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4.

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With regard to the Summary of Information contained in Part 2 of the docu- ment C.O.P.I., I am to state that the following errors have been observed:-

(1) The estimate of its annual requirements of raw opium furnished by the Government of Hong Kong was 25 chests of raw opium per mensem for the year 1923 and 30 chests of raw opium per mensem for subsequent years (and not prepared opium as stated in the footnote on page 8 of the document).

(2) The total Chinese population of British Malaya (according to the census held in 1921) is approximately 1,175,000 (instead of 1,100,000 as stated in Column 5 of the table on page 9 of the print).

(3) The total Chinese population of the State of North Borneo is now estimated by the British North Borneo Company to amount approximately to 40,000.

5. A revised summary, embodying these and consequential amendments, has accordingly been prepared and a copy is annexed. It will be observed that the form of heading which has been adopted differs from that on page 9 of the print which, in Mr. Thomas' view, is open to serious objection in that it conveys a suggestion that by failing to bring about the total suppression of the consumption of prepared opium in their territories, the Governments of the countries mentioned in the table have not fulfilled their obligations under The Hague Convention. Moreover, the omission of any reference to the Far Eastern possessions and dependencies of France, Portugal, and other countries, in which opium smoking is still permitted can hardly fail to have the unfortunate effect of focussing attention (and criticism) on the countries mentioned in the table.

6. Mr. Thomas would be glad if Mr. Henderson would be so good as to cause copies of the revised notes and tables to be communicated to the Secretariat of the League of Nations, with such observations as Mr. Henderson may consider desirable, with a view to their being substituted for the notes and tables which appear in the document C.O.P.I.

7. I am to express Mr. Thomas's thanks for the assistance which has been rendered by your Department in connexion with the preparation of the revised notes and tables.

I am, &c.,

G. GRINDLE.

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person at any one time is strictly limited (at present this amount differs slightly in the various States). No females or children are allowed to enter licensed premises, and only adult male Chinese are allowed to smoke in licensed Smoking Rooms

In the Federated Malay States and Johore the possession of prepared opium and

of opium smoking apparatus by other than adult male Chinese is prohibited

Dross produced by smoking chandu is purchased by Government and destroyed, and licensees of Smoking Rooms are required to produce for sale to the Government a certain amount of dross expressed as a proportion of the amount of chandu con- sumed. It is an offence to reprepare dross for smoking.

It is an offence for any person to be in possession of any prepared opium other than that supplied by the Government, or of dross obtained from any other opium. Identification is rendered possible by the addition of a minute quantity of a secret and harmless ingredient to all opium prepared at the Government factory.

At the beginning of the year 1920 an attempt was made in the Straits Settle- ments and in certain parts of the Federated Malay States to reduce the consumption of prepared opium by introducing a system of rationing, whereby retailers were supplied with only 90 per cent. of their former average purchases. Great dissatisfaction was The attempt was caused owing to hoarding and profiteering which occurred. abandoned after a few months' trial.

Statistics of consumption of opium in the various territories of British Malaya are given in the accompanying tables. In the whole of British Malaya in the year 1923, 112,027 kilos of chandu were sold, representing a consumption of 95 gms. per head of the total Chinese population, as compared with 162,669 kilos sold in 1919, representing a consumption of 140 gms. per head of the total Chinese population. In the same year 6,887 tahils (260 kilos) of illicit raw opium, and 29,438 tahils (1,115 kilos) of illicit prepared opium were seized. Nearly the whole of this illicit opium came from South China.

Enclosure 1 in No. 42.

BRITISH MALAYA,

THE ** farm

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system of control over the consumption of opium was abolished and replaced by the Government Monopoly System in the various territories of British Malaya on the following dates:-In the Colony of the Straits Settlements and in the States of Johore and Kedal on the 1st of January. 1910, in the State of Perlis on the 12th of April, 1910, in the Federated Malay States on the 1st of January, 1911, in Brunei on the 1st of January, 1913, in Trengganu on the 2nd of March, 1917.

The manufacture of all supplies of prepared opium for all these States is carried out by the Government Monopolies Department at the factory in Singapore. The preparation of opium for smoking by any other person is illegal. Prepared opium is supplied by the various Governments to licensed retailers, who are permitted to sell it to the public at a price fixed by the Government at an artificially high figure (at present $12

per tahil) with a view to discouraging consumption. There are two forms of licence-retail licences admitting of sale only for consumption off the premises and

off " or "on. Smoking Room licences allowing sale for consumption either

" and off" licences and all licensed Stringent conditions are attached to both premises are subject to supervision and inspection. In the Federated Malay States, Kedah, and Trengganu there are also Government retail shops, and the policy of the Malayan Governments is to extend this system, in place of the licensed retailer system. Considerable progress has already been made.

on

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1

The regulations regarding the sale of prepared opium are generally similar in the various territories. Prepared opium is only allowed to be sold for current coin, in the unbroken packets or receptacles in which it is packed in the Government factory. The amount of opium (or dross) which may be in the possession of any

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