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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.J
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ARTICLE 4.
The farmers of Macao and Hong Kong will be permitted to import, per annum, respectively, 240 and 120 chests of raw opium exclusively destined for exportation to countries which have not prohibited at present or which shall not prohibit hereafter auch imports of opium.
ARTICLE 5.
The limit fixed in the preceding article for Hong Kong must be considered a definite one and not subject to alteration; however, it is understood that in Macao will be retained to increase the number of chests of raw opium imported each power year and destined for exportation, provided that proof is given that the said imports are destined to meet the requirements of lawful trade. For this purpose the farmer shall produce to the Governor of Macao customs certificates passed by the authorities of countries importing the opium showing that the quantities authorised are required for legitimate purposes, over and above the 240 chests referred to in article 4.
ARTICLE 6.
The Governor of Macao will have power to grant licences under the preceding article for the importation of the quantities of raw opium exceeding the limit fixed in article 4.
ARTICLE 7.
Whereas the limit of chests of raw opium that can be imported annually into Macao has been fixed in articles 2, 4, and 5 of this agreement, the Government of India will permit the purchase of opium in open market at the sales at Calcutta or Bombay or any places in India, for export to Macao, up to and not exceeding the limits and conditions so fixed, so long as the opium farmer at Hong Kong is permitted to obtain his supplies from this source.
ARTICLE 8.
Raw opium coming from India, consigned to the farmer of Macao, within the limits and conditions above indicated, will be allowed transhipment at Hong Kong free of duty or taxation.
ARTICLE 9.
It is understood that if after periods of five years (the duration of the contracts of the farmer) the numbers of cheste agreed upon for local consumption at or export from Macao should respectively prove to be excessive, the Portuguese Government will consider the desirability of revising the amount in question.
The present Agreement shall remain in force for a period of ten years, but may be terminated by either Government at any time on giving to the other twelve months' notice of its intention to do so. On the expiration of the said period of ten years shall continue in force, unless and until a similar notice of termination is given by either Government,
Done in duplicate at London, the
June, 1913.
it
[August 1.]
SECTION 1.
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
>
[35563]
No. 1.
India Office to Foreign Office.~(Received August 1.)
India Office, July 31, 1913.
Sir,
I AM directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council, in reply to your letter of the 17th June, 1913, to forward for Sir Edward Grey's information a copy of a telegram received from the Government of India on the 25th July, and to say that the Government of India have been instructed to repeat it to Peking.
I am to suggest that Sir John Jordan's observations should be invited on it.
(Telegraphic.) P. ÖPIUM.
Enclosure in No. 1.
I am, &c.
T. W. HOLDERNESS.
Government of India to the Marquess of Crewe.
Your telegram of the 30th ultimo. Revision of 1911 agreement.
July 25, 1913.
$
At the outset we would state that we are still prepared (as stated in my telegram of the 10th February, 1913), if China wishes at once to come to a comprehensive settlement of question, to agree to proposal advanced by China herself, and never yet formally withdrawn, to take over the entire opium stocks and establish a Government monopoly, assuming (as has been previously stated) that merchants' claims would be provided for in a reasonable and fair manner by the proposed arrangement. As an alternative we are prepared for revision of agreement along the lines suggested by the British Minister at Peking in his despatch of the 14th May last, provided that (a) there
contained in the agreement an unequivocal and prominent declaration, with adequate guarantees, that China accepts liability for the complete and early disposal of stocks. These stocks have accumulated during the currency of agreements which were highly favourable to, and were accepted by, her, and they are due to the restrictions which China, in violation of agreements, has imposed on lawful trade, and to these agreements being frequently defied by the provinces (see clear statement to this effect in Jordan's despatch of the 6th February last, paragraph 9); and (6) that both parties sincerely accept any new agreement that is now approved as representing the terms on which the Indo-Chinese opium traffic will until the end be governed.
The prominent suggestion that present stocks should be reshipped to India, or to non-China markets, freight charges only being paid by China, indicates, however, so complete a repudiation of obligations that grave doubts are entertained by us as to China's intentions. We would suggest, for the consideration of His Majesty's Government, that strong diplomatic representations are called for by this attitude, anl that representations should also be made regarding the revival of the cultivation of the poppy, as shown by general review of despatch dated the 26th May last, from His Majesty's Minister, Peking, especially in one or more provinces which, under article 3 of the 1911 agreement, have been closed to the Indian drug.
Our suggestions, as follows, as to revision refer to the present agreement, first to the preamble and articles 1, 4, and 9. We suggest the preamble should be redrafted on following lines:-
It having been determined by His Majesty's Government that the further export of British opium to China should be discontinued, provided that the policy of suppressing the cultivation of the poppy is effectively maintained by China, His Majesty's Government agrees that the 1911 agreement should be revised in order that
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