632
100
process the number of shops has been drastically reduced, as indicated by the follow- ing figures:--
Retail Shops.
Government.
Private.
1919 1923 1926
291
Total.
291
Government.
Smoking Saloons.
Private. 215
Total.
215
46 111
150
196 111
164
164
61
61
In the Straits Settlements private retail shops were completely replaced by 73 Government shops (as compared with 538 private shops in 1923) at the end of 1925. At the date when the report for 1925 was written (27th July, 1926), however, the Straits Settlements Government had not opened any smoking saloons, but as a ** off,** in preliminary measure had prohibited the sale of opium for consumption privately run smoking saloons. It is proposed to open 38 Government smoking saloons, as compared with 270 licensed saloons in existence in the Colony at the end of 1924.
It will be seen that the Straits Settlements is somewhat behind the Federated Malay States in effecting this change. This is probably attributable mainly to three
causes :-
(a) The Federated Malay States adopted the policy of gradual replacement by Government shops as long ago as in 1919 (and by 1923 had already opened 46 retail shops), while the Straits Settlements only adopted this policy in 1924, and so had a lot of leeway to make up;
(b) there were many more private retail shops in the Straits Settlements than in the Federated Malay States (in 1923 the numbers were 538 in the Straits Settlements as compared with 196 in the Ferlerated Malay States), and the change over has consequently entailed much more work in the Colony;
(c) in the Federated Malay States it has been found possible generally to rent suitable premises while the Straits Settlements has had to buy or build them.
The Observer
System.
101
States and Public Health lectures delivered under official auspices touch on the evils of the use of opium, and (2) that large numbers of beds in most of the Government 'hospitals in Malaya have been set aside for the free treatment of opium addicts.
21. A memorandum in regard to the steps which have been taken to set up Opium Revenue Replacement Reserve Funds, has recently been supplied to the Foreign Office.
22. So much for what has been and is being accomplished to carry out the approved policy in Malaya.
23. Let us examine now the facts in connexion with the present increasing rate of consumption of chandu. The information which we have received (in September last) is that the rate of consumption was then roughly 330 Indian chests a month, and that arrangements had been made to buy sufficient Persian opium (in addition to the opium to be supplied by the Indian Government) to enable the Straits Settlements Monopolies Department to meet demands at this rate up to the end of 1928. This clearly relates to the quantity to be boiled at the Singapore factory, for the supply of the whole of Malaya, and not for consumption in the Colony alone. As we have no figures as to the actual consumption in the various territories in Malaya for 1926, it is necessary now to review the situation on a rather different basis from that indicated in the table given in paragraph 5 above. Although it is true (owing to probable fluctuations in the stocks of chandu remaining at the end of the years) that the amount of raw opium boiled at the factory in any given year is not an accurate index as to the amount of chandu actually consumed in that year, a review of the amounts boiled over a series of years furnishes a sufficiently accurate basis for comparison.
24. Particulars as to the number of chests boiled at the Singapore factory (which supplies prepared opium to all the Malayan Governments) for the years 1918 to date are given in the following table :-
Equivalent in Indian chests.* 3,828
* On the basis that 1 chest of Persian
per
opium yields roughly 33 cent. more chandu than 1 chest of Indian opium.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Referance :-
mudinim
TPERC.O.882/11
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
18. According to a despatch received in September, 1925, the observer system recommended by the Malayan Opium Committee, 1924, was revised by the Standing ** List Malayan Opium Advisory Committee, and in its revised form (described as a of Customers" System) was put into operation at all Government retail shops through- out the Federated Malay States in 1924. Under the system as adopted, the clerk in charge of the shop keeps a book in which he enters the name of each person purchas- ing chandu, with his address, tribe, and occupation, and the amount purchased, and and "casual" customers, though "regular makes a mark to distinguish between of course (in order to avoid irritating customers) the clerks were authorized to exercise a considerable amount of discretion as to the questions they ask.
17. At first (as was to be expected) a large percentage of false names were given, but as the customers became accustomed to this "mild form of registration this practice ceased to a great extent. It is clear that (apart from the mass of valuable information that has been collected) the experiment has met with success, and has already gone a long way towards paving the way for the introduction of a simple system of registration proper.
The Recovery of Dross.
18. The following extract is taken from the Report of the Straits Settlements Government Monopolies Department, 1925:-
"A further condition (was imposed) that licensees (of private smoking saloons) must pro- duce an amount of dross weighing 40 per cent. of the weight of the chandu supplied to them, this dross, if found to be up to the standard required being bought back by the Department at $4.50 a tahil and subsequently destroyed. The results of this measure were very satisfactory. ... The total amount of dross thus recovered during the year was 81,188 tahila as against only 39,509 tahila recovered in 1924."
19.
The Packing of Chandu.
In July last approval was given to a proposal submitted by the Governor of the Straits Settlements to set up a new factory (at an estimated cost of £108,000). for packing chandu in hermetically sealed tubes (as recommended by the Malayan Opium Committee) as an essential measure in combating the illicit traffic in opium.
20. It may also not be out of place to mention here that (1) the dissemination of anti-opium literature to schools, guilds, clubs, and other Chinese associations is carried out by the Committee for Public Health Education in the Federated Malay
Chests.
1918. Indian
Persian 1919. Indian
Persian 1920, Indian
1921. Indian
Persian 1922. Indian
Persian 1923. Indian
Persian
3,360 351 3,514 530 3,874 286
4,2203
4,2551
3,001 169
3,226
2.7251
1924.
Persian Indian Persian
2,7621
2.568
+2,7624
†2,568
1925.
Indian Persian
2,569 1
2,5701
Sept.,
1926 (at the rate of
$3,960)
12,725 † In the reports for 1922, 1923 and 1924 only the total number of chests are mentioned. It is possible that a few Persian chests were included, in which case the "Indian Equivalent" of the numbers of chests boiled in these years would be somewhat higher.
The actual consumption in the whole of 1926 will probably be considerably below this figure.
25. This table (like the table in paragraph 5) indicates the relation which exists between the state of trade in Malaya and the rate of consumption of chandu, e.g.,
"boom in the prosperous
years (1918 to 1920) there was a corresponding increase
"
in consumption. The "boom was followed by a severe slump in trade lasting till the middle of 1923, and the decreased purchasing power (and the partial dispersal of the labour force) is reflected in a corresponding decrease in the consumption of chandu. The effects of the revival in trade which began about the middle of 1923 are now again beginning to show in an increase in the consumption of chandu, though This is probably due to this increase has lagged considerably behind the revival. the facts (1) that increases in wages have probably lagged behind the recovery in trade, and (2) that after the unprecedented "slump" in the years 1920-1923 a con- siderable time elapsed before the re-influx of labour began to have an appreciable effect on the situation in Malaya as a whole. (We know, in other connexions, that the slow reassembly of the Chinese labour force when prosperity began to return