mention just exactly _how_ this important piece of Chinese territory
came to be ceded to Great Britain. It was the reward that Great
Britain took unto herself as an "indemnity" following the successful
prosecution of what is sometimes spoken of as the first opium war--a
war of protest on the part of China against Great Britain's insistence
on her right to deluge China with opium. China's resistance was in
vain--her efforts to stem the tide of opium were fruitless--the might,
majesty, dominion and power of the British Empire triumphed, and China
was beaten. The island on which Hongkong is situated was at that time a
blank piece of land; but strategically well placed--ninety miles south
of the great Chinese city of Canton, the market for British opium.
The opposite peninsula of Kowloon, on the mainland, was ceded to Great
Britain by treaty in 1861, and now forms part of Hongkong. By a
convention signed at Peking in June, 1898, there was also leased to
Great Britain for 99 years a portion of Chinese territory mainly
agricultural, together with the waters of Mirs Bay and Deep Bay, and
the island of Lan-tao. Its area is 356 square miles, with about 91,000
inhabitants, exclusively Chinese. Area of Old Kowloon is 3 square
miles. Total area of colony, 391 square miles.
The population of Hongkong, excluding the Military and Naval
establishments, and that portion of the new territory outside New
Kowloon, was according to the 1911 census, 366,145 inhabitants. Of this
number the Chinese numbered 354,187.
This colony is, of course, governed by Great Britain, and is not
subject to Chinese control. Here is situated a Government opium
factory, and the imports of Indian opium into Hongkong for the past
several years are as follows:
1903-4 3,576,431 pounds sterling
1904-5 4,036,436
1905-6 3,775,826
1906-7 3,771,409
1907-8 3,145,403
1908-9 2,230,755
1909-10 3,377,222
1910-11 3,963,264
1911-12 3,019,858
1912-13 2,406,084
1913-14 1,084,093
1914-15 110,712
These figures are taken from "Statistical Abstract Relating to British
India, 1905-6 to 1911-15," and "Statistical Abstract Relating to
British India, 1903-4 to 1912-13." The falling off in imports of opium
noticed in 1914-15 may be due to the war, lack of shipping, etc., or to
the fact that the China market was due to close on April 1, 1917. The
closing of the China market--400,000,000 of people destined no longer
to have opium supplied to them (except illegally, by smuggling, etc.)
is naturally a big blow to the British opium interests. That is where
the menace to the rest of the world comes in. Opium has been proved
such a profitable commodity, that if one market is shut off, others
must be found as substitutes. The idea of closing the trade altogether
naturally does not appeal to those who profit by it. Therefore, what we
should hail at first sight as a welcome indication of a changed moral
sentiment, is in reality but the pause which proceeds the casting about
for new markets, for finding new peoples to drug.
The Colonial Report No. 972, Hongkong Report for 1917, gives the
imports and exports of opium: Page 7--
"The imports and exports of certified opium during the year as follows:
Imports 7 chests
Export 224 chests
Of these, however, the imports all come from Shanghai, and of the total
export of 224 chests, 186 went to Shanghai."
Opium received from other sources than Shanghai makes a better showing.
"Seven hundred and forty chests of Persian opium imported during the
year, and seven hundred and forty-five exported to Formosa. Nine
hundred and ten chests of uncertified Indian opium were imported: Four
hundred and ten chests by the Government Monopoly, and the remaining
five hundred for the Macao opium farmer."
Macao is a small island off the coast of China, near Canton--a
Portuguese settlement, owned by Portugal for several centuries, where
the opium trade is in full blast. But somehow, one does not expect so
much of Portugal. The most significant feature of the above paragraph,
however, lies in the reference to the importation of Persian opium.
"Seven hundred and forty chests of Persian opium imported." Query, who
owns Persia?
Nevertheless, in spite of this poor showing, in spite of the decrease
in opium importation as compared with the palmy days, all is not lost.
The Crown Colony of Hongkong still continues to do an active trade. In
the Colonial Office List for 1917, on page 218, we read:
"Hongkong. Revenue: About one-third of the revenue is derived from the
Opium Monopoly."
VIII
SARAWAK
Near British North Borneo. Area, 42,000 square miles, many rivers
navigable. The government of part of the present territory was obtained
in 1842 by Sir James Brooke from the Sultan of Brunei. Various
accessions were made between 1861, 1885, and 1890. The Rajah, H.H. Sir
Charles Johnson Brooke, G.C.M.G., nephew to the late Rajah, born June
3, 1829, succeeded in 1868. Population estimated at 500,000, Malays,
Dyaks, Kayans, Kenyahs, and Muruts, with Chinese and other settlers.
Thus the Statesman's Year Book, to which we would add a paragraph from
an article in the National Geographic Magazine for February, 1919.
Under the title: "Sarawak: The Land of the White Rajahs" we read: "With
the recent death of Sir Charles Brooke, G.C.M.G., the second of the
white rajahs of Sarawak, there came to an end one of the most useful
and unusual careers among the many that have done credit to British
rule in the Far East. For nearly 49 years he governed, as absolute
sovereign, a mixed population of Chinese, Malays, and numerous pagan
tribes scattered through the villages and dense jungles of an extensive
territory on the northwest coast of Borneo.
"Constant solicitude for the welfare of his people won the sympathy and
devotion which enabled this white man, supported by an insignificant
army and police, to establish the peaceful occupations of civilization
in place of barbarous tyranny and oppression." How thoroughly this
"civilizing" process was accomplished may be judged somewhat by turning
to the Colonial Office List for 1917, where on page 436 we read:
"Sarawak: The principal sources of revenue are the opium, gambling,
pawn shops, and arrack, producing:
1908 $483,019
1909 460,416
1910 385,070
1911 420,151
1912 426,867
1913 492,455"
In the Statesman's Year Book for 1916 we find the total revenue for
this well-governed little colony as follows, given however in pounds
sterling, instead of dollars, as in the above table. Thus:
Revenue--1910 221,284 pounds sterling
1911 159,456
1912 175,967
1913 210,342
1914 208,823
It would seem as if forty-nine years of constant solicitude for the
welfare of a people, establishing the peaceful occupations of
civilization, might have resulted in something better than a revenue
derived from opium, gambling, pawn shops and arrack.
IX
SHANGHAI
In the New York Library there is an interesting little book, about a
quarter of an inch thick, and easy reading. It is entitled: "Municipal
Ethics: Some Facts and Figures from the Municipal Gazette, 1907-1914.
An Examination of the Opium License policy of the Shanghai
Municipality. In an Open Letter to the Chairman of the Council, by
Arnold Foster, Wuchang. For 42 years Missionary to the Chinese."
Shanghai, being a Treaty Port, is of two parts. The native or Shanghai
city, under the control and administration of the Chinese. And the
foreign concessions, that part of the city under the control and
administration of foreigners. This is generally known as the
International Settlement (also called the model settlement), and the
Shanghai Municipal Council is the administrative body. Over this part
the Chinese have no control. In 1907, when China began her latest fight
against the opium evil, she enacted and enforced drastic laws
prohibiting opium smoking and opium selling on Chinese soil, but was
powerless to enforce these laws on "foreign" soil. In the foreign
concessions, the Chinese were able to buy as much opium as they
pleased, merely by stepping over an imaginary line, into a portion of
the town where the rigid anti-opium laws of China did not apply.
Says Mr. Arnold, in his Open Letter: "It will be seen that the title of
the pamphlet, Municipal Ethics, describes a situation which is a
complex one. It concerns first the actual attitude of the Shanghai
Municipal Council towards the Chinese national movement for the
suppression of the use of opium. This, we are assured by successive
Chairmen of the Council, has been one of "sincere sympathy," "the
greatest sympathy," and more to the same effect. Certainly no one would
have guessed this from the facts and figures reproduced in this
pamphlet from the columns of the "Municipal Gazette."
"The second element in the ethical situation is the actual attitude of
the Council not only towards the Chinese national movement, but also
towards its own official assurances, protestations and promises.
"It is on this second branch of the subject before us that I specially
desire to focus attention, and for the facts here stated that I would
bespeak the most searching examination. The protestations of the
Council as to its own virtuous attitude in regard to opium reform in
China are made the more emphatic, and also the more open to criticism,
by being coupled with some very severe insinuations made at the time,
as to the _insincerity_ and _unreliability_ of the Chinese authorities
in what they were professing, and in what _they_ were planning to do in
the same matter of opium reform. It so happens, as the event proves,
that these sneers and insinuations were not only quite uncalled for,
but were absolutely and utterly unjust. When a comparison is instituted
between (a) 'official pronouncements' made two years ago by the Chinese
authorities as to what they then _intended_ to do for the suppression
of the opium habit, and (b) the 'actual administrative results' that in
the meanwhile have been accomplished, the Chinese have no cause to be
ashamed of the verdict of impartial judges. What they have done may not
always have been wise, it may sometimes have been very stern, but the
outcome has been to awaken the astonishment and admiration of the whole
civilized world! When, on the other hand, a comparison is instituted
between (a) the fine professions and assurances of the Shanghai
Municipal Council made six or seven years ago as to its _own_ attitude
towards the 'eradication of the opium evil' and (b) the 'actual
administrative results' of the Council's own proceedings, the feelings
awakened are of very different order. Here, not to mention any other
consideration, two hard facts stare one in the face: First, in October,
1907, there were _eighty-seven_ licensed opium shops in the
International Settlement. In May, 1914, there were _six hundred and
sixty-three_. In 1907 the _average_ monthly revenue from opium
licenses, dens and shops _combined_, was Taels 5,450. In May, 1914, the
revenue from licenses and _opium shops alone_ was Taels 10,995. The
Council will not dispute these figures."
At the beginning of the anti-opium campaign in 1907, there were 700
dens (for smoking) in the Native City, and 1600 in the International
Settlement. The Chinese closed their dens and shops at once. In the
Settlement, the dens were not all closed until two years later, and the
number of shops in the Settlement increased by leaps and bounds. Table
I shows an outline of the Municipal opium-shop profits concurrent with
the closing of the opium houses--and subsequently:
_Year_ _Month_ _Dens_ _Shops_ _Monthly revenue,_
_shops only_
1908 Jan. 1436 87 Taels, 338
Oct. 1005 131 623
1909 Jan. 599 166 1,887
Oct. 297 231 2,276
1910 Oct. Closed 306 5,071
1911 Oct. 348 5,415
1912 Nov. 402 5,881
1913 Dec. 560 8,953
1914 March 628 10,188
April 654 10,772
Mr. Arnold quotes part of a speech made by the Chairman of the
Municipal Council, in March, 1908. The Chairman says in part: "The
advice which we have received from the British Government is, in brief,
that we should do more than keep pace with the native authorities, we
should be in advance of them, and where possible, encourage them to
follow us." It must have been most disheartening to the native
authorities, suppressing the opium traffic with the utmost rigor, to
see their efforts defied and nullified by the increased opportunities
for obtaining opium in that part of Shanghai over which the Chinese
have no control. A letter from a Chinese to a London paper, gives the
Chinese point of view: "China ... is obliged to submit to the ruthless
and heartless manner in which British merchants, under the protection
of the Shanghai 'Model Settlement' are exploiting her to the fullest
extent of their ability."
There is lots of money in opium, however. The following tables compiled
by Mr. Arnold show the comparison between the amount derived from opium
licenses as compared with the amount derived from other sorts of
licenses.
1913. Wheelbarrows Taels, 38,670
Carts 22,944
Motor cars 12,376
Cargo boats 5,471
Chinese boats 4,798
Steam launches 2,221 Total, 86,480
Opium shops 86,386 Opium, 86,386
Another table shows the licensed institutions in Shanghai representing
normal social life (chiefly of the Chinese) as compared with revenue
from opium shops:
1913. Tavern Taels, 16,573
Foreign liquor seller 19,483
Chinese wine shop 28,583
" tea shop 9,484
" theater 8,714
" club 3,146
------
Total 85,983
Opium shops 86,386
Treaty Ports are those cities in China, in which the foreign powers
have extra-territorial holdings, not subject to Chinese jurisdiction.
Shanghai is one of them, the largest and most important. The
Statistical Abstract Relating to British India for 1903-4 to 1912-13
shows the exports of British opium into these Treaty Ports.
1903-4 1,610,296 pounds sterling
1904-5 1,504,604
1905-6 1,130,372
1906-7 1,031,065
1907-8 1,215,142
1908-9 2,703,871
1909-10 1,234,432
1910-11 2,203,670
1911-12 3,614,887
1912-13 3,242,902
It was in 1907 that China began her great fight against the opium evil,
and enacted stringent laws for its prohibition on Chinese soil. On page
15 of his little book, Mr. Arnold quotes from Commissioner Carl, of
Canton: "The 1912 figure (for the importation of foreign opium) is the
largest on record since 1895. The great influx of Chinese into the
foreign concessions, where the anti-opium smoking regulations cannot be
enforced by the Chinese authorities, and where smoking can be indulged
in without fear of punishment, no doubt accounts for the unusual
increase under foreign opium."
X
INDIA
India is the source and fount of the British opium trade, and it is
from Indian opium that the drug is chiefly supplied to the world. As we
have said before, it is a government monopoly. Cultivators, who wish to
plant poppies, may borrow money from the Government free of interest,
the sole condition being that the crop be sold back to the Government
again. It is manufactured into opium at the Government factory at
Ghazipur, and once a month, the Government holds auctions at Calcutta,
by means of which the drug finds its way into the trade channels of the
world--illicit and otherwise.[2]
[2] This description of the Opium Department is to be found in
Statistics of British India, Financial Statistics, Vol. II, 8th
Issue, page 159:
OPIUM. The region in which the poppy was cultivated in 1916-17
for the manufacture of "Bengal opium" comprises 32 districts of
the United Provinces of Agra and Ouhd. The whole Department has,
with effect from the 29th September, 1910, been under the control
of one Opium Agent, with headquarters at Ghazipur. At Ghazipur
there is a Government factory where the crude opium is
manufactured into the form in which it passes into consumption.
The cultivation of the poppy and the manufacture of opium are
regulated by Act XIII of 1857, as amended by Act I of 1911, and
are under the general control of the Lieutenant Governor and the
Board of Revenue of the United Provinces, and the immediate
supervision of the Opium Agent at Ghazipur. The possession,
transport, import and export of opium are regulated by rules
framed under the Indian Opium Act. Cultivation is permitted only
under licenses granted under the authority of the Opium Agent.
The area to be cultivated is fixed by the license, and the
cultivator is bound to sell the whole of his production to the
Opium Department at the rate fixed by Government.... Advances, on
which no interest is charged, are given to licensed cultivators
at the time of executing the agreement and from time to time
(though ordinarily no more than two advances are given) until
final delivery. In March, April and May the opium is made over to
the officers of the Department, and weighed and tested, and as
soon as possible afterwards each cultivator's accounts are
adjusted, and the balance due is paid him. After weighment the
opium is forwarded to the Government factory at Ghazipur, where
it is manufactured in 3 forms--(a) opium intended for export to
foreign countries, departmentally known as "provision opium"--(b)
opium intended for consumption in India and Burma, departmentally
known as "excise opium" and (c) medical opium for export to
London. Provision opium is made up in the form of balls or cakes,
each weighing 3.5 lbs., and is packed in chests, each chest
containing forty cakes, weighing 140 1/7 lbs. It is generally of
71 deg. efficiency. Excise opium is made up in cubical packets, each
weighing one seer, 60 of which are packed in a case. It is of
higher consistency than the "provision opium." Medical opium is
made up into cakes weighing 2 lbs. Provision opium is sold by
public auction in Calcutta. A notification is published annually,
generally about the month of June, stating the number of chests
which will be put up for sale in each month of the next calendar
year, and the quantities so notified are not altered without
three months notice. Sales are conducted month by month by the
Bengal Government; 7,000 chests were notified for sale in 1917
for shipment to non-China markets. The number of chests actually
sold was 4,615. In addition to this, 4,500 chests were sold to
the Government of the Straits Settlements, 2,200 to the
Government of Netherland Indies, and 410 to the Government of
Hongkong. The duty levied by Government on each chest may be
taken to be the difference between the average price realized and
the average cost.
The following facts are taken from "Statistics of British India.
Financial Statistics, Volume II, Eighth Issue," to be found at the New
York Public Library:
AREA UNDER POPPY CULTIVATION
Acreage: 1910-11 362,868
1911-12 200,672
1912-13 178,263
1913-14 144,561
1914-15 164,911
1915-16 167,155
1916-17 204,186
In the hey-day of the China trade, 613,996 acres were under cultivation
in the years 1905-6, consequently this is a drop in the extent of
acreage. But, as we have said before, the closing of the China market
simply means that other outlets must be found, and apparently they are
being found, since from 1914 onwards, the acreage devoted to poppy
planting is slowly increasing again.
The opium manufactured in the Government factory is of three
kinds--provision opium for export; excise opium, for consumption in
India, and medical opium, for export to London. It is this latter form
of opium which, according to Mr. MacDonald, in his "Trade Politics and
Christianity in Africa and the East" is being manufactured into morphia
by three British firms, two in Edinburgh and one in London, which
morphia the Japanese are buying and smuggling into North China.
The "Statistics of British India" shows the countries into which Indian
opium has been exported: we will take the figures for the last five
years, which show the number of chests sent out.
_1912-13_ _1913-14_ _1914-15_ _1915-16_ _1916-17_
China 19,575 4,061 1,000 734 500
Straits
Settlements 5,098 1,537 755 605 239
United Kingdom 11 115 498 199 0
Mauretius 10 19 23 65 120
Ceylon 50 105 80 65 80
Cochin-China 805 875 2,690 2,035 3,440
Java 3,010 3,265 2,650 1,835 1,965
Other
countries 2,815 1,929 3,160 3,248 2,366
Total 31,374 11,906 10,858 8,786 8,710
In some countries we see a falling off, as in China. Cochin-China, the
French colony, shows a considerable increase--the little Annamites,
Tonquinese, Cambodgians and other inhabitants of this colony of the
French Republic being shown what's what. Mauretius, a British Colony
five hundred miles off the coast of Madagascar, in the Indian ocean,
seems to be coming on. The falling off in shipments to the United
Kingdom may possibly have been due to the war and the scarcity of
ships. "Other countries" seem to be holding their own. With the end of
the war, the increase in ships, and general trade revival, we may yet
see compensation for the loss of China. With the increase of drug
addicts in the United States, it may be that in time America will no
longer be classed under "other countries" but will have a column all to
itself.
In another table we find a comparison as to the number of chests of
provision or export opium and of excise opium, or that intended for
consumption in India. Thus:
_Provision Opium_ _Excise Opium_
1910-11 15,000 chests 8,611 chests
1911-12 14,000 9,126
1912-13 7,000 9,947
1913-14 12,000 8,307
1914-15 10,000 8,943
1915-16 12,000 8,391
1916-17 12,000 8,732
Each chest contains roughly about one hundred and forty pounds.
REVENUE
The revenue of India is derived from various sources, and is classified
under eight heads. Thus: for 1916-17.
I. Land
Forest
Tribute from Native States Total L25,124,489
II. Opium 3,160,005
III. Taxation:
1. Salt
2. Stamps
3. Excise
4. Customs
5. Provincial rates
6. Income tax
7. Registration 32,822,976
IV. Debt Services 1,136,504
V. Civil Services 2,364,985
VI. Military Services 1,575,946
VII. Commercial:
1. Post
2. Telegraph
3. Railways
4. Irrigation 51,393,566
VIII. Miscellaneous Receipts 1,221,497
Grand total L118,799,968
Out of these eight classifications, opium comes fourth on the list.
But in addition to the direct opium revenue, we must add another item,
Excise, which is found under the third heading, taxation. In the "India
Office List for 1918" we find "Excise" explained as follows: Page 383:
"Excise and Customs: Excise duties in India are levied with the two
fold object of raising revenue and restricting the use of intoxicants
and narcotics." In the same book, on page 385, we also read: "Excise
and Customs Revenues: The total of the excise and customs revenues on
liquors and drugs in 1915-16 was in round figures ten million pounds.
This total gives an average of rather more than ninepence a head on the
whole population of British India as the revenue charge on drink and
drugs during the year."
These excise duties are collected on spirits, beer, opium and
intoxicating drugs, such as ganja, charas, and bhang, all forms or
preparations of Indian hemp (Cannabis Indica), known in some countries
as hashish. In 1917-18 there were 17,369 drug shops throughout India.
The excise duties collected from these sources was pretty evenly
distributed. Excise revenue for a period of years is as follows:
_Excise_ _Opium_ _Total Revenue_
1907-8 L6,214,210 L5,244,986 L88,670,329
1908-9 6,389,628 5,884,788 86,074,624
1909-10 6,537,854 5,534,683 91,130,296
1910-11 7,030,314 7,521,962 97,470,114
1911-12 7,609,753 5,961,278 100,580,799
1912-13 8,277,919 5,124,592 106,254,327
1913-14 8,894,300 1,624,878 105,220,777
1914-15 8,856,881 1,572,218 101,534,375
1915-16 8,632,209 1,913,514 104,704,041
1916-17 9,215,899 3,160,005 118,799,968