7)
No.
2.
Sir,
235
British Consulate,
Portland, Oregon.
January 13th, 1922.
I have the honour to forward to Your Excellency herewith,
clipping from the "Morning Oregonian" of January the 12th last,
giving an account of a Narcotics Conference that was held in
this city, on the 11th instant, during which certain charges
were made by the Mayor of this city and others, implicating
Great Britain officially in this pernicious traffic. I also forward clipping from the "Oregonian" of this date, containing
refutation of these charges emanating from this office, and
published in the form of a letter addressed to the Editor of
the newspaper.
The narcotic drug traffic has unquestionably become in the
past year or so, a very serious menace on this Ccast, and the
number of drug users including even young children, ha s
increased in alarming proportion. It is difficult to ascribe
the reasons underlying the growth of this drug habit. Most
people are disposed to put it down to prohibition.
My own
opinion, however, is that while not directly attributable to
prohibition, it is largely the result of the example afforded
by the bootlegger who has been reaping exorbitant profits at a
minimum of effort. This in turn has produced the drug
peddler who saw an equal opportunity of reaping enormous wealth
at a fraction of cost. The proof of this lies in the energet -
ic way in which drug addiction is being urged in the underworld,
wherein...
Sir Auckland C. Geddes, K.C.B.,
etc.,
etc.,
etc.,
H.M. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary,
British Embassy,
Washington, D.C.