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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE Reference:--
C.O.882/11
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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Mr. Chow Shou Son and Mr. R. H. Kotewall, the two Chinese members of the
Legislative Council;
The Reverend Dr. T. W. Pearce, O.B.E., for many years the head of the London
Mission in this Colony;
and two experienced Government officers, Mr. A. G. M. Fletcher, C.M.G., CB.E., and Mr. N. L. Smith, both of whom have in recent years attended the Conferences on Opium at Geneva.
3. The Committee was thus exceptionally strong and representative and its unanimous conclusions, as set out in the Report of which I enclose copies, must be regarded as carrying great weight. It will be observed that they are very decidedly of the opinion that in present circumstances no reasonable measure can be devised to reduce further the consumption of opium in Hong Kong, and I regret that I can only express my concurrence in this view and repeat once more that the only practical course is to deal with the problem in the countries in which opium is grown
4. Mr. Fletcher is proceeding on leave very shortly and will hold himself in readiness to attend the proposed Opium Conference as a representative of this Govern- ment in the British Delegation.
Mr. Fletcher, who attended the Conference at Geneva in 1921, is well known to your department. He has a very full knowledge of the subject and possesses my entire confidence.
(Confidential.)
Enclosure in No. 18.
I have, &c..
R. E. STUBBS,
Governor.
REPORT OF THE OPIUM COMMITTEE.
· Hong Kong, 1st March, 1924. The Committee has been appointed "to consider the suggestions made by the Advisory Committee of the League of Nations with a view to determining what further measures can be taken in Hong Kong to give a more effective application to Chapter II of the Opium Convention, and to examine the existing position, and to explore the pos sibilities of further effective action."
By Article 6 in Chapter II of the Convention it is provided that "the contracting Powers shall take measures for the gradual and effective suppression of the manufacture of, internal trade in, and use of prepared opium, with due regard to the varying circum- stances of each country concerned.'
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2. In Hong Kong the measures now taken to give effect to Article 6 comprise a Government monopoly, sale of Government opium at an artificially high price, heavy penalties in respect of trafficking in or use of opium other than Government opium, and the maintenance of a considerable force of Revenue Officers for the purpose prevent- ing such trafficking or use. There is no check upon the consumption of opium apart from the high price charged for Government opium and the penalties imposed in respect of illicit opium, and it is obvious that the continuance of the present policy cannot lead to the suppression of the use of opium in the Colony. The most that that policy can effect under existing conditions is to keep the opium habit within bounds.
The problem to be solved is whether, under existing conditions, it is possible to suppress, either immediately or gradually, the consumption of opium in Hong Kong.
The Committee, in considering this matter, has ignored the financial aspect of the opium question, and it is agreed that, as far as it is concerned, the fact that the Colony derives a considerable revenue from the sale of opium is entirely irrelevant.
3. The Committee is of the opinion that some twenty to twenty-five per cent. of the adult Chinese population, including some one to two per cent. of the adult female population, either smoke or swallow opium. It is stated by the persons employed in selling Government opium that the percentage has slightly increased during the past six or seven years. Chinese of the better class are inclined to regard the opium habit as discreditable, much as they would regard betting as discreditable, but they are certainly not prepared to practise what they might possibly preach Public opinion might not countenance too open a parade of either gambling or opium smoking, but at least it has no great fault to find with the not too ostentatious practice of the latter habit. Opium smoking in China has perhaps the same popular support as betting has in England, and the one practice is probably as difficult to eradicate as the other.
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This statement will no doubt be traversed by the argument that the cultivation ef in China was practically put an end to about the year 1917, and that the final poppy suppression of opium-smoking was then all but attained In the opinion of the Con- nittee this argument is not supported by facts. The Chinese Government had consis- tently resented and opposed the export of Chinese silver to pay for Indian opium, and, when the British Government agreed to put an end to the import of Indian opium upon conditions, the conditions were at once accepted. Those conditions included the sup- pression of poppy cultivation in China, and under constant Consular supervision and protest much was done in this direction, although it is probable that the reports of foreign observers expressed an optimism unwarranted by the facts. Very large stocks of opium, both raw and prepared, were carried, and not long after the final exclusion of Indian opium the internal restrictions became a dead letter throughout the greater part of the country. Since the earliest days of the opium question in China the principal concern of the Provincial Governments has been to eradicate, not the opium habit. hut the Indian opium habit, and the failure to attain this end, until India co-operated, may be attributed to the fact that public taste vastly prefers the Indian to the home-grown drug.
4. In the present state of Chinese public opinion the only way to diminish or to put a stop to the use of opium is to diminish or to put a stop to the production of opium. The first Article in Chapter 1 of the Opium Convention requires the con- tracting Powers to enact effective laws or regulations for the control of the production and distribution of raw opium. and, except in so far as India is concerned, this obliga- tion is for practical purposes entirely disregarded. There is no effective control over the production and distribution of Chinese, Persian, and Turkish opium. The er.forcing of Article I of the Convention must be antecedent to the enforcing of Article 6 of the Convention, and, while China continues to provide its population with opin in limitless quantity, Hong Kong in attempting to prevent consumption by those Chinese who happen to be within its borders, is merely beating the air.
5. The Committee estimates that approximately equal quantities of Government and illicit opium are consumed in the Colony. An increase in the Government selling price would probably result in a pro tanto substitution of illicit for Government opium. Any substantial decrease in the Government selling price would almost certainly result in a substantial increase in consumption generally, as Government opium is of unch superior quality, and, if it were available at the price of illicit opium, the demand would be very greatly increased.
6. The Committee has carefully considered the question of increasing the number of Revenue Officers and of providing more drastic penalties for trafficking in and using illicit opium, and it is satisfied that the measures already taken by the Government go as far as is reasonably possible in this direction. The Chinese community has odjected time and again to the methods of search now employed, methods far more drastic than any used in the United Kingdom. It is notorious that bribery and corruption are rampant among Revenue Officers and Police engaged in searching for opium, and a recent investigation has shown that, unless such officers are allowed to receive rewards, the number of seizures shows a most significant reduction. Public opinion is at least not emphatic against the smuggler, and the Chinese searcher declines to make himself unpopular, except for an adequate consideration. It is known that the smuggler not infrequently outbids the Government for the Revenue Officer's services. As regards penalties, these are already of exceptional severity, including heavy fines, long terms of imprisonment, and frequent banishinent.
7. The first two resolutions of the Advisory Committee are to the effect that the opium business should be a Government monopoly and that retail sales should be made only from Government shops, by persons on a fixed salary, without any commission on the amount of business done.
It is understood that the Government, which already controls the opium business in Hong Kong, is making arrangements on the lines suggested in connection with retail sales.
8. The third resolution of the Advisory Committee recommends " that a uniform maximum limit should be fixed for the amount of prepared opium placed on sale for consumption, calculated according to the number of the adult Chinese male popu- lation."
A measure such as this would result in the buying up and hoarding of stocks by speculators, who would re-sell at an enhanced price. Persons unwilling to pay the price would substitute illicit for Government opium. It would be preferable to limit sales by raising the price rather than by restricting the quantity on the market, but
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