[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.] 276
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
R
[November 11]
okum
SECTION 1
39000
iRed?
*
REC2 9 DECCO
[41445]
No. 1.
The Archbishop of Canterbury to Sir Edward Grey.--(Received November 11.)
Dear Sir Edward Grey,
Lambeth Palace, November 9, 1909,
A FEW weeks ago I received from Bishop Price, the Anglican Bishop in Fuhkien, China, a memorandum, of which I enclose a copy. I have been in corre- spondence with some of those who represent the various anti-opium societies or organisations, and while no doubt there are differences of opinion upon the details of the subject, everyone seems to be in agreement in thinking that I ought to place this memorandum in your hands. Indeed, I think it was with that view that Bishop Price sent it to me. Bishop Price is a reasonable man, of considerable experience both in Japan and China, and I think his testimony is of real importance. I should be grateful if, at your convenience, I might have a short conversation with you upon the subject. No one is more conscious than I of the difficulties which surround the question, but we seem to have reached a point at which there is danger that England may be thwarting a genuine and determined wish on the part of the Chinese them- selves to bring the evil, so far as possible, to an end.
I am, &c.
RANDALL CANTUAR.
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Inclosure in No. 1.
Memorandum by Bishop Price.
SIR EDWARD GREY, in replying to a memorial from Scotland, urging that a speedier end be put to the opium traffic, and that a relaxation of treaty obligations be permitted in favour of China, is reported to have said that the Government sympathised with the purpose of the memorial, but that the reports of British representatives in China tended to confirm the opinion that the period proposed by China was in no wise excessive to enable a change of such magnitude to be effected in the babits of the Chinese population. The Government, he said, was bound to uphold treaty rights, but it had been made clear to China that our Government had every desire to support bond fide suppression of the traffic.
I desire to call attention to a case which has recently come to my notice in this province of Fukhien, and which appears to me to have a strong claim upon that attitude of sympathy to which the British nation is now openly pledged.
The gentry and others in the county of Kucheng, in this province, have for over two years been earnestly seeking to suppress the opium vice. There is no cultivation of opium now in any part of the county. Realising that the most effectual way to suppress the evil would be by getting the opium shops closed, they set about raising money to compensate the Imperial Exchequer for the loss of revenue that would occur from the closing of the shops. Over 2,000 dollars were contributed for this purpose. This was done with the approval of the higher officials in Fonchow, the seat of the provincial Government. Subsequently the anti-opium reformers petitioned the Kucheng local magistrate to issue a proclamation ordering that all the opium shops in the county should be closed within five months.
The proclamation was issued. The opium dealers closed their shops. The event was celebrated with great rejoicings. But the movement suddenly met with a serious check. The leading opium dealer in Kucheng, as it appears, appealed to the chief Chinese opium merchant in Foochow, and he in turn appealed to the British firm, Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, and Co. The British firm appealed to the British consul, suggesting that the anti-opium movement in Kucheng issuing the recent proclamation was not sincere, and claiming that the prohibition by the local official of the sale of foreign opium was contrary to treaty. The letter requested that orders be given to withdraw the proclamations; that the opium dealers he allowed to reopen their
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