(Translation.) Sir,
2
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Viceroy Chung to Acting Consul-General Fox.
November 27, 1908. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 19th instant on the subject of the new Opium Licensing Regulations, in which you
inform me that you have received a petition from the British opium merchants in Hong Kong complaining that in Ch'ao Chou and Wai Chou Prefectures some misunderstanding seems to exist on the part of the local officials with regard to the question. In for- warding the complaint you request me to issue strict instructions to the officials con- cerned to carry out the Licence Regulations in such afmanner as will not interfere with the wholesale trade between British merchants and Chinese opium dealers.
With reference to this question, I have the honour to inform you that, in obedience to my orders, the Taotai of constabulary has already devised a scheme which, while conforming to the Regulations of the Government Council, clearly differentiates itself from the Prepared Opium Licence Fee Regulations hitherto enforced by the Board of Reorganization. These are being strictly enforced, and the Taotai has at the same time instructed the local provincial officials to act in accordance with them.
I avail, &c.
Sir,
Inclosure 3 in No. 1.
Consul-General Sir P. Warren to Sir J. Jordan,
Shanghae, December 18, 1908.
I HAD the honour to telegraph to you yesterday that complaint had been made to me by the British firms dealing in opium at this port that the Chinese authorities were taking steps to confine the wholesale trade in opium to a limited number of the existing
hongs "hongs," which, in their opinion, was equivalent to granting these few monopoly, and therefore in direct contravention of the existing Treaties.
£5
a
The scheme referred to by the British opium merchants is outlined in a Proclama- tion which has been issued, under the Nanking Viceroy's instructions, by the Financial Bureau of Kiangnan. I inclose a copy and translation of it, which has been furnished to me by Messrs. David Sassoon and Co. (Limited), and a copy also of their covering letter to me, which is signed as well by the other British opium firms at Shanghae. Their contention that the scheme is tantamount to a monopoly for the favoured "hongs" appears to me to be quite justified.
Before communicating with you I addressed a telegram to His Majesty's Consul at Nanking inquiring whether he had reported the issue of the Proclamation to you. He replied that he had not, and I have since received another message from him requesting to be furnished with full particulars of the alleged monopoly for the information of the Viceroy. I am therefore also sending him copies of Messrs. Sassoon's letter and of their translation of the Proclamation.
I have, &c. (Signed)
PELHAM L. WARREN.
Sir,
Inclosure 4 in No. 1.
British Opium Merchants at Shanghae to Consul-General Sir P. Wurren.
Shanghae, December 16, 1908. WE most respectfully beg to draw your attention to the inclosed copy of a Procla- mation issued by the Financial Bureau of Kiangnan under instructions from the Viceroy of Nanking, and also to a despatch sent by the principal Chamber of Commerce at Kiangnan to the Committee of the Opium Guild there, with translations thereof, from which you will observe that the Chinese authorities are taking steps to confine the wholesale trade in opium to a limited number of the existing "hongs," reducing others to retail shops only, and entirely closing up those which have opened within the last two
years.
B
We submit that the mere fact of allowing a few hougs" only to import opium is nothing short of granting them a monopoly, and this is a direct contravention of the existing Treaties.
We may mention that several such attempts to create a monopoly and restrict the trade have been made from time to time during the last two years, and we are pleased to say that through the intervention of His Britannic Majesty's Government and its Representatives they have been frustrated. The present scheme is nothing less than a similar attempt under a different guise, and the injury to the trade that will result if it is allowed to be carried through will be enormous, inasmuch as these "hongs" will have an absolute control on the business and the importers will be at their mercy, competition being out of the question.
We cannot therefore too strongly protest against this action on the part of the Nanking Viceroy of arbitrarily closing up a number of the existing "hongs," and forcing the others to deal in a retail business only and to get their supplies from the favoured few.
We also beg to inclose herein a letter addressed to us by the native dealers bere, with a Circular issued by the Shanghae Magistrate, as well as the translations thereof. You will observe that the dealers are called upon to register themselves by giving their full names, addresses, aud capitals, and also to furnish particulars of the amount of opium sold by them annually, with the object of restricting their future sales, &c. The dealers complain that, besides the tax on prepared opium being raised from 20 cash to 110 cash per tael weight of opium sold, it is now intended to levy a further tax on the wholesale dealers on a graduated scale. These restrictions on and interference with the trade are causing a great scare amongst them, and the situation has become very critical. Besides the heavy losses which we are incurring by the demoralization of the trade which has taken place through these harassing measures we are now faced with the danger of failures amongst the dealers, who may not be able to fulfil their contracts with us, which amount to millions of taels.
We submit that as long as the opium trade is legitimate and the importation of foreign opium is allowed in China no restrictive measures as to its sale should be allowed to be enforced, and no action by the Chinese authorities which is an infringe- ment of the existing Treaties should be allowed to be taken.
If it is the honest intention of the Chinese Government to abolish the opium trade in China, it should be done in strict accordance with the arrangements made with His Britannic Majesty's Government.
The Indian Government has already fulfilled its part of the agreement by reducing annually the export of the Indian opium, and it remains for the Chinese Government to see that the plantation of the native drug is correspondingly reduced, so as to bring about the entire abolition of the opium trade within the stipulated period of ten years. Any other measures taken by them to interfere with the trade is illegal and high- handed.
In this connection we may say that, from information furnished to us, we understand that, although instructions have been issued from Peking to immediately stop the cultivation of the poppy in six provinces, viz., Kiangsu, Anhui, Chekiang, Honan, Folkian, and Yunnan, they have not been complied with, but, on the contrary, in the Province of Honan more opium has been planted this year than last year.
We therefore beg to request you to be good enough to give this matter your serious consideration, and to take such steps as you may deem necessary to put a stop to these schemes from coming into operation; and as the question is so very urgent, may we request you to submit it by wire to His Britannic Majesty's Minister at Peking, and impress upon him the seriousness of the situation.
Thanking you in advance for the trouble we are giving you, we beg, &c.
David Sassoon and Co. (Limited),
(Signed)
D. M. NISSIM.
E. D. SASSOON AND Co.
S. J. DAVID AND CO.
D. E. J. ABRAHAM.
E. PABANEY.
COWASJEE, PALLANJEE, AND Co.
(Per pro. Tata Sons and Co.),
F. S. MADAN,
349