695
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O.882/11
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
میم
226
5. The Government shall arrange for the testing of any consignment within fourteen days of such consignment being delivered to the Government at the ship's side and shall on the day of giving notice of acceptance of any consignment instruct the Crown Agents for the Colonies by telegraph to pay forthwith for all opium accepted. Payment shall be made by the Crown Agents for the Colonies in sterling to the Bankers of the Contractor in London immediately on receipt of telegraphic instructions from the Government. The Contractor shall give notice in writing to the Crown Agents for the Colonies of the Bank to which payment is to be made and the receipt of such Bank shall be a good discharge to the Crown Agents for the Colonies for any payment or payments made to that Bank.
6. Should the Contractor fail to deliver the opium at Singapore by the date specified in Clause 1 hereof or should any of the opium be rejected by the Government Analyst at Singapore the Government may give to the Contractor notice in writing of its intentions to purchase the corresponding quantity of opium elsewhere and there- upon this Contract shall immediately cease and determine in respect of the quantity of opium thus overdue for delivery or rejected.
7. Any notice to be given to the Contractor under this Contract if given in England may be handed or sent by post to the Contractor and if given in Singapore may be left at or sent by post to the office of a representative of the Contractor in Singapore to be nominated by the Contractor in writing for the purpose. Any notice to be given to the Government may be sent by post to or left at the office of the Colonial Secretary, Straits Settlements, Singapore, or of any officer nominated by him in writing for the purpose.
8. This Contract shall be interpreted and construed according to the laws of England and shall be given effect accordingly. Any dispute arising hereunder shall be decided by an action in the Supreme Court of Judicature in London.
9. The Crown Agents for the Colonies enter into this Contract for the
purpose of binding the Government but they shall not nor shall any member or officer of the Government be in any way personally liable for or in respect of any matter or thing hereby made obligatory on the Crown Agents for the Colonies or the Government.
10. No Member of the House of Commons shall be admitted to any share or part of this Contract or to any benefit to arise therefrom (see House of Commons (Dis- qualification) Acts, 1782 and 1801)
(V) PAPERS (1928-1929) RELATING TO THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS INQUIRY INTO THE CONTROL OF OPIUM SMOKING IN THE FAR EAST.
C. 53018/28 [No. 1].
Approved by all members.
(Confidential.)
No. 206.
INTERDEPARTMENTAL OPIUM COMMITTEE.
MINUTES OF THE FOURTH MEETING HELD AT THE HOME OFFICE ON 5TH JANUARY, 1928.
Present:
SIR MALCOLM DELEVINGNE (Home Office), Chairman,
SIR GILBERT GRINDLE
MR. J. J. PASKIN
MR. S. CAINE
Colonial Office.
MR. G. MOUNSEY, Foreign Office.
MR. M. D. PERRINS (Home Office), Secretary.
THE Committee met at the request of Sir G. Grindle to consider the steps to be taken to carry out the direction of the Cabinet that "the Colonial Office, in consulta- tion with the Foreign Office and the Home Office, should prepare a draft memorandum addressed to the League of Nations setting forth the difficulties experienced by the Government in controlling the traffic in opium resulting from the situation created by the recrudescence of opium growing in China and inviting the League to send a Commission to the East to examine the problem on the spot."
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The Committee presumed that, after approval by the Secretaries of State for the three Departments, and, if the Foreign Secretary should decide it to be necessary, by the Cabinet the memorandum would be explained to the Council of the League by the British Representative himself and not merely be forwarded to the League by the British Government and presented to the Council by a rapporteur.
The Committee considered that it was very desirable that the memorandum should be explained to the Council personally by the British Representative. It would be necessary, of course, that notice should be given and the memorandum sent to the Secretariat of the League before the meeting of the Council, in order that the subject should be included in the agenda and that" members might have the opportunity of considering the proposal, but it was suggested that as the proposal might be repre- sented as an attempt on the part of the British Government to evade its obligations, and in order to prevent opposition being stirred up in advance on this ground, was desirable that the time available for canvassing the proposal before it was explained to the Council by the British Representatives should be as short as possible.
MR. MOUNSEY promised that the point should be considered by the League of Nations section of the Foreign Office.
It was supposed that the Council would, following the normal course, ask for the observations of the Advisory Committee upon the memorandum. This being so the Committee felt that it was of importance that the memorandum should be presented to the March meeting of the Council in order that it might be discussed at the Annual Session of the Advisory Committee in April. In this event a decision could be taken by the Council at its Session in the summer.
It was agreed, after discussion, that international courtesy required, and it was very desirable on other grounds, that the Powers principally concerned should be informed confidentially in advance by the British Government of the proposal and that they should be asked whether they wished to be associated with the British request. The Powers in question are Siam, France in regard to Indo-China, Holland in regard to the Netherlands Indies, Japan in regard to Formosa and Kwantung, and Portugal in regard to Macao.
It was agreed, although to the regret of SIR GILBERT GRINDLE who would have been glad to have seen an impartial inquiry into the position in the Philippines, that the United States Government could not be approached in the matter.
Whilst it was impossible to predict the replies of the different Governments the Committee felt that it was possible that some would refuse to be parties to the proposal. The suggested inquiry, it was thought, would not be welcomed by the French or the Japanese Governments. SIR G. GRINDLE very much hoped that the Dutch Government would agree.
The Committee considered the position which might arise if any or all of the foreign Governments concerned were to refuse to be associated with the proposal. The Committee thought that once the matter had been raised, His Majesty's Govern- ment (even if the other countries interested in the Far Eastern question held aloof) must proceed with the proposal so far as the British Far Eastern territories were concerned; and that the foreign Governments might be less apprehensive if the proposal were put to them in the definite form of a (draft) memorandum to be presented to the League.
MR. PASKIN reminded the Committee that China would no doubt adopt the attitude she has consistently maintained and refuse to permit any inquiry within her borders. The Commission would therefore not be able to obtain any first-hand evidence of the production of opium in China or the organized export of the drug. The Committee thought that a considerable amount of evidence on these points might be obtained by the Commission in the foreign Settlements, at any rate in the International Settlement at Shanghai and the British Settlements, to which it would presumably have free access, but realized that even in the Settlements, the people best informed as to the situation were the officers of the Chinese Maritime, who, as MR. MOUNSEY pointed out, should not, for political reasons, be brought into the inquiry.
SIR M. DELEVINGNE thought, and the Committee agreed, that it was really immaterial whether the Commission could make its inquiries in China or not. What was in point was not so much the extent of opium production in China but the quantities that were being smuggled into the Far Eastern territories. Evidence on this could be obtained in those territories.
The Committee next considered the question of the expense of the Commission Sir M. DelevinGNE thought that the League would demur to paying for a Commission which was for the benefit of but a few of its members. This being so, the Governments concerned, and. if the inquiry were to be limited to British territories, the British