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other crops adapted to the nature of the soil, and not to waste their labour in planting this deadly drug,
Offenders will, on detection, be punished according to law and without the slightest mercy, while any official neglecting his duties in regard to the suppression of opium will likewise be punished as provided by law in accordance with the degree of his negligence. Our aim, in short, is to eradicate thoroughly this deeply rooted vice, and to multiply the means of livelihood of the people, that they may truly enjoy the blessings of a republic.
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Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
Memorandum communicated to Wai-chiao Pu.
THE attention of His Majesty's Minister has been drawn to the Presidential order of the 28th October, published in the "Official Gazette," on the subject of opium, and be has observed that this order deals with the necessity of prohibiting the production, the transport, and the smoking of native opium, a policy in which His Majesty's Government have repeatedly expressed their agreement.
As the Wai-chiao Pu is aware, His Majesty's Government have always held the view that the two questions of suppressing the cultivation of native opium and prohibiting the import of Indian opium are closely connected with each other, and that the steps taken for reducing the one should proceed simultaneously with those taken for diminishing the other. It was in this spirit that the opium agreement of May 1911 was concluded, and the provisions of this agreement were subsequently explained to the viceroys and governors of the provinces by a circular telegram from the Wai-wu Pu on the 15th June, 1911, and by an edict of the 25th July, 1911. Since the change of Government, however, it has become abundantly evident that many of the provincial authorities are ignorant of the proper interpretation of this agreement, with the result that misunderstandings frequently arise, and even serious infringements of treaty provisions are committed.
His Majesty's Minister would suggest that now that a Presidential order has been issued defining the policy of the Government in regard to native opium, the occasion is a good one for supplementing this by a similar definition of policy in regard to Indian opium. He therefore requests that with a view to avoiding a constant cause of friction, a Presidential order may be issued reaffirming the provisions of the opium agreement in the sense of the Wai-wu Pu's telegram of June 1911.
His Majesty's Minister also begs to be favoured with an early reply to this communication.
Peking, November 4, 1912.
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