[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[83627]
No. 1.
205
[December 17.]
SECTION 1.
I
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey. (Received December 17.)
(No. 381.) Sir,
Peking, November 13, 1914. WITH reference to your despatch No. 263 of the 24th September last, I have the honour to enclose copy of my instructions to His Majesty's consul-general at Shanghai conveying a warning to the British importers of opium that, on the closing of the three provinces of Kiangsu, Kiangsi, and Kuangtung to Indian opium and the discontinuance of the licences in the international settlement at Shanghai, the remaining stocks will be strictly detained in bond until the owners have made arrangements, to be approved by the authorities, for the removal of such stocks altogether from Chinese territories.
The total stocks in hand on the 1st November were 8,705 chests, of which 2,275 have been already sold to Chinese dealers, leaving a net amount of 6,430 chests still unsold. The removals from hond during the months of September and October were 384 and 475, representing sales during these two months of 250 and 350 chests respectively. The practice at Shanghai since the formation of the opium combine has been to sell for cash only, whether for retention in boud or for immediate delivery; and at Hong Kong short credits of ten days or a fortnight have been allowed for similar sales. It does not appear likely, therefore, that the anticipated difficulties referred to in the second paragraph of the Viceroy's telegram of the 19th August will arise in the case of stocks sold to Chinese dealers.
Reference to my
As stated in the Foreign Office despatch of the 14th July to the India Office, the three provinces of Kiangsu, Kiangai, and Kuangtung, together with the international settlement and the French concession at Shanghai, now constitute the only legitimate outlets for the stocks. The closing of the province of Kiangsu, however, necessarily involves the prohibition of the entry of Indian opium into the international settlement or the French concession, both of which form an integral part of the province, and the Shanghai opium licences should cease automatically on the closing of the province. Article 3 of the Opium Agreement of 1911 deals with the prohibition of Indian opium in any province which has effectively suppressed the cultivation and import of native opium. The same article proceeds: "the closing of the ports of Canton and Shanghai to the import of Indian opium shall not take effect except as the final step on the part of the Chinese Government for the completion of the above measure.' despatches Nos. 138 and 179 of 1911, in which I reported the negotiations leading up to the conclusion of the 1911 Opium Agreement, will show that this did not mean that these two ports could be kept open after the provinces in which they are situated should have been closed. It meant that being large distributing centres they could not be closed as long as the provinces which they supplied were kept open. In the case of Shanghai, these were the Yang-tsze provinces, except Southern Kiangsi supplied from Hong Kong through Kuangtung, and in the case of Canton, the West River districts. The effect, therefore, of the closing of Kiangsu and Kuangtung will be to place an embargo on the local sales of Indian opium at Canton and Shanghai, and will include the closure of all opium shops now licensed in the international settlement and the French concession at the latter place. In the event, however, of the province of Kiangsi not qualifying for prohibition under article 3 of the 1911 agreement, removals from bond at Shanghai or Canton of Indian opium destined for Kiangsi could still be effected. The traffic in Indian opium, so far as this province concerned, is conducted in clandestine channels at present. Should Kiangsi still remain open to the entry of Indian opium after Kiangsu had been closed, the result would in all probability be the establishment of a centre for opium smuggling into the Yang-tsze provinces at the port of Kiukiang. But, if no internal troubles intervene, there appears to be no reason why the effective suppression of the cultivation and import of native opium should meet with greater difficulty in Kiangsi than in Kiangsu or Kuangtung.
In the Viceroy's telegram of the 19th August reference was made to the closure of Fuhkien after inspection in the spring of this year, and it was stated that "obviously effective suppression must be interpreted as suppression calculated to endure--not
[2320 r-1]