This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government]
442
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[36176]
No. 1.
[November 2.]
SECTION 2,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received November 2.)
Peking, September 17, 1907.
(No. 434.) Sir,
IN my despatch No. 423 of the 4th instant, I had the honour to report to you the substance of conversations which I had with the Ministers of the Wai-wu Pu relative to the proposed establishment of a Government Opium Monopoly at Nanking, conver- sations which ended in a promise by Lü Ta-jên that a telegram would be sent to the Viceroy ordering the suspension of the measure pending further inquiry.
I now have the honour to transmit to you herewith copy of a despatch which I have received from Mr. Ker, His Majesty's Consul at Nanking, inclosing translation of a Proclamation issued by the Kiangnan Opium Monopoly Burcau, and ordering the suspension of the operation of the monopoly.
I also inclose copy of another despatch from Mr. Ker, dated the 5th September, reporting upon the state of the question prior to the issue of the Proclamation.
I have, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN.
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Consul Ker to Sir J. Jordan.
(No. 20.) sir,
Nanking, September 5, 1907. WITH reference to my despatches Nos. 17 and 18 of the 14th July and the 1st August, on the subject of the proposed Government Opium Monopoly at Nanking, I have the honour to report that since the closing of the opium dens was effected at the end of the 6th moon (8th August), a series of Proclamations has now been issued by the recently established Anti-Opium Bureau or Government Monopoly Office, promul- gating further legislation ostensibly directed towards the restriction of opium smoking. In addition to three Proclamatious dealing respectively with the supply of anti- opium pills by the Bureau, the purchase of disused smoking implements, and the relief by small loans of needy persons thrown out of employment by the closing of the dens, there have been four Proclamations which directly bear on the establishment of the Government monopoly.
The first of these, dated the 14th August, states that as a measure of restriction the sale of prepared opium is to be undertaken by the Bureau, but that in view of the stocks now held by dealers, the immediate establishment of this monopoly would create hardship, and therefore the 1st day of the 7th moon (8th September) is fixed as the date after which all opium shops must obtain their supplies of prepared opium from the Government Bureau. A schedule of prices is appended, viz.: for first quality of prepared opium, 1 dol. 30. c. an ounce; second quality, 1 dollar; third quality. 80 cents; fourth quality, 70 cents. Those dealers who desire to register themselves as agents of the Monopoly Bureau (see Article 3 of the Regulations) are to be allowed to do so up to the 28th August.
The second is dated the 21st August, and consists merely of a repetition of the reasons for postponing the monopoly of the sale of prepared opium until the Sth September, and a provision that in places outside Nanking where the bureau is not yet established, opium shops can carry on business as before, except that they cannot have opium lamps.
The third, also dated the 21st August, recapitulates the provisions of Article 3 of the Regulations dealing with the licensing of large dealers to supply the raw opium required by the Bureau, and the licensing of small dealers and of opium-den proprietors as retail agents of the bureau. After the end of the 7th moon (7th September), no further agents can be licensed, and dealers without licence will have their property confiscated.
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