!
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[54968]
No. 1.
[December 31.1
SECTION 1.
Sir,
Foreign Office to India Office.
Foreign Office, December 31, 1912. I HAVE laid before Secretary Sir E. Grey your letter of the 23rd instant, stating that the Marquess of Crewe is of opinion that most strenuous efforts should be made to induce the Chinese Government to respect the terms of the opium agreement of 1911.
In reply, I am to state, for Lord Crewe's information, that, as the repeated representations made by Sir J. Jordan to the Chinese Government have been ineffectual, and the warning which he conveyed to them in regard to the non-recogni- tion on the part of His Majesty's Government of the republic has also heen of no effect, Sir E. Grey is unable to suggest any remedy for the present situation, in view of the fact that coercion is out of the question.
In regard to the last sentence of your letter, I am to state that the aspect of the effect on the credit of the European banks now engaged in rehabilitating the finances of China has not indeed been overlooked, but Sir E. Grey is of opinion that it is undesirable to confuse the issues of the separate negotiations on these two questions.
With reference to Sir E. Grey's telegram to Sir J. Jordan of the 18th December, enquiring whether the sale of native as well as of Indian opium was being effectively prohibited, Sir J. Jordan reported, in his telegram of the 20th December, copy of which was forwarded to you on the 20th instant, that drastic measures were being adopted everywhere, and that there was no evidence of discrimination in favour of the native drug.
I am,
&c.
W. LANGLEY.
[2736 kh-1]
116