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(af opium or otherwise) that the omas is thrown on the
onus
Shipping Companies to provide a remedy or submit to
search by such organisations as Opium Suppression
Bureau and other similiarly constituted Chinese bodies.
In this connection it is pertinent to the issues involved to state that about June 1928 Kr.7.V.Maze,
then Commissioner of Customs at Shanghai, furnished
Opium Suppression Bureau parties with his official
card requesting that they be permitted to search ves- sels for opium and frankly stated that he was not pre - pared to risk the lives of Custom'a employees in this work as the Customs service was revenue and not pre-
ventative. Appeal to H. B. M. Consul General at
Shanghai brought forth the following from the Consulate
dated July 11th 1928 addressed to us:-
"I am directed by H.M.Consul General
to instruct Hasters of British vessels in China waters that only the Chinese Maritime Customs Authorities are per- mitted to beard British ships in search of opium and other contraband. I shall be glad if you will convey this reminder to masters concerned."
(agd.) K. Hilton,
Fice Consul.
We accordingly notified all our masters who
proceeded to act on the Consular instructions thus
given.
At Hankow, however, the British Consul General there declined to accept the ruling given by the Shanghai Consul General as he had already agreed to allow Anti-Opium officials to search British vessels.
Our Agents' letter to the Hankow Consul General giving all details of this was dated Hankow August 21st 1928 and a letter from us to your goodself on the same
subject/
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