the cooperation and assistance in our power. We have the honour to remain, Sir, your most obedient servants,\n\nF. T. BUSH.\n\nCHARLES J. F. STUART.\n\nA. CAMPBELL.\n\n[MR EDGER, absent.]\n\nCANTON, 16th July, 1850.\n\nMessrs F. T. BUSH, C. J. F. STUART, A. CAMPBELL,\n\nHonourable J. F. EDGER.\n\nGENTLEMEN,-At a Public Meeting of the Community held at the British Consulate on the 9th instant, relative to the Great Industrial Exhibition of 1851, your letter of the 6th July to Dr Bowring, H. B. M. Consul, was read, and transferred to the Corresponding Committee.\n\nAs Chairman of that Committee, the pleasing duty devolves upon me to express to you the satisfaction that the community here have felt at the interest that their Hongkong friends are taking in the proposed contribution to the Exhibition.\n\nThe Committee here do not doubt, from the zeal displayed, that the object will be carried out satisfactorily, and they will at an early day enter into correspondence with the London Commissioners through H.B.M. Plenipotentiary for the purpose of having articles sent from China, properly admitted to the Exhibition, and of explaining to them the anomalous position of the Foreign Community regarding any recognition of their acts by the Government of this country.\n\nYou are in error, it is thought, in supposing that Dr Bowring, in his correspondence with the Authorities in Canton, expected to obtain a recognition of the Committee here as a Central Authority, as his communications with those officials were only in the form of a notice of the intended Exhibition, in conformity with instructions that he had received from H. B. M. Government.\n\nThe Committee here will be pleased to have the Hongkong Community cooperate with them in carrying out the object in which they are engaged, and do not doubt that the well-known liberality of that community will be shewn in this case as it has been in all others. The Finance Committee here have already raised a considerable sum, and the Subscription List will soon be sent to your place.\n\nThe Committee have notified the Shanghae and Amoy Community through the Consuls and others at those Ports, of the steps that have been taken here, and have intimated to the former that they should leave them to act independently regarding funds, and the collection of articles they might wish to send to the Exhibition, but have expressed their readiness to forward such articles, should they wish to have them sent from this.\n\nThe arrival of the mail, and my absence from Canton for the past four days, has prevented me from having the pleasure of replying to your communication sooner.-I am, Gentlemen, your obedient servant,\n\nW. W. PARKIN, Chairman Corresponding Committee.\n\nW. W. PARKIN, Esq., Chairman of the Corresponding Committee.\n\nSIR, We have to acknowledge your letter of the 16th instant, in reply to our last communication to Dr Bowring, which was referred by him to the Corresponding Committee.\n\nWe observe that it is the intention of your Committee at an early date to enter into correspondence with the London Commissioners for the purpose of having the articles sent from China properly admitted to the Exhibition, and we regret to learn that our anticipations as to the result of Dr Bowring's communications with the Chinese Authorities have not been realized.\n\nWe also observe that your Committee have notified to the Shanghae and Amoy Communities, your readiness to forward such articles as they may wish sent for Exhibition, and that you leave them to collect their own funds and specimens.\n\nWe differ from your Committee as to the soundness of the principle involved in paragraph 6 of your letter under reply, namely, that the Committees at the different Ports should act independently of each other; as it will tend, we think, in many ways to lessen the value of the China contribution; but we have no doubt that your Committee have strong reasons for the course they are adopting.\n\nIn conclusion, we feel that, except as a Central Committee to correspond with the London Commissioners and advise with the Committees formed at the Consular Ports, and, as it were, to combine the efforts of the various foreign Communities, we cannot be of any great service in the good cause; and as your Committee have undertaken these duties, we have much pleasure in leaving them in your hands, trusting that this important and interesting work may be carried out in a manner to reflect credit on the Foreign Community of China, and worthy of the Exhibition. We remain, Sir, your obedient servants,\n\nC. J. F. STUART\n\nJ. F. EDGER.\n\nA. CAMPBELL.\n\nF. T. BUSH.",
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    },
    {
        "id": 230628,
        "series_id": 27,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine",
        "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案",
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        "document_key": "CO129-034 - Sir Bonham - 1850 [9-12]",
        "page_number": 47,
        "title": "CO129-034 - Sir Bonham - 1850 [9-12]",
        "content_text": "Inclosure / in Desp \n\nJp 16 ar \n\n1850 \n\nof the monstry of the objects of the Exhibition Committees for promoting the Hongkong and Canton \n\nCorrespondence \n\nNations. \n\nall \n\nJune and July, 1858. \n\nEXHIBITION OF 1851 OF THE INDUS- TRY OF ALL NATIONS. \n\nThe Committee beg to direct the attention of the Community to the accompanying letter from H. E. the Governor, suggesting that moderate subscriptions should be raised in aid of the Build- ing required at home for the display of the articles to be exhibited. \n\nThe Committee will be glad if the Community will \"avail [themselves]\" of this opportunity of attesting their sense of the importance and value of the undertaking, and of giving some proof of their good wishes for its success. \n\nA. CAMPBELL, \n\nJ. F. EDGER. \n\n(Mr Stuart and Mr Bush absent.) \n\nHongkong, 30th August, 1850. \n\nGOVERNMENT HOUSE, HONGKONG \n\n30th August, 1830. The Governor has learnt with much pleasure that, during his absence from Hongkong, a com- mittee was formed for the purpose of carrying out the views of H. M.'s Commissioners for the Exhibition of Industry of all Nations, to be held in England in 1851, by instituting enquiries as to the possibility of sending home any articles from Hongkong, which might represent its produce or manufactures. He much fears that nothing of the above description is procurable in the Colony; for the reception of whose contributions, never- theless, 1000 square feet have been set apart by H. M.'s Commissioners; and is consequently his intention, unless he hears from the Committee, or other quarters, that there is ground to hope that the Colony may contribute something to the Exhibition, to request H. M.'s principal Secretary of State for the Colonies to inform the Commis- sioners of the inability of this Island to furnish any article worthy their acceptance, in order that the portion of ground allotted to it may be de- voted to the produce of some more favoured colony or country, the greater wealth of which may require extension of the space originally marked off for it. \n\nThe Governor would at the same time much regret that H. R. H. Prince Albert, and the other personages who take an interest in the success of his enterprise, should be left to suppose that their enthusiasm is in no degree shared by the inhabitants of Hongkong; and he therefore proposes to them to join with him in responding to the invitation of the Commissioners who have not omitted to assign to this small settlement a sufficiently honourable place. He observes that, in England, some of the larger towns, which boast neither arts nor manufactures, have testified their approbation of the scheme of the Exhibi- tion, and their zeal for its furtherance, by raising moderate subscriptions in aid of the building re- quired for the display of articles to be exhibited, or of the general expenses of the undertaking,—a convenient precedent, to the imitation of which he would invite the inhabitants of this Colony, each according to his means. \n\nThe Governor therefore forwards this memorandum of his proposal to the Local Committee, with a request that, if they concur with him therein, they will have the goodness to take such steps as they deem necessary to give it general circulation amongst the Community. \n\nS. G. BONHAM. \n\n45",
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    {
        "id": 271292,
        "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": "CO129-125 - Sir MacDonnell - 1867 [10-11]",
        "page_number": 248,
        "title": "CO129-125 - Sir MacDonnell - 1867 [10-11]",
        "content_text": "I'm the \nme FasL \nthere \nwere \nnineteen Europeans and fifteen Malays, sixteen of the former being from the wreck of the \"Stuart Worthy\" S.132, London, from the \"Par Ansard\" \nand one \n(sailing with the Consul's provisional Artificial) which vessel stranded on the coast of Manila.\n\nFifteen Malays \nKu \nwere also from \nthe wreck of the \"Par besert\". \n\n3. \nIn the second case \nthere \nwere \neight Europeans, who had been discharged from the Struck ship \"Jardinia\", b. 35,514, after her condemnation and abandonment at Manila, in consequence of \n246 \ninjury sustained during the late violent Gales.\n\n# \nThere \nmen were forwarded by Consul Ricketts by virtue of Paragraph 88 of the Consular instructions \nand in accordance with the Consul's request that the Captains of the two vessels who brought their distressed men here should receive payment for so doing at the rate of seventeen dollars for each European, and thirteen dollars for every Malay, I directed that such payment should be made from the Colonial \nTreasury.\n\n$518.5. \nThe case of six hundred and eighteen dollars in the former",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-125 - Sir MacDonnell - 1867 [10-11].txt",
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    {
        "id": 422841,
        "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": "CO129-362 - Public Offices - 1909",
        "page_number": 244,
        "title": "CO129-362 - Public Offices - 1909",
        "content_text": "## 242 \n## 44 \n\nIt was understood that the Chinese will have considerable difficulty in enforcing their regulations in such circumstances. The outlying Shan valleys and the Kachin hills can only be brought into line by a show of force, which the Chinese are neither willing nor able to present, and it is unlikely that any great decrease will be shown in these districts in the near future.\n\n### Estimate of Production\n\nIn a careful report on Yunnanese opium, written at Ssumao in 1901, Mr. Commissioner Carey estimated the total production of the district under the jurisdiction of the Tengyuch Taotai (the western circuit) at 36,000 piculs. From the figures which I have been able to gather from the markets, I am of the opinion that the production this year is not likely to exceed half that amount, namely, 18,000 piculs, nor does there appear great prospect of reducing the harvests below their present standard. Force is unlikely to be employed, and only an economic factor, such as the fluctuation of demand, is likely in the near future to seriously affect the cultivation of the poppy in the semi-independent and inaccessible regions of the frontier.\n\n### Substitutes for the Opium Crop\n\nIf the higher provincial authorities continue their crusade against the poppy harvest, it becomes an urgent necessity to find some substitute, which will profitably replace the winter crops of south-west Yunnan. Numerous plantations of mulberry trees have been made, and silkworms' eggs have been sent from Yunnan-fu to the district cities in the hope of stimulating a local silk industry. Wheat, beans, peas, potatoes, hemp, and maize have been sown in various parts, but the season has proved unusually dry, and the wheat in most parts has given a poor return. There is at present a cheap and abundant food supply in the district, and the real need of the farmers is some crop which can be exported to provide them with the silver with which to pay for their imports. The sudden attempt at the total prohibition of opium has produced an economic crisis in the frontier country, the full effect of which it is impossible as yet to realise. In 1902, it was estimated that 220,000 taels worth of opium was sold at Hsia-kuan. This year, I visited the exchange, a fine old inn in the centre of the town, on the day before the annual fair at Talifu—the time at which the local opium would ordinarily pass into the hands of the Cantonese and Hunanese buyers. The exchange was deserted, and festoons of cobwebs hung over the doors of the inn, which had been the most famous and prosperous throughout the district.\n\n### Consumers\n\nIt is difficult to obtain such figures as to the number of opium smokers as would enable one to form a reliable comparison with previous years. The prohibition measures, the proclamations, and the official anti-opium bureaux have all tended to conceal the smoker from the ordinary observer and to drive him to quiet retreats. Every big city along the road appeared to have large stocks of the drug in hand, and quiet sales were everywhere effected, with little opposition from the opium-sodden yamên runners. In the little inns by the roadside, veiled offers of opium were everywhere noticeable, and there can be no doubt that both the sale and consumption of the drug go on, though it has lost its fashionable publicity and now lurks in the background—a recognised vice. The officials in some of the outlying cities are levying a heavy blackmail on the wealthier citizens who are known to be smokers, and in one yamên, there were reported to be 200 opium victims.\n\nThe lower classes will be forced in time to abandon the habit, as the drug has risen in price from twice to four times last year's value, and in Talifu—where the quotations were highest—it is becoming impossible for the poorer people to obtain their accustomed allowance. This factor must ultimately have a healthy effect in eliminating the drug, but in the meantime, the people are finding that it is both more effective and less conspicuous to swallow opium pills than to use the pipe, and this habit shows signs of replacing the older and less dangerous one.\n\nFifteen hundred men of the new provincial army are stationed at Talifu, where they are subjected to severe discipline, and smoking is impossible. In the opinion of a competent authority, however, at least 25 per cent. of the men take opium pills, and there can be therefore be little difficulty in obtaining supplies.\n\n### Conclusions\n\nIn conclusion, it impressed me, in travelling through the country, that the governor-general undertook a difficult and dangerous task when he resolved to rid Yunnan of opium in two years, instead of effecting a gradual reduction, which would have given opportunities to the farmers to gradually replace their crops, and possibly to meet some new demand. One can sympathise with him in the contention that ten years is a long period, involving many changes, and that half measures effect nothing in China, but, whilst he has achieved a great success in ridding large areas of the poppy, he has roused a bitter opposition to the anti-opium measures, and has reduced the west of the province to a state of poverty, which must have a marked effect on the trade of the next few years. Opium is the only product of the country for which there is at present any considerable outside market, and without opium, there is no influx of silver with which to purchase the raw cotton and yarn, which is our principal import, and on which the people depend for their clothes. I shall deal later with the immediate economic effect as illustrated by the Talifu fair, but thousands of farmers have been suddenly deprived of their main winter's crop, and the fact that we have escaped serious trouble bears the highest tribute to the law-abiding qualities of the people of Yunnan.\n\nOne other point strikes me as worthy of comment in reviewing the progress that has been made in dealing with the opium crops—I refer to the wonderful power which can be wielded by a sincere and effective Imperial decree, even in the most inaccessible circuit of this remote province of Empire.\n\n### The Annual Fair at Tulifu\n\nThe city of Talifu is situated on one of the finest plains of Western Yünnan, and is surrounded by prosperous towns and fertile valleys. On one side rises the Tsang Shan range at an altitude of 14,000 feet, and on the other, the plateau slopes to a lake 30 miles in length, at the southern end of which lies Hsia-kuan, the great market and trading centre of the Yunnan highway. On the 15th of the 3rd moon (4th May, 1909), the annual fair commenced at Talifu, and for days beforehand, streams of merchants, pedlars, and sightseers were seen winding over the narrow hill tracks on their way to the festival. The fair takes place on a broad, grassy stretch outside the west gate of the city, shaded by the mountains and looking over the blue waters of the lake. On the first day, the city magistrate goes out, with flags flying and bugles blowing, and with great ceremony declares the fair open, whilst volleys of artillery proclaim to the dragon of an old Buddhist legend that the fair prospers, the merchants have assembled, and he is doomed to another year's imprisonment in a cave by the lakeside. Over a large tract of ground, a little city of tents and sheds suddenly springs up, with regular streets devoted to different branches of trade, and patrolled by a guard from the \"new levy\" of the provincial army. In the centre are the li-kin office and the banks, then the Cantonese road, the medicine road, the stores of clothes and cotton cloth, an arcade for curios, and the cattle market are laid out in an orderly plan, whilst the whole is flanked by the camps of the Thibetans with their lines of brown tents and fierce watch-dogs that keep at a respectful distance the enquiring Chinese.\n\nThe Thibetans are reported to have arrived in unusually large numbers this year, partly on account of a great festival at the neighbouring temples of the \"Chicken Foot Mountain,\" to which they were making a pilgrimage, and partly in consequence of the lama rebellion, which has made them nervous of travelling for the last few years. They were to be seen everywhere on the fair grounds, many of them accompanied by their wives and daughters, and they made a distinct feature in the crowd with their great ornaments of turquoise and silver and their unseasonable furs. They treated me with marked friendliness, inviting me into their camps, from which the Chinese were rigorously excluded. The resident missionaries state that they have been very shy of foreigners in former years and have never before allowed themselves to be photographed; it is possible, however, that my English clothes classed me among the strangers in a strange land and roused in them a passing sympathy. There were, besides, representatives of many of the surrounding tribes, the most conspicuous being the Min-chia women, who are straight-featured, fair-skinned people, wearing caps heavily embroidered with silver and pointed over their foreheads, giving them the appearance of ladies of the Stuart court.\n\nThe fair lasts for five days, the most important of which is the 18th of the moon, and the city is thronged with people for many days after the tents have disappeared. The really important business appears to be done either in the exchanges of Hsia-kuan or in the big inns of Tali, and the stocks of imported piece-goods and of copper did not appear on the fair ground. Nearly one-third of the tents were devoted to small foreign articles, such as watches, clocks, cotton blankets, enamelled basins, Burmese rice-bowls, mirrors, ribbons, laces, soap, scent, medicines (notably quinine and anti-opium pills), brushes, knives, scissors, needles, umbrellas, cigarettes, beads, and trinkets, the last of which appeared to be in high favour with the tribesmen.\n\n[2363-1]",
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