189
2
impossible, to dispose of the Indian drug therein. The amount in godowns at Shanghai is excessive, and it is feared that unless measures are taken at the earliest possible date to remove it, the opium merchants will suffer financial loss.
The amount of opium annually sold in the Far Eastern dependencies of Great Britain and of other countries is considerable. If the opium merchants will send to these other countries, or will convey back to India for disposal there, the opium now lying in Shanghai godowns, the Chinese Government is willing to undertake to repay the necessary freight in order to make up the amount which the merchants will have to spend. This action will not only cause no injury to the merchants, but will be of assistance in the prohibition of opium in China. If His Majesty's Minister will be so good as to assist in this arrangement the Ministry would request him to order the opium merchants to act in accordance therewith. The Wai-chiao Pu will be glad to receive Sir J. Jordan's reply.
(Seal of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.)
Peking, June 4, 1913.
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
Memorandum communicated to Wai-chiao Pu by Mr. Alston.
MR. ALSTON has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the Wai-chiao Pu's memorandum of the 4th instant conveying the offer that, if the opium merchants will send the stocks of Indian opium now lying in the godowns at Shanghai to the Far Eastern dependencies of Great Britain and other countries or to India for disposal the Chinese Government would be willing to repay the necessary freight.
At an interview with Sir John Jordan on the 30th January last the Foreign Minister requested that proposals on the following lines might be laid before His Majesty's Foreign Office, viz., that the British Government on its part should undertake to export no more opium to China, while the Chinese Government on its part would take over the existing stocks and establish an opium monopoly on the basis of the Japanese system in Formosa, which aims at gradual suppression under Government control.
At the same time, the Foreign Minister stated that, if the British Government acquiesced in these proposals, he would endeavour to procure their acceptance by the National Council, and proceed to arrange a detailed scheme. At an interview on the 5th February the matter was further discussed.
On the 21st February Sir John Jordan orally conveyed the agreement of His Majesty's Government to the principle of the proposals, strictly on the condition that the stocks of the opium merchants should be acquired under fair and reasonable arrangements. Mr. Lu expressed his satisfaction to Sir John Jordan on that occasion, and promised to lay the facts before the President and acquaint Sir John Jordan with the result of the representations. At a subsequent interview on the 28th of that month his Excellency informed Sir John Jordan that he had discussed the matter with the President, who had issued instructions to the Ministry of the Interior to lose no time in submitting a scheme for the working of the monopoly, and had also suggested that the Chinese officers dealing with the scheme should consult with Mr. Wilton, the special opium commissioner. The proposal also formed the subject of conversation at Sir John Jordan's interview with the Foreign Minister on the 26th March.
His Majesty's Legation have been awaiting further developments of the proposals emanating from the Foreign Minister, and at no time has any intimation been received that there was no intention of proceeding in the matter.
Mr. Alston would observe, therefore, that the present attitude assumed by the Wai-chiao Pu in their memorandum is inconsistent with the proposals put forward by the Foreign Minister and accepted by His Majesty's Government, which formed the subject of discussion on several occasions and have not been withdrawn.
Peking, June 25, 1913.
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[32271]
[July 14.]
SECTION 4:
$9999
No. 1.
RECO Rea£ 28 AUG 13
Mr. Alston to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received July 14.)
(No. 260.) Sir,
Peking, June 27, 1913. REFERRING to my despatch No. 231 of the 4th instant, I have the honour to enclose copies of further correspondence with the Wai-chiao Pu relative to the prohibition of the import of Indian opium into the province of Chekiang under article 3 of the Opium Agreement of 1911.
In their memorandum of the 7th June the Wai-chiao Pu stated that, according to the telegram from the Tutu of Chekiang, the time for an inspection of poppy cultivation had not yet passed by, and that delegates could even then be sent into the province.
In reply to my telegram, His Majesty's consul-general at Shanghai telegraphed on the 12th June that the poppy began to bloom in Chekiang on the 8th March and must all have been gathered between the 15th May and the 31st May, and that, according to the statement of Chinese dealers in Shanghai, the poppy fields were bare at the end of May. The consul-general added that the new season of Chekiang opium was at the moment on market at Shanghai.
On the 17th June, I replied to the Wai-chiao Pu, repeating Sir John Jordan's statement made in his memorandum of the 29th May, to the effect that the poppy season was over, and that it was now too late to attempt any inspection of the province this year.
(Translation.)
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
I have, &c.
B. ALSTON.
Memorandum communicated to Mr. Alston by Wai-chiao Pu.
THE Wai-chiao Pu have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Sir J. Jordan's memorandum of the 29th ultimo on the subject of prohibition of import of Indian opium into Chekiang. In this he states that the poppy season in Chekiang is now over, and that it is too late to attempt any investigations; also that His Majesty's consuls at Hangchow and Ningpo are being called upon to submit reports in this connection, and that on their receipt His Majesty's Legation would again communicate with the Wai-chiao Pu on the subject.
The Wai-chiao Pu on receipt of the above telegraphed to the Chekiang Tutu to enquire whether, as the province proposed that it should be examined (with a view to prohibition of the drug), the season in which this could be done was already over or not. The tutu's reply is to the effect that the opium plants have hitherto been sown in Chekiang province in the 9th or 10th moon; that the sap was collected in the 4th and 5th moons; and that as the climate in the Wenchow country was somewhat warmer than elsewhere in the province it was still possible to sow the poppy in the 1st and 2nd moons. Referring to his first telegram, that the province was completely cleared of opium, and to his later telegram asking that the British Minister be approached in order that he might send delegates to make investigations, these telegrams were sent off at the end of the spring or the beginning of summer, at a time when the poppy plant has always been under cultivation, and the flowers are in full bloom; at such a time it is easy to distinguish whether the poison is still on the flow, and in fact the time of cultivation had not passed by. The tutu requested the Wai-chiao Pu to address itself to His Majesty's Minister and again ask him immediately to appoint delegates to proceed to Chekiang and make a tour of investigation, and to enquire into the actual conditions of the work of opium suppression in Chekiang.
[1816 0-4]