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These figures are based upon an estimated average population of 650,000. It is notorious that the Hongkong census figures are much below the actual figures of popula- tion, for reasons which it is unnecessary to examine here. The Committee has informa- tion regarding the actual population to the following effect :-
The bulk of the Colony's nightsoil is carried away by a Contractor for purposes of manure for mulberry growing. The successful bidder for the present contract, dating from 1921, worked upon the census figure of 680,000 persons, and allowed for taels 3 in weight of nightsoil per head per day, or a total of some 1275 piculs. He reduced this figure to 1100 piculs because of wastage through water closets and boat population, and he tendered accordingly. The amount of nightsoil now being collected approximates to 2500 piculs or nearly four million taels, which, at taels 3 per head, gives a population of over 1,300,000, without allowing for wastage. The figure arrived at through this some- what unusual method of census taking is probably very much nearer the mark than the official figure and upon this basis the total consumption of opium comes out again at about half a tael a head.
12. It has to be admitted that the only persons who need purchase Government opium are those who want a high grade product and those who prefer to pay a high price rather than risk the penalty for the use of smuggled opium: and this argument holds good in respect of the consumption of any duty paid article in lieu of its smuggled counterpart. But it does not follow that there is no effective control over the consump- tion of such article. It is the opinion of the Committee that the control exercised in Hongkong is as effective as is possible in the extraordinarily difficult circumstances. As long as unlimited supplies of opium are available, opium cannot be kept out of the Colony. The Government of Hongkong, realising this fact, has devised a compromise. It sells a good grade of opium at a very high price and it visits with severe penalties all those who are found to be trafficking in or using other opium. There can be no doubt that shortness of purse on the one hand and fear of the consequences on the other do keep consumption very far below the rate which would obtain if Government opium were cheapened or prohibited or penalties were relaxed.
13.1 The various proposals for a gradual diminution in the amount of opium legitimately available have been discussed in the preceding paragraphs. It remains to examine the question whether, consumption of opium could be reduced, if no further legitimate supplies were available. It has been pointed out in paragraph 9 that the habitual smoker need not be considered, and, if such a step should result in decreased consumption, the Government should go out of business at once.
The Committee has expressed the opinion that a gradual reduction of legitimate supplies will be counterbalanced by an increase in the use of illicit opium. If the use of opium were to be prohibited, it is probable that the situation would get entirely out of hand. A comparison which suggests itself is the placing of a small foreign Government in Marseilles and the prohibition by it of the drinking of wine by the French within the town: except that opium is much more easily smuggled than wine. Neither the Hong- kong Government nor the Council of the League of Nations can prevent indulgence in a practice habitual in a nation of four hundred million people unless that nation desires to give up that indulgence, and unfortunately there is no present indication that the opium habit will be abandoned by the Chinese people in the near future. It may be mentioned in this connection that the Committee has read with considerable surprise the statements by Mr. Chao Hsin-chu regarding Shanghai, which appear at pages 61 and 65 of the Minutes of the Fifth Session of the Advisory Committee. The information before the Committee is to the effect that enormous quantities of opium go to Shanghai, and the consumption there is very large. The supervision in Shanghai is notoriously far less strict than it is in Hongkong.
In Canton the Government has for some time past been selling opium for revenue purposes, and a Monopoly has now been formally established.
14. The Committee understands that the practice of swallowing opium is spreading amongst the Chinese, a practice which, according to medical evidence, is at least not less harmful than smoking opium. The League of Nations Advisory Committee does not apparently take exception to the swallowing of opium and the hemp drugs, ganja, charas, and bhang, by Indians in India, and accordingly, if smoking is prohibited in Hongkong, the Government must be prepared to face a demand that swallowing should be permitted according to the practice in India. It is difficult to see how a discrimina- tion in favour of India could be justified,