Enclosure in Mr. Grant Watson's despatch No.306 of September 20th
1927.
27
COPY.
HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S ELBASSY,
LISBON.
November 26th, 1926.
Your Excellency:
By a memorandum dated September 14th last the
Portuguese Government enquired on what terms His Majesty's
Government would be disposed to negotiate a new convention
for the supply of Indian opium to Macao similar to the
convention of June 14th 1913, which terminated on February
4th 1923. Further, the Government of the Republic put for-
ward a proposal to fix the quantity of opium to be furnished
to Macai by British India in the same proportion as that
adopted for the French and Dutch colonies in the Far East.
Under the instructions of His Majesty's Principal
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, I have the honour
to inform Your Excellency that careful consideration has
been given to the Portuguese Government's proposal, but
that the general policy which has recently been adopted by
the Government of India would make its acceptance impossible.
Sir Austen Chamberlain directs me to explain that it is the
definite policy of that Government to extinguish the export
of Indian opium to the Far East completely within ten years,
by progressive annual reductions of ten per cent of the
present total; and to distribute, pending final extinction,
the reduced annual totals of exports to the eight countries
to which export is at present allowed under direct sale
agreements, namely, Malaya, Hongkong, Ceylon, the State of
North Borneo, Sarawak, Siam, Indo-China and the Netherlands
East Indies.
I avail myself etc., etc.,
His Excellency:
(Signed) LANCELOT
CARNEST
Dr. A.M. de Bettencourt Rodrigues,