697
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :--
PEPEC.O.882/11
hududlí
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
J
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9. So far, however, from the situation adumbrated in this Protocol having been realized, the situation in regard to the smuggling of opium in the Far East has materially deteriorated. At the present time there are no signs that the situation is likely to improve. Consequently, the prospects of the undertaking in the First Conference Protocol coming into effective operation have receded indefinitely.
10. The amount of opium smuggled into the British Dependencies in the Far East has greatly increased in spite of greatly increased efforts on the part of the preventive staff to combat it, and has seriously embarrassed the Governments of those territories. His Majesty's Government in Great Britain also understand, from information received from the Government of India, that there is a considerable amount of Chinese opium smuggled into Burma.
11. In Malaya the Governments have been faced by an increase in the con- sumption of Government-prepared opium, as a result of the general improvement of trade which has taken place in the past few years, which has naturally been attended by an increase in the purchasing power of the individual and also by a great increase in the numbers of Chinese attracted to the country. This increase in consumption has been the occasion of great concern to His Majesty's Government in Great Britain, who have given the most careful consideration to the problem. The measures arising out of the Agreement of 1925 are being steadily pursued, but His Majesty's Government have been forced to the conclusion that so long as the smuggling of such large quantities of illicit opium into the country continues no further measures beyond those already in hand can be devised which would be likely to lead to an effective diminution in consumption.
12. In Hong Kong the situation is even more serious. In October last the Governor reported that, in bis view, the situation could only again be brought under control by a radical modification of the policy, hitherto followed in the Colony, of selling Government opium at a very high price (as a deterrent to purchasers) and strictly enforcing the laws prohibiting the possession of any but Government opium The Colony is inundated with smuggled opium which can be bought at a fraction of the price of Government opium, and wholesale prosecutions and convictions have failed to stem the tide. The gaols of the Colony are crowded to overflowing, the native police and preventive staff are open to the most serious temptations, and the good government of the Colony is seriously endangered by the flagrant breaches of the anti-opium laws.
13. In the view of the Governor, the only effective method of regaining control of the situation was by drastically reducing the price of Government opium with a view to driving the smugglers off the market. To this end, as an experiment, new brands of Government opium were placed on sale at much reduced prices. These were designed to compete with those of definite brands of smuggled opium after making due allowance for the risks attendant on the possession of illicit opium. The immediate effect of this measure was that the sales of Government opium increased from 500 to 2,000 taels a day. These figures afford some indication of the extent to which the use of cheap illicit opium had become prevalent.
14.
The stocks of opium held by the Government and the restricted supplies of Indian opium which the Government could expect to receive were, however, inade- quate to meet this increased demand, and the Governor applied to His Majesty's Government for permission to supplement his supplies by buying Persian opium in order that the experiment might have a fair trial. This request was most carefully considered by His Majesty's Government, who were deeply concerned at the embarrassments under which the Colonial Government were labouring. While, however, they were in entire sympathy with the desire of the Governor that as great a proportion as possible of the sales of opium should be under Government control (which is in strict accordance with the spirit of the Geneva Opium Agreement, 1925), and while they see no reason to doubt the view of the Governo that the increased sales of Government opium did not imply any increase in total consumption, His Majesty's Government did not feel that these considerations alone, unaccompanied by any certainty that the experiment would, in fact, lead to a reduction in the total amount of opium smoked in the Colony, were sufficient to justify their sanctioning the importation of Persian opium for the purpose of continuing the experiment.
15. In the meantime the smuggling of immense quantities of illicit opium into the Colony continues to give grounds for the most serious concern. His Majesty's Government in Great Britain have accordingly thought it desirable that the difficulties which confront the Governments of the British Dependencies in the Far East in regard to the execution of their obligations under Chapter II of The Hague Convention, and
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for which they have not been able to find a solution, should be brought to the notice of the Council of the League of Nations.
16. In accordance with Article 12 of the Geneva Opium Agreement, 1925, a further conference of the Powers concerned is to take place not later than in 1929. Being, as indicated in this memorandum, acutely aware of the difficulties created by the continued, and indeed the increasing, prevalence of the smuggling of opium not only into their Dependencies, but also into the Far Eastern territories of other Powers, His Majesty's Government fear that the next Conference will he confronted by an exceedingly difficult, and in many respects invidious, task. They also have in mind the acute controversies and widespread misapprehensions which arose in connexion with the Conferences held in the winter of 1924-25.
17. His Majesty's Government feel that it would be of great assistance to the next Conference if its deliberations could be based on a comprehensive review of the facts of the situation in the Far East, prepared by a body of able and impartial persons. whose report would also be accepted as authoritative by the world at large. His Majesty's Government feel, moreover, that such an investigation would be most helpful to them in their endeavours to carry out their international obligations in the difficult circumstances described in this memorandum. They accordingly propose that the Council of the League of Nations should send a small commission, so constituted, to the Far East to study the problems on the spot.
O. 53018/A/28 [No. 33].
SIR,
No. 208.
FOREIGN OFFICE to THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.
(Copy received in Colonial Office, 20th August, 1928.)
Foreign Office, S.W.1, 17th August, 1928.
WITH reference to Foreign Office letter of 1st August,* I am directed by Lord Cushendun to transmit herewith, for communication to all Members of the Council, copies of a statistical appendix illustrating paragraph 10 of the memorandum respect- ing the control of opium smoking in the Far East, a copy of which was enclosed in that letter.
I am, &c.,
GEORGE MOUNSEY.
Appendix to Memorandum respecting the Control of Opium Smoking in the Far East. THE following tables give some indication of the extent of the illicit opium traffic in the British Territories in the Far East :-
I.-Seizures of Opium: Hong Kong.
(A.) Total Seizures.
}
(NOTE.-1 tael (or tahil)=14 ounces,)
Number.
Taels.
Number.
Taels.
1918.
352
72,000
1923
1,868
300,567
1919
387
49,967
1924
2,691
1920
62,163
547
132,258
1925
2,880
62,982
1921
1,865
167,536
1926
2,331
60,208
1922
1,386
75,503
1927
2,261
48,921
* No. 207.
}
Year.
Raw Opium. Chinese.
66
Other.
1918
40,277
1919
2
1,558 61 19,178
1920
232
(B.) Details of Seizures.
Prepared Opium.
Chinese.
Other.
286 31,723
Chinese.
44 6,088 280 23,143 46 7,646
Totals.
Other.
Taels,
352 72,000 341 42,321
TRARAL
31 8,828 38 13,441 247 100,911 231 9,078 278 109,739 269 22,519 1921 272 102,960
16 31,404 365 22,537 1,212 10,635 637 125,497 1,228 42,039
145 15,347 34 41,967 572 4,040 635 14,149 717 19,387
1922
1923
240 38,146 28 246,067 962
1924 232 19,018 8 10,013 1,623
1925
1926
1927.. 174
20,745
8,362 638 7,992 1,202 46,508
21,406 828 11,728 1,855
189 15,548 18 1,023 1,888 35,679 785 10,732 2,077
669 56,116
666 254,059
40,424 836 21,739
51,227 803 11,755
.. 177 15,086 10 5,526 1,680 28,302 464 11,294 1,857 43,388 474 16,820
5 3,718 1,989 20,307 93 4,151 2,163
II. Consumption of Opium: Hong Kong.
41,052 98 7,869
opium sold. Perhead.