[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[15161]
C O 14857
[April 24.]
SECTION 3.
E 8 MAY 1!
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received April 24.)
(No. 142.) Sir,
Peking, April 3, 1911. WITH reference to my telegram No. 24 of the 28th January, and to your reply No. 21 of the 4th February, relative to the protest of British opium importers at Shanghai against the proposed sale by the Government of India of 16,000 chests destined for non-Chinese ports, which quantity the merchants maintained exceeded the requirements of the market, I have the honour to enclose the copy of a despatch from His Majesty's consul-general, forwarding copies of correspondence with the legal representatives of the dealers on the subject.
My telegram No. 17 of the 6th February to Shanghai repeated your telegram No. 21, but in view of the doubtful situation, and of the effect which the possible publication of the terms of your telegram might have had on the negotiations, I deemed it prudent, in my subsequent telegram, to instruct Mr. Fraser not to communicate to the importers for the moment the views you had expressed.
It will be observed that the latter adhere to their expectation that smuggling will be extensively carried on under the new arrangement.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN.
(No. 27.) Sir,
Consul-General Fraser to Sir J. Jordan.
Shanghai, March 10, 1911. WITH reference to my telegram No. 12 of the 27th January and your reply No. 17 of the 6th February, I have the honour to forward copies of my correspondence with the lawyer of the British opium dealers at this port.
The instructions given in your telegram No. 18 of the 6th February make it difficult to answer the query as to the status of Hong Kong in the eyes of the Indian Government; but one can hardly help suspecting that it is the interest of the dealers to minimise the import of Indian opium in order to enhance the value of their stocks.
I have, &c.
E. D. H. FRASER.
Sir,
the
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
Messrs. Hanson McNeill and Jones to Consul-General Fraser.
Shanghai, January 25, 1911. REFERRING to previous correspondence with reference to the opium trade and Messrs. David Sassoon and Co.'s recent letter to Mr. Harding in reply to certain enquiries made by him of them, we are instructed by all the principal British importers of opium at this port to request you to protest on their behalf by telegram throngh proper authorities to the Viceroy of India against the continued sale by the Government of India of a greater number of chests of opium than there are legitimate outlets for.
As Messrs. David Sassoon and Co. pointed out to Mr. Harding, the Indian Government has announced its intention of reducing the total sales during this year to 31,440 chests, of which it is announced only 15,440 will be passed for export to China. We understand that these 15,440 chests will be specially marked, and will be sold with permits for export to China, and that the balance of 16,000 is very largely in excess of the amount that can be consumed by non-Chinese ports.
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