148
supply of Indian opium available to your Government so far as these are not sufficient to meet the demand for Government opium at present prices.
3. I am fully aware of the difficulties of the position in Hong Kong, and realize that the present position cannot be allowed to continue unaltered indefinitely. In view, however, of the possibility of a League Commission visiting the Far East in *the near future, it would appear undesirable to take any action until that Commission,
if it should be sent, has reported.
4. Purchase of opium from China, suggested in paragraph 27 of your despatch, would be open to so many objections that I do not think that the proposal could use- fully be discussed at present.
7.
149
As regards the proposal to send another Commission to the Far East to examine the opium problem on the spot, there is much force in what Mr. Lloyd has I doubt whether, while China is still in a written in his memorandum marked "B."
state of anarchy and turmoil, anything useful could be achieved; and so far as Hong Kong is concerned, the reports of this Government are based on more extensive and more reliable local information than would be obtainable by visitors who must necessarily be less familiar with this Colony than are the Hong Kong officials.
8. With respect to this whole matter I await your reply to my Secret despatch of the 12th January, and I hope to have an opportunity of discussing the opium problem with you during my forthcoming leave of absence in England.
C. 52836/28 [No. 7],
No. 103.
I have, &c.,
L. S. AMERY.
C. 52836/28 [No. 8].
No 104. HONG KONG.
I have, &c.,
C. CLEMENTI,
Governor, &c.
656
(Secret.)
SIR,
HONG KONG.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
(Received 19th May, 1928.)
Government House, Hong Kong, 16th April, 1928.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge your Confidential despatch of the 18th February, 1928,* inviting my observations on a memorandum prepared at the request of the Colonial Office by Mr. Lloyd, a Cadet Officer of this Government.
2. I observe that you describe Mr. Lloyd, and indeed Mr. Lloyd describes him- self, as Superintendent of Imports and Exports, Hong Kong. This is incorrect. It is true that Mr. Lloyd acted in this capacity for some considerable time before his But under departure on leave and will probably resume the duties on his return. the system in vogue in this Colony the post of Superintendent of Imports and Exports is not one that is substantively held by any officer and therefore the official view of the department can be expressed only by the officer actually performing the duties in Hong Kong. Accordingly Mr. Lloyd's memorandum can only be regarded as a private expression of opinion by an officer who has had special opportunities of study- ing the opium problem in Hong Kong.
3. A point of greater practical importance is the fact that memoranda written on leave of absence must necessarily be prepared without access to the official records of the Colony and without cognisance of events which may have occurred since the writer's departure.
4. I have already expressed my views at some length in my Secret despatch of 12th January,† and do not, therefore, propose to discuss in detail Mr. Lloyd's memorandum marked "A." Two observations may however conveniently be made here.
5. Mr. Lloyd gives considerable prominence to a theory, recently enunciated by the Assistant Deputy Minister of Health for Canada, that the cure of opium addiction is not a slow process and that to deprive addicts suddenly and absolutely of opium is not inhuman. He suggests that such a view, if accepted, may cut away from under our feet our only remaining ground for retaining an official monopoly in Hong Kong. But this Government has never stressed this point in the past; and in any event it would be profoundly misleading to stress it to-day. The illicit opium trade is fully capable of saving the local addict from all possible inconvenience except that arising from excessive indulgence. The official factory could, therefore, he closed to-morrow without risk of a charge of inhumanity.
6. However, it is difficult to see how this Government could abandon its official opium monopoly without a frank denunciation of the Opium Convention. With what face could Hong Kong abandon control at the very moment when its neighbour Macao has assumed control, and assumed it owing to pressure by His Majesty's Government? Is the private trader, who hitherto has flourished in Macao to the annoyance of this Government, henceforward to be allowed to flourish in this Colony to the annoyance of Macao?
(Secret.)
SIB,
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 12th June, 1928.)
Government House, Hong Kong, 7th May, 19258. IN continuation of my Secret despatch of 12th January,* I have the honour
to report for your information the action taken subsequently.
2. On 27th January the price of prepared opium was restored to the original figure, and the sale of the lower-priced brands was discontinued. The brand placed on sale was of a superior quality to that formerly sold at the same price, containing a larger amount of Indian opium. But the increase in quality has signally failed to sustain sales, which have fallen to a figure far below that of the year 1924, the last normal year, the sales averaging only 580 taels per day as compared with 950 taels in 1924.
3. On the sanie date the officers specially detailed to suppress divans were with- drawn, and the scale of rewards offered for the detection of divans and petty trafficking in illicit opium was cancelled. The attention of the preventive staff is now wholly concentrated on the detection of contraband import in bulk and wholesale trading.
4. On 14th March the price of the best quality opium, generally known as Kam- shan, was increased to $50 per 3-tael tin. Sales of this brand, which had shown a tendency to increase slightly when only inferior opium was being sold, now show signs of decreasing, but the full effect of the increase in price cannot be accurately judged until the winter, when the longer cold nights tend to increase the amount of smoking amongst the leisured classes.
5. The amount of illicit opium being seized is about normal, but the number of actual seizures has since 27th January, for the reasons given in my paragraph 3, decreased very much, being only 134.
6. The rewards offered for the detection of illicit opium have been considerably increased, but seizures have not been in any way stimulated.
7. I attach two tables showing the amounts seized during the first four months of the year, and the sales for the month of April.
8. Stocks of confiscated opium are very low, but the remainder of the stock of low grade prepared opium, which was withdrawn from sale on 27th January, is being used for blending purposes. Stocks of Indian opium are comparatively high, as they accumulated to some extent while low grade opium was being prepared.
9. Briefly the position now is that the Hong Kong market is again being supplied for the most part by smugglers with contraband opium, while the Hong Kong opium revenue has fallen to the figures of the first half of last year. In other words, the very promising experiment which began on the 29th September last has been completely
I have, &c.,
wrecked.
C. CLEMENTI,
Governor, &c.
* No. 101.
† No. 100.
* No. 100.
1
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O.882/11
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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