1
A
CONFIDENTIAL.
C.O.
35553
TRE02
284
IR 9 NOV 12
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONGKONG. 15th. October, 1912.
30 30101
Sir,
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of
your telegram in cypher of the 26th. ultimo of which the following is a paraphrase:-
You. 36239
The Foreign Office require a detailed statement in sup- -port of the assertion in Sir F. Lugard's Despatch of
the 16th. of October, 1911, to the effect that the total legitimate annual requirements of Indian Opium for
Lacao are 440 chests.
2.
The figure given by Sir F. Lugard was derived
from an estimate made in October, 1911, by the Superintendent of
Imports and Exports of the legitimate exports of uncertificated
opium from this Colony. At that time Er. R. 0. Hutchison estimated
that the legitimate annual consumption of Indian Opium in Macao
could not exceed 200 chests per annum and that the legitimate
requirement there for boiling for export could not exceed 240
chests per annum. In both cases the estimate was a liberal one.
Mr. Hutchison had not been asked to make a careful estimate for
official use and gave the figures as the expression of his opinion
only. If he had known that the figures would be made use of he
would have closely examined the subject.
3.
The Superintendent of Imports and Exports has now gone carefully into the matter. The figures quoted below are derived from records of exports of Indian opium to Macao from
RIGHT HONOURABLE
LEWIS HARCOURT, M.P.,
Hongkong;
&C.,
&c..
&C...
X