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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TELEC.O.882/11

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

49981/24.

60

No. 41.

MEMORANDUM BY MR. S. P. WATERLOW (FOREIGN OFFICE) IN REGARD TO THE POLICY TO BE FOLLOWED BY THE BRITISH DELEGATE TO THE FIRST OPIUM CONFERENCE.

ON 26th September, 1923, the Assembly of the League of Nations approved a proposal of the Advisory Committee on Traffic in Opium and Other Dangerous Drugs that the Governments concerned-

"should be invited immediately to enter into negotiations with a view to the conclusion of an agreement as to the measures for giving effective application in the Far Eastern territories to Part II of the Convention and as to a reduction of the amount of raw opium to be imported for the purpose of smoking in those terri- tories where it is temporarily continued, and as to the measures which should be taken by the Government of the Republic of China to bring about the suppression of the illegal production and use of opium in China, and request the Council to invite those Governments to send representatives with plenipotentiary powers to a conference for the purpose and to report to the Council at the earliest possible date."

at Geneva on The Conference resulting from this Resolution will meet 3rd November-an inconveniently early date for us as things have turned out, because to obtain a final decision on the question what the policy of His Majesty's Government the British Delegate will be in a somewhat difficult position. The reason for this is that, from causes outside the control of the Foreign Office, it has not been possible to obtam a final decision on the question what the policy of Ilis Majesty's Government is to be as regards the suppression of opium-smoking in the Far Eastern dependencies of Hong Kong and the Straits Settlements, Malaya, North Borneo, and Sarawak. This question bristles with difficulties, the Governments of these territories being strongly opposed to the introduction both of rationing of imports and (except in Sarawak and as a future possibility in Malaya) of a system of registering smokers. They have for the most part reported that the introduction of such measures, even gradually, would be impracticable and dangerous, some because of the loss of revenue involved, and all because of the strong feeling among their Chinese populations. Yet we, in common with other countries, are bound, under Part II of the Opium Convention, to take measures for the effective, if gradual, suppression of opium smoking in our depen- clencies, and, so long as we do not do so, we in particular are set upon and exposed to a virulent propaganda which represents us as forcing opium upon the East in the interest of our pockets.

This issue was laid before the Cabinet last July and was postponed for later consideration. The recent political crisis having made impossible a Cabinet decision before 3rd November, we tried the other day to get the Conference postponed. Feeling at Geneva, however, proved so strongly adverse to this suggestion, which would be interpreted in League circles and in America as indicating a desire to evade our obliga- tions, that it has been thought best not to upset existing arrangements. This has involved an attempt to determine whether a more or less temporising line cannot, in the absence of a Cabinet decision on the main question affecting our colonies, be prescribed to the British Delegate without our appearing before the world as obstruc- tionists. The attempt was made at a Conference on 20th October between Sir Malcolm Delevingne (Home Office), Sir Gilbert Grindle (Colonial Office), and myself, when we all agreed that the following recommendations should be submitted as satisfy- ing actual conditions without too much prejudice to our international reputation.

(1) The British Delegate should be authorized to enter into an agreement for the suppression in principle of the farming system and of private retail shops; also for any improvements in detail, such as those suggested by the Malayan Government, which can be accepted by the Colonial Governments. (These are minor matters on which there is no interdepartmental disagreement.)

(2) He should try to secure an agreement for the prohibition of export from the territories in question and of transhipment except for supply to those territories.

(3) When the major questions (rationing of imports and registration of smokers) are reached, he should listen sympathetically to the difficulties with which other Colonial Powers are confronted, as well as to any arguments that may be put forward by other Powers in support of the adoption of such measures, and he should invite their representatives to explain them fully. At the same time he should indicate that His Majesty's Government are not exempt from similar difficulties in their Far Eastern

GL

possessions. He should emphasize, as an indication of our good faith, that we alone among the Colonial Powers have circulated, for the information of the League, the Reports of the Colonial Governments who have to deal with these difficulties in practice. His general attitude should be that His Majesty's Government are anxious to solve these local problems; that they have no intention of going back on the obligations imposed on them by the Opium Convention; but that, in view of the complexity of the factors involved (including the situation in China), they have not yet been able to decide what will be the best practical steps towards a solution. It should be made clear that they have an open mind, pending further discussion of the subject in all its bearings. Meanwhile, they should not be committed at the present Conference to any measures of suppression which may be thought injudicious by the Colonial Govern. ments concerned. On the other hand, it should be made clear that His Majesty's Government have no intention or desire to take up a non possumus attitude.

(4) If (which is unlikely) proposals are made by any other Power for prohibition within a limited period of time, he should indicate that His Majesty's Government have not considered the question.

(5) As it is undesirable (particularly in view of the fact that the Conference will be followed by the larger Conference on the production of opium and the manufacture of drugs) that the first Conference should break up without having made any sub- stantial advance, the British Delegate should, unless he judges that the situation would make any such proposal impolitic (in which event he should refer home for instruc- tions), propose that the Council of the League of Nations should be invited to appoint a small impartial commission, with an American chairman, to visit the territories con- cerned of all nationalities, as well as any other countries (such as China) that may be

necessary,

in order to investigate and report on all the relevant facts as affecting - further measures of repression. This proposal should not, however, be put forward unless the British Delegate has ascertained beforehand that an American citizen with suitable qualifications can be found. It is suggested that Sir Malcolm Delvingne should be the British Delegate. The Colonial Office concur and the Home Office are willing that he should be sent.

If these recommendations, which have the concurrence of the Home Office and of the Colonial Office, are approved, a copy of this minute will serve as an instruction to the British Delegate.

October, 1924.

42889/24.

SIR.

No. 42.

COLONIAL OFFICE to HOME OFFICE.

Downing Street, 18th October, 1924. WITH reference to Foreign Office letter of the 5th of September,* forwarding. a copy of a note from the Secretary-General of the League of Nations regarding the Summary of Information (C.O.P.I.) which has been prepared in connexion with the First Opium Conference to be held at Geneva in November, I am directed by Mr. Secretary Thomas to request you to inform Mr. Secretary Henderson that the summary has been found, in many respects, to be incomplete, and that some of the figures in the statistical tubles do not accord with the records in the possession of this Department.

2. The accompanying notes and tables of statistics have accordingly been pre- pared from Reports which have been received from the Governments of the Colonies and Protectorates concerned. It should be noted that in all cases copies of these Reports have already been supplied to the Secretariat of the League of Nations.

3. As Reports for the year 1923 have now been received and transmitted to the Secretariat of the League of Nations the figures for that year have been included in the notes and tables. Mr. Thomas hopes shortly to be in a position to supply similar summaries in regard to the consumption of prepared opium in Sarawak.

*42889/24: not printed.