4.
reduce the number of opium shops and divans by as many as eight per annum, but I find no proof of this clause having been acted on.
10. With regard to the regulation and restriction of opium smoking in Macao not very much has been done. The preamble of Ordinance No. 21 of the 23rd February, 1910, quoted above, says: "It being also necessary in conformity with their official instructions to adopt certain measures to restrict the use of opium," &c., and this is followed by twenty-six articles, of which I may call attention to the following:-
Article 6, § 1. The number of balls of opium boiled annually for consumption in Macao and its dependencies shall be fixed by the Government, and no more than the number allowed shall be permitted to be boiled.
Article 7, § I. The number of opium shops and opium divans shall be fixed by the Government.
§3. The sale of prepared opium is forbidden to women and persons under 16 years under heavy penalties.
Article 19. Smoking in private houses shall only be permitted to persons who have obtained a licence from the Government and paid an annual fee of 1 dollar.
§ 1. These licences shall only be granted during the first year of the opium farmer's contract. No new licences shall be granted during the second and subsequent years of the contract, but the existing licences may be renewed.
§ 2. Such licences must not be given to women or children.
As already stated, the number of balls to be boiled for local consumption was bxed by the Government at 500 chests, or 20,000 balls, for the first year of the present contract, 450 chests, or 18,000 balls, for the second, and 405 chests, or 16,200 balls for the third year, which commences on the 1st August next.
I cannot hear of anyone who has taken out a smoking licence, neither can I hear of anyone having been prosecuted for smoking without such a licence, so, unless my information is incorrect, this rule has always been a dead letter.
11. I cannot hear of any steps having been taken to cure opium smokers in Macao of their habit.
12. The main sources of income of the Macao Government are the Fantan and Lottery monopolies, which now bring in 1,000,000 dollars a-year between them. I have not heard of any new source of revenue mooted, and it would almost seem as if the authorities did not anticipate being deprived of the opium revenue for some time to come. I may mention, however, that the recent increase in the revenue from the gambling monopolies would more than compensate for the loss of the opium farmer's annual payment.
13. As regards the Government's attitude towards the opium question, I believe that the present authorities are quite sincere in their desire honourably to carry out their treaty obligations, and that they have no wish to encourage opium smuggling on the part of the farmer or any one else; but there is so little business of any kind in Macão, that the authorities are most anxious to foster the trade in boiled opium to Mexico.
Above all, the Government is badly in need of funds; consequently, if it is true that they look forward to letting out the opium farm a year hence at a very large increase on the present figure, it is hardly likely that they will introduce or accept any very drastic repressive measures, which would be sure to reduce the profits and therefore lower the rental value of the opium monopoly.
Three years ago, when the United States of America closed their doors to the importation of prepared opium, the then opium farmer was unable to keep up his payments, which at that time amounted to 334,000 dollars per annum, and was obliged to throw up his contract. The preparation of opium for local consumption had then to be carried on by the Macao Government, and they are no doubt auxious to avoid taking any steps that might lead to a repetition of that experience.
When the question of importing uncertificated opium came up last year the Macao authorities, of their own accord, decided to keep this commodity under Government control, and passed special regulations which I considered were as restrictive as we could reasonably expect. If these regulations have not worked satisfactorily in practice, the fault does not lie with the rules or with the authorities that made them, and their failure must, in my opinion, be attributed to the remissness or connivance of ill-paid underlings.
I have, &c.
SMOLLETT CAMPBELL.
411 Go!
Coreign
Date.
1912
24 Oct
41
HONG KONG
EASTERN
337376
153
37
REST
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