630
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
PERC.O.882/11
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
| ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
96
bas bought considerable quantities of opium in Persia. The excuse for the increase of the opium traffic in Singapore is the prosperity of the country and the consequent influx of considerable additional numbers of Chinese and the growth of their puṛ- chasing power. It is fair to add that the Government of Singapore have set on foot a fund which will enable them to dispense with the opium revenue at some future time. In the meantime the broad fact remains that in the face of our obligations in The Hague Convention, the Singapore Government authorities are actually increasing the sale of prepared opium. The matter has not yet become public property, but it cannot be long concealed, and I feel that it may be used against us with considerable effect in certain sections of American and other opinion, especially as we rather emphasized, if I recollect rightly, the fact that up till last year the consumption of opium was declining. In these circumstances I venture to suggest that it might be worth while to ask representatives of the offices concerned, say the Home Office, the Colonial Office, and the Foreign Office, to consider what attitude we ought to take in the matter, and whether there is any remedy for this very unsatisfactory situation. I need not say that if I can be of any use on such a Committee I shall be delighted to serve.
C. 20941/26 [No. 2].
SIR,
No. 79.
(Initialled) R. C.
2nd November, 1926.
COLONIAL OFFICE to FOREIGN OFFICE.
Downing Street, 19th November, 1926. I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Amery to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th of November,* proposing that a committee of representatives of the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, and Home Office, should be called to consider the attitude which should be adopted by His Majesty's Government in view of the recent increase in the consumption of prepared opium in Malaya and the consequent increased purchases of raw opium by the Straits Settlements Government. Mr. Amery will be happy to nominate representatives to serve on the proposed Committee.
2. I am, however, to suggest that as the object of the Committee will be to discuss matters relating to the application of certain provisions of an International Convention in a Colony and certain States under British protection, it would appear to be more appropriate for the arrangements for the meeting of the Committee to be made by the Foreign Office rather than the Home Office.
3. A memorandum summarizing the policy, in regard to the control of opium smoking, which has been followed in Malaya, and analysing the facts relating to the present situation (so far as they are known), is enclosed. It is suggested that this memorandum might usefully be adopted as the basis for the Committee's deliberations. 4. A spare copy of this letter and the memorandum are enclosed, for com- munication to Lord Cecil. Copies are also being sent to the Home Office and India Office.
I am, &c.,
Enclosure in No. 79.
<C
G. GRINDLE.
MEMORANDUM PREPARED IN THE COLONIAL Office summarizing the POLICY, IN REGARD TO THE CONTROL OF OPIUM SMOKING, WHICH HAS BEEN FOLLOWED IN MALAYA.
certain of our Crown Colonies including Singa- LORD CECIL's statement that pore, have felt unable to do more in execution of this undertaking than to make the
is not understood. sale of prepared opium a Government monopoly
35
2. On the contrary, even before the War (although the Convention was not then in force and did not in fact come into operation till 1920), the Colonial Governments (including the Governments of the Protected States of Malaya) had taken steps to control and reduce the consumption of prepared opium. The importation of prepared opium into the Straits Settlements has been prohibited for many years.
3. Having abolished the "farming system "(in the Straits Settlements in 1910, in the Federated Malay States in 1911, and in Hong Kong in 1914) and set up Govern-
* No. 78.
97
ment Monopolies, the Colonial Governments established systems of control of which the chief features were:-
Prepared opium was supplied by the Government to licensed retailers who were permitted to sell it to the public at a price fixed by the Government; stringent conditions were attached to all licences, and all licensed premises were subject to supervision and inspection; prepared opium was only allowed to be sold for current coin, in the unbroken packets or receptacles in which it is packed in the Government factory; the amount of opium (or dross) which might be in the possession of any person at any one time was strictly limited; no females or children to be allowed to enter licensed premises, and generally only adult male Chinese allowed to amoke in licensed smoking rooms. It was made an offence for any private person to prepare opium for smoking, or to be in possession of any prepared opium other than that supplied by the Government, or of dross obtained from any other opiumn. In the Straits Settlements identification was rendered possible by the addition of a minute quantity of a secret and harmless ingredient to all opium prepared in the Government factory.
4. These measures secured to the respective Governments a very considerable measure of control over the consumption of prepared opium, though they would not in themselves lead to the gradual and effective suppression of the practice of opium The method smoking which is laid down in Article 6 of The Hague Convention. adopted to give effect to this Article was to reduce consumption by progressively decreasing the number of retail shops and increasing the price of Government prepared opium to the use of which (apart from smuggling) smokers are restricted by law, e.g., in the Straits Settlements the price of prepared opium was raised from $3 per tahil in 1910 by stages to $12 per tahil (21s. per ounce) in 1919, and in Hong Kong the price was raised by stages from $10 a tahil in 1914 to $14.50 a tahil in 1918. It is clear that, if there were no danger of smuggling, and provided that real wages did not rise to an extent sufficient to nullify its effects, this policy of progressively increasing the price of Government opium must lead to the gradual suppression of opium smoking by all but wealthy men, and the problem of completing the process by bringing in total prohibition would ultimately become quite simple.
5. Indeed, actual experience, as indicated by the published figures of the sales by the various Government Monopolies, even allowing for periods of trade boom (when the general prosperity is reflected by increased expenditure on opium, as on other luxuries), and for the changes in the value of money which have been brought about by the War, shows that up to a point the policy was attended by a very consider- able measure of success, e.g, in the Federated Malay States the consumption fell from 295 gms. per head of the Chinese adult male population in 1911 to 128 gms. per head in 1921, and in the Straits Settlements in the same period the consumption per head of the Chinese adult male population fell from 314 gms. to 231 gms. (The years 1911 and 1921 have been taken for purposes of comparison as in those years a census was taken.)
The progressive decline in consumption (as indicated by the sales of Government chandu) between the years 1911 (when the Government Monopoly system was first in operation in both the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States) and 1922 is illustrated by the following figures quoted in the Report of the Malayan Opium Com- mittees in 1924. For the purpose of the comparison the year 1922 is taken as the basic year and allotted an Index No. of 100.
Index Number. (Sales of Government Chandu.) Straits Settlements. Federated Malay States.
290
288 Note. (a) These figures do not afford a
basis for comparing the total consump
Year.
1911
131
1912
125
1913
110
257
1914
104
202
1915
107
209
1916
107
212
1917
96
178
1918
116
210
1919
125
194
1920
134
186
1921
112
116
1922
100
100
1923
98
1924
87
121
1925
91
136
tion in the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States in any given year.
118 (These figures, calculated from the infor- mation in annual reports, since re- ceived, are added to make the table complete to date.