[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
C.0.
12296
Reco [REGS 12 APR 13
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[13281)
No. 1.
[March 251
SECTION 1.
Sir,
Sir Edward Grey to Mr. Taylor, M.P.
Foreign Office, March 25, 1913. I HAVE read with much interest your letter of the 4th instant, and need scarcely tell you that I fully appreciate the views which you hold in regard to the latest proposals put forward by the Chinese Government for solving the opium question.
My own view on the subject is that if the Chinese Government make a definite proposal to purchase from the merchants their stocks, His Majesty's Government would not be justified in standing in the way and thus occasioning loss to British subjects who bought the opium on the strength of treaty engagements entered into by China and not adhered to.
The matter is, however, still under consideration.
[2850 bb-1]
I am, &c.
E. GREY
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