725
-286
the reservation as suggested by the Governor, and we should have hesitated, without further reference to you, to make a declaration in the sense indicated at the time of signing the Convention. Fortunately, the minutes of the 14th session, at which Sir C. Clementi Smith made the declaration, not having been finally passed, it has been possible for us to strike out the words "actuellement en vigueur," so that the declaration now reads as follows:-
"La Délégation Britannique désire retirer le vote ad referendum qu'elle a donné sur l'article I, du Chapitre II, qui est concu dans les termes suivants;
"Les Gouvernements participants à la Conference s'engagent à prohiber l'importation ou l'exportation d'opium preparé.
"La Délégation Britannique désire que son vote soit enregistré simple- ment en faveur de la résolution; restant toujours entendu que cette résolution n'amènera aucune ingérence dans les arrangements dans la Péninsule de Malacca et dans d'autres parties de l'Empire Britannique pour la préparation et la distribution de l'opium. Ces arrangements sont clairement des ques- tions d'ordre intérieur, et non pas de commerce international.”
9. It is clear that the suggestion in the Colonial Office letter of 8th January, that an amended form of the declaration should be made at the time of signing the Convention, was taken to be merely an alternative to amending the declaration which had already been made, and that as by happy chance it was found possible to change the wording of that declaration before it appeared on the official minutes of the 14th meeting, there remained no necessity to repeat it in an amended form at the time of signature.
Colonial Office,
8th April, 1925.
35107/25.
SIB,
No. 251.
FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.
Foreign Office, 30th July, 1925. WITH reference to your letter of the 15th instant,* regarding the communication to be addressed to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, concerning the effect of Article 6 of the Opium Agreement signed at Geneva on 11th February last, I am directed by Mr. Secretary Chamberlain to inform you that he agrees that a communication should now be addressed to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations in the sense suggested in paragraphs 7 and 8 of your letter of 20th May last,† and to enclose a copy of the communication which is being made accordingly.
2. It appears to Mr. Chamberlain that the despatch of this communication to the Secretary-General will be a sufficient safeguard of the position of His Majesty's Government in regard to Article 6 of the Agreement, but he proposes to allow a reasonable time to elapse between the despatch of the communication and the deposit of the instrument of ratification, in order that His Majesty's Government may be in a position to state, if questioned on the point, that the other States concerned have had an opportunity of considering His Majesty's Government's interpretation of the Article before the entry into force of the Agreement. Thus, if no comments on the com- munication have been received after the lapse of a reasonable time from its despatch, His Majesty's Government will then be able to deposit their ratification on the assumption that their view is accepted.
3. Such reasonable delay would be unlikely to involve any postponement of the entry into force of the Agreement, in view of the probability that the ratifications of the French Government and of most of the other Governments concerned cannot be deposited until the autumn of this year after the necessary legislation has been passed by their Parliaments, which are now in recess.
I am, &c.,
S. P. WATERLOW.
SIR,
287
Enclosure in No. 251.
Foreign Office, S.W.1, 30th July, 1925. WITH reference to your letter of 10th March last, regarding the ratification of the Agreement adopted by the First International Opium Conference at Geneva on 11th February last, I am directed by Mr. Secretary Chamberlain to state, for the information of the Council of the League of Nations and of the States signatory to the Agreement, that His Majesty's' Government are prepared to ratify the Agreement and the Protocol thereof without excluding from the operation of these documents any of the British Possessions and Protectorates in the Malay Peninsula or the State of Brunei in the Island of Borneo.
2. His Majesty's Government desire, however, to place it on record that the Agreement was signed on their behalf on the understanding that no interference will be caused by Article 6 in the existing arrangements whereby, for convenience and efficiency of administration, the whole of the supply of prepared opium for the above- mentioned possessions and protectorates is manufactured in the Straits Settlements Government factory at Singapore. In view of the declaration made at the Opium Con- ference held at The Hague in 1912 in regard to the interpretation of Article VII of the Convention signed at that Conference and the fact that these arrangements have never been called in question, His Majesty's Government do not conceive that any objection would be taken to the continuance of the present arrangements, which undoubtedly facilitate the exercise of control over the consumption of opium; but having examined with great care the wording of Article 6 of the present Agreement, they have thought it desirable to make their position in this matter quite clear in order to remove any possibility of misunderstanding in the future.
The Secretary-General,
League of Nations,
Geneva.
C. 63017/29 [No. 81].
No. 252.
I am,
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.
&c.,
S. P. WATERLOW.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR.
(Sent 12 noon, 2nd September, 1929.)
TELEGRAM.
[Answered by No. 253.]
CONFIDENTIAL. Your despatch 31st July, Confidential.* Opium. You propose to supply Sarawak. in future. It is possible that such supply would be challenged as contrary to Article 6, Section 1, of Geneva Agreement, 1925, which forbids export of opium from any territory into which opium is imported for the purpose of smoking. Question is receiving further consideration here but I am not sure how soon it was proposed that the arrangement should come into force and it should not be done until decision on the point is reached here. You may think it well to warn Sarawak Govern- ment that supply from Singapore may not be possible and they may have to continue their present arrangements.-PASSFIELD.
1
31627/25: not printed.
+ See No. 250.
* No. 186.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :---
ETERNIC.O.882/11
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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