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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. FLETCHER then stated that, if the opinion of the Hong Kong Government that it is not possible, in existing circumstances, to adopt any further effective restrictive measures in the Colony is not accepted, he was prepared, on behalf of his Govern- ment, to suggest that Great Britain should ask the League of Nations to send, out to the Far East a Commission to examine the problem on the spot, and to visit not only British Territories but also those of Indo-China and Macao, and other places where opium was smoked. The Commission should be composed, not of persons who had already been concerned in the opium controversy, "but of, say, "an unprejudiced American and a Frenchman.
Sir MALCOLM DELEVINGNE did not think the appointment of such a Commission was a way out of the difficulty. If the Commission was not composed of experts, it would find it extremely hard to go behind what it was told by the various Govern- ments and, in any case, it could hardly add to the mass of information which had been accumulated upon the subject. The difficulty was not to ascertain the facts which were already well known but to form a judgment upon them.
SIR GILBERT GRINDLE, however, considered that the appointment of the suggested Commission would be a very good thing, as it would clear the air and would be able to form an unbiassed opinion as to whether Hong Kong had really gone as far as possible. It should visit the Philippines as well as the other Far Eastern possessions. A Frenchman's opinion on the Philippines would be as interesting as an American's opinion on Indo-China.
He
Mr. NEWTON considered that the Commission had its good points as it might secure uniformity of method and, from the point of view of propaganda (in which the Foreign Office were interested) it might serve a very useful purpose in revealing the sincerity of the efforts which were being made to deal with the opium problem in British terri- tories in the Far East as compared with what was being done by other countries. would suggest that the League of Nations be asked to appoint such a Commission, but that any steps for carrying out Part 2 of the Convention which might be taken as a result of the International Conference should not be held up whilst the Commission was reporting, and that Great Britain should go to the Conference with a settled policy, and agree that this policy should be enforced at once. In this way the danger of procrastination would be avoided and the Commission's report might provide a means of making further progress later on.
Sir MALCOLM DELEVINGNE said that Malaya presented a different aspect from Hong Kong Hong Kong had admitted that it could ignore the revenue derived from opium. This he believed was not the case in Malaya. The fact that a large proportion of the general revenue in Malaya was derived from the opium monopoly was a constant object of attack, especially in the United States of America.
Mr. POUNTNEY said conditions were entirely different in Malaya. For one thing, if the opium revenue were done away with there would be difficulty in maintaining the Preventive Service. While it was just possible that the Straits Settlements could discard their opium revenue within say ten years, as their finances were now in order, it was quite impossible for the Malay States to do away with the opium revenue in same time. He had examined every source of revenue, and had been unable to discover an alternative. He had examined with interest Sir Malcolm Delevingne's private suggestion to him that the opium revenue should be divorced from general revenue and devoted to the good of the natives. He thought that this could be done. The opium revenue could, for instance, be devoted to medical services and education.
Sir MALCOLM DELEVINGNE wanted to make clear that the suggestion which he had asked Mr. Pountney to consider was that assuming suppression in present circum- stances to be regarded as impracticable-the general revenue should surrender the profits of the opium monopoly in stages, spread over a period of years (the period of 10 years mentioned by Mr. Pountney had been in his mind-a longer period could no doubt be arranged for the Malay States), and that the amount surrendered should be devoted not to purposes which the Government would normally undertake, but to further social schemes. For instance, it should not be applied to the charge for ordinary education which any Government would have to undertake but, if education were selected as one of the purposes, to additional educational provision.
There was a general discussion on this subject. and it was suggested that the scheme, if adopted, might, in the end, effectively entrench the opium monopoly, par- ticularly in the French and Portuguese Colonics," as its abolition would then mean the end of such social benefits as hospitals, or the removal of slum dwellings.
"
Sir GILBERT GRINDLE considered that this question of "dirty money presented a very real problem and he thought that the proposed scheme was worth investigation.
37
Mr. POUNTNEY agreed that there was a good deal in the suggestion, and he would like to go into it very carefully with his Government.
Sir GILBERT GRINDLE raised the question of the attitude of the Indian Government. If the British possessions were asked to suppress the smokers of opium, would the Indian Government be asked to prohibit the export of opium for smoking. It was agreed that the two questions were closely connected.
Mr. POUNTNEY said he had also been asked by Sir M. Delevingne whether if a system of registration and rationing were not immediately adopted, a limit could never- theless be fixed for the import of opium into the Colony, based on the average of recent years. He thought if this were done, it would lead to hoarding and speculation as soon as the decision became known. Malaya had already had experience of such an experi- ment, which they had had to abandon after a few months' trial.
The question of the publication of the reports was also discussed. The Governor of the Straits Settlements had been pressing for permission to publish the Malayan Report. It was however decided that nothing should be done until the general question had been submitted to the Cabinet.
HOME OFFICE,
2nd June, 1924.
28410/24.
(No. 369.)
No. 22
CEYLON.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 16th June, 1924.)
Ceylon, 27th May, 1924. SIR,
WITH reference to the Duke of Devonshire's despatch No. 713 of the 15th November, 1923,* enclosing copies of the Report and Minutes of the Fifth Session of the League of Nations Advisory Committee on the Traffic in Opium and of the Report of the Fifth Commission of the League Assembly, I have the honour to transmit copies of two letters, dated 2nd April and 12th May, respectively, which have been received from the Principal Civil Medical Officer, regarding the use of opium for smoking in Ceylon.
2. It will be seen from paragraphs 6 and 7 of Dr. Rutherford's letter of the 2nd April that this Government has stopped further registration of consumers of smoking opium and that it is anticipated that the use of opium for smoking will auto- matically be brought to an end.
3. I have nothing to add as regards the observations made by Dr. Rutherford in his second letter concerning the second recommendation of the Advisory Committee. I fully concur in his view that the local organization is successful and that it does not appear to require any modifications.
4. With regard to the concluding paragraph of the despatch under reply, it
is not considered necessary that this Government should be represented at the proposed Conference.
5. The delay in sending a reply to the despatch is regretted.
(No. 394.)
SIE,
I have, &c.,
W. H. MANNING,
Governor, &c.
Enclosure 1 in No. 22.
2nd April, 1924.
Traffic in Opium.
WITH reference to your memorandum No. 816 of the 14th December, 1923, forwarding a copy of despatch No. 713 of the 15th November, 1923, from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, I have the honour to report :-
1. The Government of Ceylon has entered into an agreement with the Govern- ment of India for the supply of raw opium to this Government, to meet the controlled
* No. 12.