558
This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government
2546
REG# 26 JAN 12J
[January 15.]
SECTION 2.
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[1884]
(No. 8.) Sir,
No. 1.
British Delegates to the International Opium Conference to Sir Edward Grey.--- (Received January 15.)
The Hague, January 13, 1912.
WE have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatches Nos. 12 and 14 of the 9th and 11th instant respecting our authority to sign, on behalf of the Indian Empire and of the British colonies in the Far East, any convention which may be ultimately arrived at.
In the letter from the Colonial Office enclosed in the first of the above-mentioned despatches it was pointed out that the Governor of the Straits Settlements suggested that the reservation made by us in voting for article 7 of the draft convention should be enlarged to cover future as well as existing arrangements for the distribution of opium in the Malay Peninsula and in the neighbouring protected States of North Borneo and Sarawak. We fully share Mr. Harcourt's opinion that, as we had expressly declared that the matter was a question of internal traffic, and therefore outside the scope of international agreement, there was no actual necessity to amend the reservation as suggested by the governor, and we should have hesitated, without further reference to you, to make a declaration in the sense indicated at the time of signing the convention. Fortunately, the minutes of the 14th session, at which Sir C. Clementi Smith made the declaration, not having been finally passed, it has been possible for us to strike out the words "actuellement en vigueur," so that the declaration now reads as follows:-
"La délégation britannique désire retirer le vote ad referendum qu'elle a donné sur l'article 1 du Chapitre II, qui est conçu dans les termes suivants :
'Les Gouvernements participant à la conférence s'engagent à prohiber l'importa- tion et l'exportation de l'opium préparé.'
"La délégation britannique désire que son vote soit enregistré simplement en faveur de la résolution; restant toujours entendu que cette résolution n'amènera aucune ingérence dans les arrangements dans la péninsule do Malacca et dans les autres parties de l'Empire britannique pour la préparation et la distribution de l'opium. Ces arrangements sont clairement des questions d'ordre intérieur et non pas de commerce international."
We have, &c. (For the British Delegation of the International Opium Conference),
W. S. MEYER.
[2340 p-2]
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