OPIUM IN CHINA.

Auckland Star, 2 September 1933, Page 8 (Supplement)

OPIUM IN CHINA.

SECRETS OF THE TRAFFIC. "GENERALS" AND THEIR CROPS. RAIDER REPELLING AND MARKETING. (By HARRY A. FLOWER—Copyright.) (II.) When at last I reached the country whore the opium poppy was produced, the thing which impressed me most was that the land was eo rich that it would with case have carried a good crop of soya bean, which is definitely profitable, or of rice, had tho irrigation schemes been better attended. The land might even have carried a splendid crop of wheat if careful methods of cultivation had been adopted. Yet they grew opium, and tho land was blood-red with the poppy bloom. It was through conversation with various headmen and comparatively intelligent workmen that I learned the insido story of the temporary "war lords'" preference for a crop on which they could make prompt and ready cash. They daro not occupy territory for any longer period than was absolutely necessary. There was a complete chaos in the interior of tho country, and from one week to another ono never knew who would be, in possession of certain land. Tho result of this uncertain atmosphere was that a quick-growing crop, needing very little attention during cultivation, and calling for a minimum of labour in harvesting, appealed especially to the fortune hunters, particularly as they were sure of their money as soon as the cargoes were delivered at the seaport towns. The inland waterways were bo complicated, and tho ways to tho coast so many and devious that with enormous resources of cheap labour at their disposal tho big men in the producing game were able to send cargoes at any time to suit their own convenience, with a very fair chance- of the entire stock reaching tho coast without mishap. Robber Barons. The ono great difficulty they had to guard against was the possibility of warfare breaking out in their particular district, beforo they were ready. While tho crop was being grown each rebel ""■eneral" was in constant dread of some adjacent "general's" forces crashing into his own preserves, bribing his men and sweeping away tho entire crop, labour reserves, sampans and everything that meant money. Troubles of this kind were frequent, and actually during the few weeks 1 spent as the guest of "General" Li Chan" there were two determined attempts on tho part of the temporary occupants of adjoining tracts of country to annex the holding in which I was interested. There were scouts out in waiting for possible raids tho whole time, and they did their duty well. With tho aid of "modern binoculars they sighted the advance forces of the "eliemy," reported to headquarters, and shrill whistles sounded across the fields. Men camo running from every direction. Such devotion to an overbearing and infernally cruel master astonished me until I realised that the only alternative these poor devils had to fighting for their master was to creep away into the wilds and die. They certainly made a wonderful response, and within an hour, on tho occasion of the first alarm, there assembled a useful fighting force of 300 men, badly armed, but as dangerous a gang of villains as any Hollywood film producer could muster for a gangster thriller. A Demi-god's Armaments. Li Chang was a rich man, and could afford to offer great rewards to the valiant. He had been left in undisputed possession of his territory for two whole seasons. His headman told me that in the first season he had profited on the opium crop alone to an extent of twenty to twenty-five thousand pounds. Li Chang was waiting for the oppor- [ tunity to arise when he could make another bid for power. He had the money and he had the men. At any moment ho might transfer his army of labourers into an army of fighters. The arms were there—British, Amcrica-n and German, with a few Belgian weapons ■ hero and there —and there was ammunition enough in his carefully guarded storehouse to blow up tho greater part of the province, had the "General" felt so inclined. Little wonder, then, that he had been in undisputed possession of his country for such a long time. His coolies had come to regard him ae some sort of a demi-god in that he had been able to defy his many enemies for so long. They were prepared- to fight to the death for him just because for the time being he represented the nearest approach to security they knew. Without him what would they do with their wives and children? There was only one answer—starve! This was the card' which Li Chang had played so cleverly. His sampans and his junks plied up and down the maze of waterways, carrying opium t2 the coast, and guns, ammunition and stores back to his headquarters. The life was essentially a nomadic one in the sense that there was little feeling of permanence about the place. At any moment a local war might break out and the "general" and his horde of followers would break camp and go into action, when loot and pillage would give them the means of subsistence previously supplied by the demoralising trade in which they were normally engaged in times of gcace. One aspect of the opium traffic, which aroused my resentment almost as deeply as did the incredible inhumanity with which the coolies and their families were treated,* was the sin of using rich and highly productive land for opium crops when actually it would have provided food for thousands of human beings who were literally at the point of- starvation. Slavery at its Brutal Worst. i It may seem difficult to believe in these days when the arts and' graces of civilisation are generally believed to have ' penetrated into the remotest corners of ,the globe, that there are tens of thousands of human beings labouring under conditions which are no better than-'slavery at its very worst and most brutal. I have seen a score of times gangs of women and children dragging primitive implements over fertile land which needs only "to have its back scratched" to produce a wonderful crop. Before the. poppies have flov >-ed, the sickly smell of. acres of the crop makes the air almost too heavy and oppressive to breathe. But when the time comes, the pickers get to work and pluck the I pods which arc later transferred to

The juice is pressed out, and then the labour of packing commences. The juice solidifies to some extent, but remains sufficiently plastic for easy packing. This is definitely a very great advantage, for in order to avoid paying colossal bribes to the hundred's of corrupt and avaricious officials who line the route to the coast, it is necessary to camouflage the cargo as far ae possible. The ingenious ways by which these cargoes are transported requires a separate article. Actually it is not smuggling in the official sense of avoiding Customs duties, but a case of avoiding expense in the form of "Likin" or extortion money, "hush money" it might be called, which is extorted whenever possible by the alleged and always temporary authorities whose headquarters fringe the waterways. (To be continued.)