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Orl
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[F 3266/17/10]
No. 1.
[December 18.]
SECTION 1.
Sir,
India Office to Foreign Office.-(Received December 18.)
India Office, December 17, 1920. WITH reference to the correspondence ending with your communication dated the 25th June, 1920, on the subject of the cultivation of poppy on the Burma frontier, I am directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council to forward, for the information of Earl Curzon of Kedleston, a copy of the despatch from the Govern- ment of India, dated the 4th November, 1920, with enclosures.
E. J. TURNER.
I am, &c.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
|
Sir,
Government of India to Mr. Montagu.
Simla, November 4, 1920. WE have the honour to invite a reference to paragraph 7 of your despatch dated the 11th September, 1919, on the subject of the alleged smuggling of opium from Burma into Yunnan, and the cultivation of the poppy on the Burma-Yunnan frontier, and to forward a copy of a letter from the Government of Burma, together with its enclosures, stating the measures which they propose to adopt with a view to the prevention of the smuggling of opium into China, and the gradual reduction of the cultivation of the poppy in the frontier tracts bordering on Yunnan.
2. We entirely concur in the recommendations of the Government of Burma, and have approved the measures which they propose to adopt in the matter.
We have, &c.
Sir,
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
C. C. MONRO. G. R. LOWNDES.
G. S. BARNES.
W. H. VINCENT. W. M. HAILEY.
Government of Burma to Government of India.
Maymyo, September 15, 1920. WITH reference to the correspondence ending with Mr. Nixon's letter, dated the 26th June, 1920, concerning the cultivation of poppy in the Shan States and the smuggling of opium into China, I am now to submit, for the approval of the Government of India, the Lieutenant-Governor's considered proposals for dealing with these complex and difficult questions, and am also to enclose, for the Govern ment of India's perusal, a letter from the Secretary to the Financial Commissioner, Burma, dated the 12th August, 1920, together with its various annexures.
2. The Government of India will doubtless appreciate that the formulation of On the one hand, the a definite policy has not been altogether an easy matter. general interests of humanity and civilisation, quite apart from definite treaty obligations, would seem to indicate that a policy of total suppression was the only possible course, while on the other hand there is the hard fact that Government's control over these frontier tracts is in some cases very shadowy, in others incomplete, and, in the case of all, action involves interference with liberties which these It is therefore clear that one uniform line untutored tribes are likely to resent.
of action would be inappropriate, and that repressive measures must in the main depend on political considerations and on the degree of administrative control actually exercised.
3. After careful consideration and full consultation with experienced local
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