Evening star., 1923-11-24
BY THE MARaCIsE DE FONTENOY.

Since all the world is Interested, on
moral and material grounds, in the
limitation OF the production Of opium.
1t is well to take note of the remark
able and startling assertion made. the
other day. in London, at the annual
banquet of the China Association. by
the Right Honorable Sir John Jor Ian.
to the effect that. owing to the I'M
potency of the Peking government
and of the chaos that reigns at pres
ent throughout China. the latter is.
despite the drastic laws prohibiting
it's cultivation. gro wing twice as much
opium today as all the rest of the
world put together, India included.
Yet IN 1917 the production OF opium
had been virtually stamped out in
China, according to the official reports
made to the league OF nations opium
committee, as compared with her
production of 10000 tons in 1906.
The fact that China is today pro-
ducing twice as much opium as all the
rest of the world combined Is SO
alarming as to call for some sort of
united action on the part of the great
powers. Sir John Jordan speaks with
the authority and weight born of We'll
nigh unrivaled experience. For forty
four years of the brilliant official ca
reer of this clever and resourceful
County Down Irishman were spent in
China, nearly twenty years of 1t as
British minister plenipotentiary at
Peking. Keep, on In office until 1920,
that is to say, several years after he
had reached the statutory age of re-
tfrernent, he then. with the consent
of the British crown, accepted the po-
sition of adviser In London to the
Peking government, which, however,
he resigned early in 1921, in view of
the difficulty OF securing the accept
ance at Peking of his wise and en-
lightened counsels.
Sir John makes a suggestion for
dealing with the present intolerable
situation in CHINA suggestion
based on the methods already adopted
there by the United States govern
ment. The latter, finding all appeals
to Peking quite fruitless. has in
structed It's admiral commanding the
American naval forces on the China
station to place armed guards on
all American steamers plying on the
various rivers Of China, with orders
to fire upon all native brigands. pf-
rates or even provincial military
units venturing to modest or to at
tack. in any way, craft flying the
United states flag, and to notify all
the provincial governors and author
tiles Of the adoption of these meas
ureS.
Sir John Jordan declares that,
since the government at Peking has
lost it's hold over the provinces, which
have set up independent governments
of their own. and that foreign ma
tions can gain little or nothing by
maintaining the assumption that
PekinE governs and controls all China
the powers should agree to deal di-
rectly with the provincial governors
and dictators as the de facto rulers
Of China, and that they should be in
vited by the foreign governments.
that Is to say, by those concerned In
the so-called nine-power treaty,
which emanated from the washing
ton disarmament congress, to particle
pate in a conference which would fur
nish an opportunity of composing q
number of difficulties and would at
the same time endow the provincial
governors with a sense Of internar
+, tionaI responsibility. thereby estab-
| fishing their authority.
| \ y \ X
| When one bears In mind the vast
| area and the enormous population Of