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110. To sum up, the Shanghai Commission directed itself mainly to the subject of the opium traffic in the Far East, and was primarily concerned with rendering assistance to the opium suppression movement which the Chinese Government had lately initiated. The present convention goes far beyond this. It has dealt with morphine, cocaine, &c., as well as with opium; and in prescribing measures for confining the use of the two first-mentioned drugs, and the others referred to in chapter III, to legitimate medical purposes, for placing the production and distribution of raw opium under rigid control, and for restricting, with a view to eventual extinction, the trade in in prepared opium, it has, for the first time, laid down as a principle of international morality that the various countries concerned cannot stand alone in these measures. It is not sufficient for a particular State to take adequate mesures for the protection of its own subjects; it is also essential that it should assist the efforts of other countries by preventing undesirable importation of drugs into their borders.
111. In order to give adequate effect to this principle, practical unanimity in regard to the measures possible and desirable was of course essential; and accordingly less stringent measures than had at one time seemed possible in the matter of morphine, cocaine, &c., were reluctantly agreed to rather than run the risk of losing this portion of the convention altogether.
112. The acceptance of restrictive measures in regard to morphine and cocaine stands to the credit of the British Government, which had already made the first important advance in regard to international co-opera ion in the matter of opium by the Anglo- Chinese agreements under which the exportation of opium from India to China will cease, having in the meantime undergone progressive diminution, by the year 1917, or at a previous date, if the Chinese Government similarly accelerate the disappearance of local production. This earnest of good-will, involving great pecuniary sacrifices on the part of the Indian Empire, materially helped us in urging on the conference the general principles which inspired the convention, since it showed the disinterested sincerity by which His Majesty's Government were actuated. As matters now stand, even if the difficulties to which we shall presently allude should impair or delay the full fruition of the labours of the conference, the fact will remain that it has marked an important step in international ethics, and has brought the matters which have been under discussion to such a position that international public opinion must eventually bring about, in one shape or another, the full results ainied at.
No Power which has participated in the conference, for example, can hereafter maintain that its obligations cease with adequate protection of its own subjects from noxious drugs; it is also pledged to help its neighbours as far as may be practicable
towards the same end.
113. The difficulties we have just referred to arise of course from the fact, already touched upon, that the number of Powers represented at the conference, being limited to twelve, they are not alone competent to carry out the full extent of international co-operation which the convention enjoins; and that it would be unreasonable to expect the participating Powers to sacrifice their own trade interests for the sake of international morality when there are many outside Powers on which no such obligation would rest, and which might merely profit by the altruism of the nations represented at the conference.
It is difficulties of this sort that have required the special and original character of the "effectuating" clauses in chapter VI of the convention, and dictated the provision that, after the signing of the convention, the first step should not be ratification by the signatory Powers, but an invitation addressed to the thirty-four Powers of Europe and America not represented at the conference, to sign the convention also and thus put themselves on the same footing as the original participating Powers. In the event of some of these outside Powers not having signed by the 31st December, 1912, it will be necessary, as the convention provides, to summon a fresh conference of the signatory Powers to consider how far the stipulations of the convention can nevertheless be ratified.
114. Then, again, there might be difficulties of a somewhat similar sort in regard to the carrying out of laws or their administrative equivalents to be enacted by the several Powers, since it would not be fair to expect one Power to embark on drastic measures which might be to the benefit of other Powers not prepared to go so far. Here, again, as provided by article 24, an additional conference may be necessary to deal with difficulties thus arising, or in respect of delays in ratifications which cannot be otherwise solved.
115. There is thus the possibility of considerable delay in carrying out the provisions of the convention. Nevertheless, we can claim that the conference has done
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the best it could in the circumstances in which it was assembled; that it has provided machinery for shortening delays and difficulties; and that, as already stated, it has, at any rate, materially paved the way for a full and satisfactory co-operation of the chief countries of the world in grappling with the evils of opium, morphine, cocaine, and the other drugs mentioned in the convention. Nor, again, is there anything to prevent individual Powers which may be willing to carry out the full stipulations of the convention for even to go further), without waiting for the co-operation of others, from taking sucli action.
116. We desire to state in conclusion that we are much indebted to the Honourable Ronald Lindsay, first secretary of His Majesty's Legation at The Hague, who acted as secretary to our delegation, for the industry and ability with which he assisted us in our labours. Mr. Lindsay's great proficiency in French inade his services specially valuable.
117. Finally, we wish to express the obligation under which we, as well as the delegates of the other conference Powers, lie to the Netherlands Government for their courtesy, hospitality, and cordial assistance in our labours. The conference was specially indebted, for most valuable advice in regard to various important matters, to M. Asser, and to its honorary president, his Excellency M. de Marees van Swinderen.
April 10, 1912.
We have, &c.
Appendix I.
CECIL CLEMENTI SMITH. W. S. MEYER.
W. G. MAX MÜLLER. WILLIAM JOB COLLINS.
Paper* by Sir William Meyer on the Control over the Production, Sale, and Possession of Raw Opium in India, outside Burmah.
IN connection with the resolution under discussion, I should like to put before the conference a brief exposition of the situation in regard to raw opium in British India and its dependent native States, which will show how fully the Indian Government already accept and act upon the principle that there should be effective national laws and regulations to control the production and distribution of this class of opium, and the extent to which they are now rendering their system still more stringent. Speaking as I am on the subject of raw opium which, as our Programme-Committee has defined it, includes opium which has been subjected to such simple processes as are necessary to obtain a desired standard of consistence for packing, transport, and export, I shall confine my present remarks to India proper, where eating the drug in this form is the habitual method of consumption, and where the use of prepared opium for smoking, which will come before us later ou, is on a relatively trifling scale, and pass over Burmah, where the use of smoking preparations is the predominant form of consumption.
Now, the reasons which render it impossible in India to confine the use of opium to medicinal purposes are admirably stated in the following extracts from a despatch recently addressed by the Government of India to the Home Government :—
"The prohibition of opium-eating in India we regard as impossible, and any attempt at it as fraught with the most serious consequences to the people and the Gove wait! We take our stand unhesitatingly on the conclusions of the Royal Commission (fr India) which reported in 1895, viz.: that the opium habit as a vice scarcely exists in India; that opium is extensively used for non-medical and quasi-medical purposes, in some cases with benefit, and for the most part without injurious consequences; that the non-medical uses are so interwoven with the medical uses; that it would not be practicable to draw a distinction between them in the distribution and sale of the drug : and that it is not necessary that the growth of the poppy and the manufacture and sale of opium in British India should be prohibited except for medical purposes.
Whatever
This paper was originally put before the conference as a sperch, at the third session, with reference to the resolution which formed the basis of article 1 of the convention.