In the network of villages north-west of Swatow lies Saleng, about 20 miles distant from the Treaty Port. It is easy of approach by one or other of the numerous creeks which ran in bewildering numbers northwards from Swatow, and is sheltered on its northern side by hills which afford cover to afew wild goats and porcupines. A small factory has been established at this spot with native capital and under native management. The.object arrived at is to refine native opium so that it will be able to compete on even terms as regards appearance, smell, taste and strength with the foreign drag. If this can be attained then, it i stated, the refined native article will be placed on the market at price aguinst which foreign competition. will be impossible. The idea of refining native. opium - has originated with some Chinese traders who have seen a little of the world as far as the Straits Settlements. The local merchant who has been abroad returns with larger ideas, at any rate as far as trade is concerned, and would no doubt strike out new commercial ines for himself were he sure of non-interference. But he knows that he is regarded by his officials as a legitimate source of. plunder and he is f accordingly inclined to-run in- the old grooves unless he has some connection with the local foreign firms. houses have been built in Saleng and the neighbouring villages and cithers are in course of erection. They are the property of Chinese engaged in business swith Hongkong and the Straits Settlements. These men. live retired lives and are seldom interfered with, for their travels abroad have. emboldened them to dangle the terrors of the British flag before the. eyes of would-be spoilers. - Also, small sums judiciously distributed among yamen underlings have hitherto kept these wolves from the door..
To return, however, to our opium refinery. There are. no chimneys belching forth black smoke, no ring of metal, no busy hum of voices, only a large Chinese house in a secluded nook with a score of Chinese women busily. engaged. damping and singeing - white - poppy leaves. This process unites. the leaves which form a layer wherein to wrap an opium ball. One cash represents the emolument for the labour thus expended. The work is light and an active woman could probably earn $4 to $5. month, but her wage-earning capacity is limited not by the work she can do but by the amount she is required to do.
The opium ix refined in rooms on an upper floor. The manager was very nervous that we should get scent of his refining "medicine" and did not wish us to ascend and sce for ourselves, Th process, however, is simple. The nati opium, which is in the form of tiles or slabs, is heated in iron pans under.the supervision of an Indian workman. The dirt and other foreign ingredients are grndually eliminated as far as possible and the residue is then doctored. The refined opium is afterwards moulded into balls, of about Glbs. each, which are covered with a wrapping of dried poppy leaves.so to retain the smell and strength, The medicine is said to be a prescription of the manager who once kept a dis-pen sary of foreign and native drugs in Penang. The Indian. workman is notan "expert." He receives $10 a month and will no doubt be superseded by Chinese who have by this time already learned the tricks of the trade, such as they are.
The manager, who is also part proprietor, is very sanguine of success and intends placing his goods on the market as soon as they shall have matured. A small quantity will be tried by way of experiment in the local opium divans during the coming winter. If the preparation be fancied by smokers it is expected that large orders will follow. The retail price will be, as far asit is possible to judge, about one-half that of the foreign article. It is estimated that about 100 balls of refined opium can be turned out monthly from the small premises at Salang and an, increase in the output can be met by additional capital. Some land near at hand has been sown with imported poppy seed and the leaves of these plants are used as coverings for the balls.
The establishment of the refinery is considered by the promoters as an ox-periment which, if successful, will enable native grown opium, to all intents and purposes similar to the foreign commodity, to be sold ata price which would wer all idea of competition. Even if only partially suecessful the result will be an increase in the demand for the native and a corresponding decrease in that of the foreign article.
The Imperial Maritime Customs collected H. Taels 3,722,730 as duties on foreign opium in 1896. This represents a percentage of more than 20 per cent of the entire Customs Revenue. It is possible, therefore, that the Central Government may consider the duty on foreign opium so serious an item that, if native opium appears likely to completely displace its foreign. competitors at a more rapid rate than it is doing at present, some arrangoment will be made' whereby the native will take the place of the imported drug in the Customs Returns..A steady decrease in the import of: opium has been going on yearly while the consumption of native opium has steadily increased, and the annual output is not less than five times the quanuy of the foreign imports.
the want of ready money is pressing heavily upon both the central and provi authorities. Tf, therefore, native opium can take the place of Indian it is reasonable to suppose thatit will be subject to increased taxation. Theoretically speaking, of course, every encouragement should be given to the home grown product, but theories of this kind are very rarely. worked out in practice in China. We have only to direct a glance at the tea trade, for instance, which is so hampered by direct and indirect burdens that it is being surely elbowed out of foreign markets.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.