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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government 099
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[31722]
No. 1.
RECS- 310 'Rec! 29 OCT 07
[September 29:]
SECTION 3.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received September 23.)
(No. 377.) Sir,
Peking, August 7, 1907. AS will be seen from the correspondence copies of which I have the honour to transmit to you herewith, the Chinese authorities at Shanghae have renewed their request for the closure of opium shops in the International Settlement, and the Municipal Council has suggested that action should be deferred until a genuine endeavour to grapple seriously with the opium question has been shown by the Chinese Government. A decrease in the area under poppy cultivation is cited as one of the measures which would give evidence of such a serious intention on the part of the Chinese Government,
In your telegram No. 44 of the 27th April last you were pleased to approve the view which I had expressed in my despatch No. 73 of the 6th February, to the effect that the Municipal Councils of British Concessions should be moved to close any opium shops or dens which might exist within them even before being approached on the subject by the Chinese authorities, provided effective steps bad previously been taken to close such establishments outside the limits of the Concessions.
Instructions in this sense were, as reported in my despatch No. 205 of the 30th April, sent to His Majesty's Cousul at Chinkiang, which was found to be the only port where there were any opium shops in the British Concession.
Your despatch No. 231 of the 14th June extended the above instructions to foreign Settlements, and on its receipt I thought it prudent, in view of the attitude assumed by the Municipal Council at Shanghae, to telegraph a summary of the views held by His Majesty's Government to His Majesty's Consul-General at Shanghae for communication to the Council. A Circular embodying your instructions, of which a copy is inclosed, was also issued for the guidance of His Majesty's Consuls,
I have, &c.
(Signed) J. N. JORDAN,
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Shanghae Taolai to M. Siffert.
Sir,
Shanghar, June 25, 1907. I HAVE the honour to refer to the letter I sent you lately on the subject of the instructions ordering the closing of the opium dens inside and outside the Settlement within a limit of six months and the arrest and punishment of those not complying, and also to your reply which reached me on the 19th January stating that the foreign authorities in the Settlement sincerely sympathize with the Chinese but are not willing to have such prohibition first put into operation experimentally in the Settlement before it is enforced in the city. I think that all the Consuls and the Municipal Council feared that the Chinese authorities would be unable to rigorously put in force the closing of opium dens outside the Settlement. Therefore, pending the satisfactory settlement of the matter, I abstained from addressing you on the subject and from running counter to the disposition of the Consula, who were unwilling to have experiments made in the Settlement, although I had been repeatedly instructed by the Viceroy and Governor to consult with you with a view to having the prohibition uniformly enforced.
Opium is recognized as an evil; and inside and outside the city all the opium dens closed before the limit of time had expired, namely, before the 12th of the 5th moon. All the Consuls will, I think, be very glad to hear this. I shall, besides, have inquiry made from time to time. Clandestine use of lamps for smoking is strictly prohibited, and any person infringing the rule will certainly be arrested and punished. It is absolutely necessary that the prohibition be enforced permanently.
As regards the opium dens in the Settlement, you agreed that the Council would be prepared to aid the Chinese authorities in the matter. The limit of time fixed (? for closing opium shops in the city) having been reached, the matter ought to be energetically taken up and decided upon. I have the honour to request that you will let
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