§ 10. Sir JOHN JARDINEasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any information from 2023 Consuls or otherwise as regards increase or decrease of cultivation of the opium plant in China since the change of Government and as to the policy in this matter of the Government of the Republic?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. Acland)The conditions in different provinces and even in different districts of the same province vary so greatly that it is difficult to answer this question comprehensively with regard to the whole of China. Generally speaking, the latest reports in my possession show that the loss of Government control during the revolutionary disturbances led to a large increase of poppy cultivation in almost all the opium-growing districts, but that the Republican Government have been making strenuous efforts, which have already met with considerable success in many districts to suppress it.