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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government,
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[36398]
No. 1.
197
overnme
29999
[August 7,]
T-28 AUG 13
SECTION 1.
(No. 297.) Sir,
Mr. Alston to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received August 7.)
Peking, July 22, 1913. I HAVE the honour to forward herewith copy of correspondence with the Wai-chiao Pu on the subject of the cancellation of the Opium Agreement of 1911, and cessation of import, together with transport back to India of the opium stocks held at Shanghai.
In his despatch No. 204 of the 14th May, Sir John Jordan enclosed translation of the memorandum from the Wai-chiao Pu, summarised in his telegram No. 113, in which a formal request was made that His Majesty's Government should consent to the revision of the Opium Agreement of 1911, and he stated at the same time that it was very necessary to take into consideration the difficulty presented by the question of the stocks when dealing with the request for revision.
In my despatch No. 264 of the 30th June I enclosed copy of correspondence with the Wai-chiao Pu, relative to their proposal that the stocks of Indian opium lying at Shanghai should be conveyed to the Far Eastern dependencies of Great Britain and other countries, or to India, for disposal. In their present memorandum the Wai-chiao Pu have again made no reference to the difficulty presented by the question of the stocks, and have proceeded to a request for the cancellation of the agreement of 1911.
In his despatch No. 204 of the 14th May, Sir John Jordan gave the monthly average of opium clearances as about 1,400 for the period January to April, 1913, and in his despatch No. 233 of the 5th June he anticipated that future clearances would be adversely affected by the heavy advances of their low-priced bargains made by Chinese dealers in anticipation of an arrangement under the Malwa Combine coming into operation. The customs returns give 1,137 and 1,157 as the clearances for May and June respectively, so that the stocks in hand on the 30th June were approximately 20,356, exclusive of 2,760 at Bombay, making a total of about 23,116 chests still for disposal.
I have, &c.
BEILBY ALSTON.
Jame
(Translation.)
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Wai-chiao Pu to Mr. Alston.
Peking, July 14, 1913. THE Wai-chiao Pu had the honour on the 17th May to receive a memorandum from His Majesty's Minister with reference to the entire revision of the Opium Agreement of 1911, in accordance with article 9 thereof, to the effect that he had communicated (the proposal of the Chinese Government) to His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for his decision.
The Ministry has been anxiously awaiting the reply of His Majesty's Secretary of State which has been so long delayed. Public opinion throughout the provinces of China has of late unanimously supported the policy of cancelling the agreement and stopping the import of opium, and the various organs of administration and popular associations have repeatedly written and telegraphed to the Wai-chiao Pu asking it to bring the matter up for discussion with His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires in the hope that a speedy decision may be reached.
The Wai-chiao Pu have the honour to observe that this policy has the sympathy of a majority of the people of Great Britain, who have spoken of giving China complete liberty to suppress opium, from which it trusts that the cancellation of the agreement and the stoppage of opium import will soon be brought about. The Wai-chiao Pu
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