[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA TRADE.
36440
CONFIDENTIAL.
[30586]
No. 1.
SECTION 1. 703
Mr. Carnegie to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received September 10.)
(No. 311. Confidential.) Sir,
Peking, July 21, 1906.
IN the course of a visit which I paid yesterday to the Wai-wu Pu, Mr. Tong Shao-yi turned the conversation on to the subject of opium. He began by referring to the information which he had given me privately respecting the intention of the Chinese Government to introduce some regulations with the view of diminishing the consumption of opium, which I had the honour to report in my despatch No. 299 of the 11th instant. His Excellency said that when the scheme had been elaborated it would be communicated to His Majesty's Government, who, he hoped, would give all the assistance that lay in their power to the Chinese Government in their endeavours to mitigate this evil. He went on to assure me that legislation would not be directed especially against foreign opium, but against all opium.
I replied that I felt sure that His Majesty's Government would meet the Chinese Government half-way if they showed that they were really in earnest. He should not forget, however, that any action which His Majesty's Government might take for restricting the opium trade would involve some sacrifices on their part, for the revenue derived by the Indian Government had amounted in the past to, I believed, some 5,000,000l. a-year, and was still over 3,000,000l. Mr. Tong replied that when he was in India several officials had informed him that the cultivation of opium was really a loss to the Indian Government, as the land devoted to growing the poppy could be far more profitably used for the production of hemp, rice, &c. I remarked that it appeared from what he said that India was voluntarily suffering a loss in order to supply the Chinese with opium, which I could hardly believe. In any case, I added, I felt sure that, as I had already said, His Majesty's Government would help China if she evinced a firm determination to restrict not only the consumption of opium, but also its cultivation, which was yearly increasing in many provinces. Was China also ready, I asked, to sacrifice the large sums she derived from the customs and li-kin dues on foreign opium and the taxation of native opium?
His Excellency declared that these questions had been well considered and that China was willing to forgo this large portion of her revenues, amounting, he said, to 4,000,000 taels to 5,000,000 taels (about 600,000l. to 750,000l.) on foreign and 36,000,000 taels (about 5,400,000l.) on native opium. She was also prepared to take all possible measures for checking not only the consumption, but also the cultivation of the drug.
I have, &c.
(Signed) LANCELOT D. CARNEGIE,