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No objection was taken in the Conference to either course, and the Siamese Dele- gation was content with this and did not ask for any resolution of the Conference on the subject.

(7) Penalties. Two questions were raised under this head: (a) the adequacy of the penalties provided by existing laws in respect of illicit traffic in opium; (b) the position of persons found to be engaged in organizing the illicit traffic. I urged that the important thing was to punish severely the principals "who organized the illicit traffic and carried it out through agents. These persons are careful to keep in the background, and even when it is known who they are, it is often difficult to prove anything against them. It appeared that, under some of the laws in force, no offence is committed unless an act of smuggling is definitely committed or attempted. I urged that the taking of any steps with a view to the smuggling of opium should be made an offence and punished severely, and submitted a draft resolution for adoption by the Conference. Some difficulty arose over the wording of the resolution, objection being on the taken by the Dutch Delegate to the phrase " organizing the illicit traffic " ground of its vagueness. Eventually a form of words suggested by the French Delega- tion was accepted. The wording adopted is not altogether satisfactory, but the mean- ing is sufficiently clear, in the light of the discussion in the Conference. Objection was also taken to the proposal that the penalty in such cases should, as a general rule, be a sentence of imprisonment. It was agreed that, in view of the large profits made, monetary penalties do not, by themselves, constitute an adequate deterrent; but the Japanese Delegation, in particular, wished it to be left to the discretion of the Courts to impose either a fine or a sentence of imprisonment or both. In the end, the resolution was adopted in the form in which it appears in the Final Act (No. VI), the Japanese Delegation dissenting.

See League Commission's Report, Volume I. pages 139-140.

Measures for Eliminating the Causes which Lead to Addiction.

As under present conditions in China and Persia there seems little immediate prospect of any decrease in the supply of opium for the illicit traffic, it became important to consider whether the problem of the suppression of opium smoking could be attacked more successfully from the other end, by measures directed against the conditions which lead men to take to the practice. Two causes which account, in the British Possessions and no doubt also in other territories, for a large proportion of the cases in which Chinese immigrants who have not previously smoked take to the habit are (a) isolation and the absence of other means of relaxation and recreation, (b) the belief that opium is a cure for various diseases or at any rate relieves the pain. The Much can be done by Government or private action to counteract these causes. opening of new roads and the provision of means of transport can bring the labourer isolated on the plantation or in the mines into touch with the towns and villages where Provision of recreation means of entertainment and social intercourse are available.

grounds gives the younger men an opportunity of playing games and the older men an opportunity of watching them. On the medical side the belief in, and reliance on, the virtues of opium must be met by instruction in the principles of bodily health (Cases have been mentioned and the provision of a wider and better medical services.

to me of qualified medical practitioners (Chinese) at Hong Kong advising their patients to smoke) I was furnished by the officials of the Straits Settlements and Malay States who accompanied me with striking statements of the efforts which their Governments have made in both directions, and of the effects in improving the conditions of life of the Chinese immigrant. Statements furnished to me by the officials from Hong Kong who were with me, showed that a good deal is being done on similar lines in that Colony also.

The extension and development of work on these lines seems the most hopeful line of advance in present circumstances, and this view is supported by the conclusions of the League Commission (Volume I, page 139). I accordingly submitted to the Conference a resolution recommending that such extension and development should be treated as an important part of the opium policy of all the Governments concerned; supporting it with a statement of what had been done in Malaya and at Hong Kong. This resolution was adopted by the Conference and is embodied in the Final Act (No. IV).

The important question of the treatment of the revenue derived from the opium Monopolies which was raised by the Report of the League Commission (Volume I, page 144) was considered in connexion with these questions, and I was able to show that the expenditure in the British Possessions for such purposes as are indicated in the preceding paragraph practically balanced, or more than balanced, the opium

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revenues. The somewhat complicated recommendations of the League Commission met with some criticism, but it was generally agreed that the Plan of a special opium account which was drawn up by M. Gerard, one of the members of the Commission, and which is appended to Volume II of the Commission's report (pages 489-495) was feasible. This Plan safeguarded what M. Gerard calls the essential principle of budgetary unity," while giving the information which the Commission wished to be supplied for the information of the League and of public opinion. The Conference adopted a recommendation on these lines, which is embodied in the Final Act (No. V).

Administrative Questions.

(1) Joint Arrangement for Purchase of Raw Opium.-The League Commission proposed (Volume I, page 138) that purchases should be made by the Monopolies in co-operation with each other. This question had already been under consideration by the Interdepartmental Opium Committee of the Home Office, Foreign Office, and Colonial Office, in view of the fact that the supplies of Indian opium are diminishing annually and will come to an end in 1935, and of the unsatisfactory conditions exist- ing in regard to the trade in Persian opium to which the Monopolies were having recourse to supplement the Indian supply. The Interdepartmental Committee was strongly in favour of an understanding being reached with the other purchasing Governments. It was considered that in this way better conditions could be obtained; purchases could be regularized, and this would help to stabilize the opium market, and consequently the production of opium. Informal conversations on the subject took place both before and during the Bangkok Conference, as a result of which it appeared that the Netherlands and Siamese authorities, as well as ourselves, were agreed as to the desirability of some arrangement. The French, and I believe, also the Japanese, did not display any interest in the subject. Matters, however, were not ripe for the preparation of any definite scheme for joint action. Owing to the great falling off in the consumption of prepared opium. the Dutch, the Siamese, and the British Monopolies are each in possession of large supplies of opium sufficient, at the present rate of consumption, to last for two or three years or possibly longer. No purchases are contemplated by these Monopolies for some time to come, and as there may be in the interval changes in the conditions in the producing countries, it was felt that it would be premature to work out the lines of any scheme at the present time. An understanding was come to between the three Delegations that before any further purchases are made they will communicate with each other, so that the question can be further considered.

I venture to record my opinion that an arrangement between the chief opium consuming countries, acting jointly or in co-operation, on the one side and the opium producing countries on the other, in regard to the production and supply of opium would be the most effective step that could be taken at the present time towards bring- ing about the limitation of the production of opium. At the present time, as a result of the steadily increasing control over the use of opium and its derivatives, there is a feeling of uncertainty in the producing countries as to the future of the opium industry. At the International Conference on the Limitation of the Manufacture of Dangerous Drugs which was held at Geneva last summer, Turkey and Yugo-Slavia, which supply opium to the drug manufacturing countries, showed considerable anxiety as to the effect of such limitation on the demand for opium. The opium crop furnishes the means of livelihood to a large number of their peasant cultivators who were already hard hit by the heavy fall in prices, raw opium having fallen to about a third of the price of two years ago. There was and still is, a danger of these countries taking up the business of manufacturing the drugs from their own raw material in order to safe- guard their position; and in order to obviate this danger and meet the apprehensions of Turkey and Yugo-Slavia, the possibility of guarantees being given by the drug manufacturing countries to take a definite proportion of their requirements at a fair price form Turkey and Yugo-Slavia was mooted and informally discussed. No con- clusion could be come to at the Conference, but it was arranged that negotiations should take place between the European cartel of drug manufacturers and representa- tives of the Governments of Turkey and Yugo-Slavia (see my letter of 27th July, 1931, reporting the results of the Geneva Conference). In the case also of the countries which import opium for smoking the demand is decreasing and likely to continue to decrease. I understand that Persia, which supplies these countries, has recently become apprehensive about her position both on this ground and because of the threat of competition from Turkey, and is anxious to obtain some guarantee as to the amounts that will be taken of her by the purchasing countries, and has approached the Secretariat of the League on the matter.