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PECORD OFFICE
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The ascertainment of any reliable data under heads (b) to (g) would be dependent on the institution of special hospitals or wards in hospitals for observation and treat- ment of opium addicts, whose co-operation would be necessary, and it would also be necessary to secure the co-operation of and interchange of information with private medical practitioners.
3. Limitation and control of poppy cultivation by international action.-The Government agrees with the Commissioners as to the indispensability of control of cultivation.
The problem of combating opium smoking in Hong Kong is intimately bound up with the question of control of cultivation in China; and so long as unlimited supplies of opium are available through the failure of China effectively to control cultivation so long will this Colony be unable effectively to combat opium smoking.
4. Measures to combat the demand for opium for smoking purposes.-The popu lation of the Colony is in constant communication and personal contact with that of the neighbouring provinces of China in which the habit of opium smoking is rife and is not regarded with disapproval by the public. In these circumstances the organiza- tion of any genuine and stable public opinion hostile to the use of the drug presents great difficulty. The illiteracy of a considerable percentage of the population con- tributes to this.
It has for many years past been the policy of the Government to cause the use of opium to be denounced in the schools, and the Government would gladly support any well-conducted society interested in the anti-opium movement.
In recent years the Government has done much to encourage, by grants and other- wise, sports clubs and associations of that nature; and large areas have, at considerable expense, been provided for recreational purposes. By a continuance of the policy of providing recreational facilities and of the policy of making substantial annual grants to organizations engaged in special welfare work the Government hopes in some measure to reduce the demand for opium.
The continued development of the Colony and the erection in recent years of great numbers of houses of an improved type must necessarily result in considerable relief against over-crowding in the more congested parts of the Colony and the enjoyment by the inhabitants of more hygienic living conditions.
5. The measures suggested for the prevention of illicit traffic :—
(a) Organization on a common plan of the existing national preventive ser- vices. The preventive service of the Colony is highly organized and has done excellent work but the suppression of opium smuggling in Hong Kong with its land and river frontage to Kwangtung, its coast line of approxi- mately 190 miles, the close proximity of China, the large number of persons entering by land and sea and the apparently unlimited supplies of opium in China is considered to be well-nigh insuperable.
"The Government is prepared to consider the organization of its pre- ventive service on a common plan in consultation with other Governments concerned.
(b) Increase of personnel of the preventive service.-The number of European Revenue Officers is now 17, as compared with 9 in 1921, and the number of Chinese Revenue Officers is now 95, as compared with 74 in 1921.
The question of any further increase will depend upon the nature of such reorganization as may be proposed.
(c) Provision of additional equipment. An additional launch specially designed for opium patrol work was acquired in 1925 at a cost of approximately $62,000 and the preventive service has now two launches. One further launch is now in course of construction. It is not considered that there is a sufficiency of launches for patrol work. Two further #a-going launches and two further harbour launches, with the necessary additional staff, would be useful to enable the preventive service to cope more effectively with smuggling by coastal and river steamers and small craft, but the cost involved has hitherto deterred the Government from providing them. (d) Direction of preventive work by a single central intelligence bureau in each territory. All preventive work is directed by the Superintendent of Imports and Exports.
(e) Touch to be kept with and information regarding illicit traffic exchanged with preventive services of other territories in the Far East.-This is already done.
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(f) Allotting of funds for the preventive service from the opium revenue.— Funds are now provided out of general revenue, but the adjustment neces- sary to give effect to the Commission's recommendation can be made without difficulty,
(g) Fines and imprisonment to be the punishment for offences having the
character of illicit traffic. This is the present practice.
(h) An attempt to induce a minor to smoke opium to be made an offence punishable with a heavy penalty.-Sale or offering for sale to a minor is already, under the Regulations of 28th September, 1925, an offence punishable with a fine not exceeding $2,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.
The Government is prepared to introduce the necessary legislation for making it an offence to attempt to induce a minor to smoke, but it will undoubtedly prove exceedingly difficult to obtain concreto evidence of inducement.
6. Measures to identify Government-prepared opium.--All Government pre- pared opium has for many years past been mixed with a tasteless secret substance.
Should any opium be seized which is suspected of being the manufacture of another territory's monopoly a sample can he sent to that monopoly for analysis.
7. Control of International Trade.-Legislation covering all obligations as to import, export, transit, and transhipment of raw and prepared opium is already in force in the Colony.
8. The proposal for reduction in the price of Government opium.-The Govern- ment agrees with the Commissioners that the reduction of the price of Government opium is necessary as a step towards combating the illicit traffic.
The position is now rendered extremely complicated by the fall in the value of silver in relation to gold, and by the fact that the only sources now ayailable for the purchase of opium are gold currency countries, viz., India (with a rapidly decreasing allotment) and Persia.
price of
The Chinese smuggler of Chinese opium buys for silver and smuggled Chinese opium is, so far as can be ascertained, now procurable in Hong Kong at a $2,50 tael for raw opium and $3.00 to $3.30 per tael for prepared opium. (The price of raw Chinese opium will doubtless come down to $1.50 to $1.80 per tael with the sale of the new crop in June.)
per
It is believed that in order seriously to interfere with the illicit trade it would be necessary for the retail price of Government-prepared opium to be fixed at a figure of $3.50 per tael or thereabouts. (As to Macao's competitive price see the Commis- sioners Report, foot of page 96.)
It is believed that at this price the consumer might prefer the use of Government opium which involved no danger of penalties, though there is an undoubted preference for Chinese opium over Persian opium. The price to be adopted to ensure effective competition with the smuggler must, pending actual experiment and experience, remain a matter of conjecture as it is impossible to estimate the amount by which the smuggler might be able to reduce his prices while still retaining a margin sufficient to make it profitable for him to take the risk.
It is here desired to point out that there is a fundamental difference in the taste for opium between the Cantonese Chinese population of Hong Kong and the Chiu Chow and Fukienese Chinese, who form the greater part of the Chinese population in the Straits Settlements. The latter are, in their home domicile, accustomed to the use of a considerable amount of Persian opium, and have, it is believed, a taste for this, and therefore are more likely to be easily reconciled to mixtures containing a large percentage of Persian opium, and the Cantonese residents in the Straits Settle- ments have also become accustomed to the use of mixtures containing an increasing amount of Persian opium. The Cantonese population of Hong Kong is almost entirely unused to mixtures containing a large proportion of Persian opium and might not take kindly to it.
Under the present instructions the monopoly is limited to purchasing from India. The cost of Indian opium per chest (including insurance and freight) is Rs. 4.064, which at the present rate of $1 = approximately 1s., works out at a cost per chest of $6,096.
A chest yields on an average approximately 1,000 taels of prepared opium and the prime cost is therefore 26.10 per tael exclusive of the cost of preparation and marketing.
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Reference
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