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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[20633]
C.O
18638
[May 5.]
SECTION 1.
JUN
No.
H
i
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received May 5.)
(No. 163.) Sir,
Peking, April 21, 1913. REFERRING to my despatch No. 83 of the 20th February, I have the honour to enclose correspondence with the Wai-chian Pu relating to three outstanding cases of illegal seizure of Indian opium in the province of Kiangsi.
On the 27th February the acting consul at Kiukiang reported that, in regard to the former case, known as the Yueh Yü case, Messrs. D. Sassoon and Co., of Hong Kong, thought that, in the absence of any further communication, the opium must have been returned to the dealer concerned.
On the 28th March the Wai-chiao Pu replied to my memorandum of the 12th February, and upheld the action of the provincial officials concerned on the ground that the detention had occurred either on account of illicit selling contrary to regulation or of illegal carrying of arms.
On the 4th April I pointed out to the Wai-chiao Pu that in all three of the out- standing cases the opium concerned had been duly accompanied by customs transit certi- ficates, and that by treaty the owners thereof were at liberty to dispose of it at destination. Provincial regulations made and enforced contrary to the Opium Agreement of 1911 could not override the additional article to the Chefoo Convention, under which the opium was in transit. I repeated a demand for the instant return of the opium seized in the Sheng Sheng Ho and Kiukiang Station Li-kin Office cases, and the indemni- fication of the owners of the Malwa opium illegally seized by the district magistrate of Ch'ang-ning.
¡
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN.
Enclosure I in No. 1.
Memorandum communicated to Sir J. Jordan by Wai-chiao Pu.
(Translation.)
THE Wai-chiao Pu has the honour to acknowledge receipt on the 13th February of Sir John Jordan's memorandum regarding five cases of opium detention in Kiangai, in which he stated that he had received despatches from His Majesty's consul at Kiukiang dealing with the conditions of these cases, and again demanded the instant release of the twelve packages in the Sheng Sheng Ho case, and of the eight packages seized at the Kiukiang Station Li-kin Office, together with indemnification of the owners for the value of the sixty packages Malwa opium seized by the district magistrate of Chang- ning and reported to have been sold.
On receipt of this memorandum the Wai-chiao Pu communicated with the Kiangsi tutu, and asked him to enquire into the matter. His report, which has now been received, states as follows:-
The opium in the Sheng Sheng Ho case and the smuggled opium seized by the Kiukiang Station Li-kin Office have been confiscated. In the Chang-ning case the merchants had ventured to carry arias and ammunition, to the detriment of the public peace, and their smuggled opium has also been seized in accordance with the criminal code. Seizure of such fragmentary quantities of smuggled opium is essential to the prohibition of the drug, and is distinct from restrictions on the wholesale trade in Indian opium' prohibited by the agreement. In these five Kiangsi opium cases, not only have British merchants suffered no injury, but action was taken merely because those who suffered were offenders against the opium laws. I have the honour to report as above the result of my enquiries."
As it appears that the above cases of opium detention in Kiangsi occurred either on account of illicit selling contrary to regulation or of illegal carrying of
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