[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
Jos 2 MAY 08
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL,
[15961]
No. 1.
559
[May 5.]
SECTION 2.
Question asked in the House of Commons, May 5, 1908.
Mr. Theodore C. Taylor,-To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in the Chinese-ruled City of Shanghae, opium dens have all been closed since June last; whether in every foreign Settlement in China, except Shanghae, all opium dens have been for some time past shut up; what action the Municipal Council of the International Settlement of Shanghae has taken to close the numerous opium dens they now license; and whether they have fixed a date, and, if so, what is the date, after which all their opium dens shall be closed.
Answer.
The reply to the first question is in the affirmative. No opium dens exist at present in any British Concessions in China, but I am unable to say whether that is the case in all other foreign Concessions. On the 20th March the ratepayers of the Shanghae International Settlement adopted a Resolution whereby the number of opium houses was to be reduced by a quarter from the 1st July next. The chairman of the Municipal Council explained at the time that this was part of a programme of periodical reductions leading to complete abolition in two years or less. The Viceroy of Nanking is stated to have expressed his satisfaction at this measure.
[2967 e-2]