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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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TREENIC.O. 882/11

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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40. It may be added that it has recently been pointed out to the Government of the Straits Settlements (in connexion with a suggestion that the price of Govern- ment chandu in Malaya should be raised) that such a divergence of policy in neighbour- ing administrations, by both of which the prevalence of smuggling has been adduced as a reason for their inability at present to introduce further measures of restrictive control over individual smokers, might well cause comment in the League of Nations Opium Advisory Committee.

Colonial Office,

November, 1926.

C. 20941/26 [No. 18].

(Confidential.)

No. 80.

RECORD OF A MEETING OF AN INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE HELD AT THE FOREIGN OFFICE ON 25TH NOVEMBER, 1926, TO CONSIDER THE RECENT INCREASE IN THE CONSUMPTION OF PREPARED OPIUM IN MALAYA.

Present:

The Right Honourable Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, K.C. (in the Chair). The Honourable W. G. A. Ormsby Gore, M.P.

Sir G. E. A. Grindle, K.C.M.G., C.B.

Mr. J. J. Paskin, M.C.

The Right Honourable Sir John Anderson, G.C.B. }

Sir Malcolm Delevingne, K.C.B.

Mr. M. D. Perrins

The Honourable A. M. G. Cadogan, C.M.G. Į Mr. W Strang

Mr. K. Johnstone

Colonial Office.

Home Office.

1

Foreign Office.

LORD CECIL explained that the meeting arose out of a minute he had sub- mitted to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and that its object was to elicit the best defence of the recent large increase in opium consumption in Malaya should His Majesty's Government be the object of criticism on this account at Geneva or elsewhere. The establishment of the Opium Revenue Replacement Reserve Fund was the most effective argument we possessed; but it would be most difficult to set up a convincing defence of the recent large increases. If it was asserted that the Straits authorities were dealing with opium according to the approved plan then the retort would be that the plan itself was bad. And in spite of the excellent memorandum* which the Colonial Office had prepared as a basis for discussion, he was still not convinced that the Malayan Governments had done all that they could,

MR. ORMSBY GORE then read a telegram, dated the 21st September,† from In this Sir L. Guillemard, which had not been mentioned in the memorandum. telegram the Governor said that any censure by the League of Nations would be resented in the Colony, and he hoped that the British Representatives would bear in mind the special difficulties of the Malayan Governments, who had adopted on Imperial grounds a policy which local opinion considered unnecessary and vexatious and, in its financial aspects. standing in the way of development. The recent increased consumption would not hinder the prosecution of the main scheme. Mr. Ormsby Gore then explained that the authorities were dealing with a situation and a set of circum- stances unlike those existing in Europe and America, and that the Malayan Govern- ments had found the greatest difficulty in doing what they already had done. The sensational increase of purchasing power in the Straits (exports had risen from £80 to £150 in one year) made the problem even more difficult. The cocoa boom in the Gold Coast had caused a similar increase in the consumption of alcohol. The increase in the consumption of opium was not out of proportion to the increase in the con- sumption of other articles of luxury.

SIR JOHN ANDERSON thought that we were open to a very dangerous attack on the ground that we were creating new addicts. Chinese who are too poor to buy opium in China go to the Straits and earn wages which enable them to buy opium in Government shops. The case of opium differed from that of alcohol in West Africa in that His Majesty's Government were under an international obligation (Article 6 of

* Enclosure in No. 79,

↑ No. 121.

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The Hague Convention) to "take measures for the gradual and effective suppression .of the manufacture, internal trade in, and use of prepared opium."

MR. ORMSBY GORE pointed out that that article concluded with the words "with due regard to the various circumstances of each country concerned.

LORD CECIL said that so long as the improvement in the figures of the consumption was maintained we could defend our case; and though the points made in the Colonial Office memorandum were sound, yet the fact remained that, in the face of our obliga- tion to reduce, the figures had greatly increased.

MR. ORMSBY GORE thought that it was too early to conclude that the general downward trend in the figures of consumption would not be resumed. It is unlikely that the price of rubber will ever return to the figure it reached in 1925, and it is accordingly probable that the purchasing power in Malaya will not remain at its present high level. In the case of tin, the tendency was the other way, but tin is a fluctuating commodity, and in any case was not such an important factor as rubber in this respect. LORD CECIL said that his chief difficulty was that he had an uneasy feeling that, while His Majesty's Government had, both in legislation and by treaty, accepted the view that opium smoking is a bad thing, the authorities and public in Malaya did not agree and were perhaps not trying very hard.

MR. ORMSBY GORE said that the Colonial Office found themselves in their usual difficult position of having, in the interests of Imperial policy, to govern colonies against the will of the governed. And quite frankly public opinion in the Straits did not agree with the policy His Majesty's Government had adopted.

LORD CECIL said another of his difficulties would be that, while His Majesty's Government were always blaming the Persians for exporting huge quantities of opium to the Far East, the Persians could now perfectly fairly reply that the increases were to a great extent due to the large demands from British Colonies.

ŠIR M. DELEVINGNE also reminded the committee that these large purchases of Persian opium were being made at a time when the League had been making an inquiry in Persia into the possibilities of reducing the opium crop. He added that, as a result of the Malaya purchases, the Persian opium market was reported to be booming.

SIR G. GRINDLE observed that if the Colonial Office had not been assured that there would be no objection to our Colonies buying Persian opium the Colonial Office would have put up a very much stronger opposition to the policy of the progressive reduction of the export of Indian opium.

LORD CECIL replied that the trouble was not that we were buying Persian opium to make good the deficit of Indian opium, but that we were buying large quantities in excess of what we have been getting from India.

MR. ORMSBY GORE asked what Lord Cecil wanted the Colonial Office to do. LORD CECIL said he would be grateful if they could do anything to help him at Geneva. He would like to be able to say that the Singapore authorities were not Even if this were to result in going to import more than a certain fixed amount. increased smuggling, would this not perhaps be a lesser evil from the point of view of appearances at any rate?

MR. PASKIN said that the policy of limitation had been tried in 1920. but. as shown in paragraph 7 of the Colonial Office memorandum, had resulted in dis- turbances, and had had to be abandoned.

SIR JOHN ANDERSON observed that the experience of 1920 was not necessarily applicable to the situation now, seeing that the Government had now almost completed the process of getting rid of the private shops and saloons and were getting to know the consumers through the "observer"

system.

MR. PASKIN doubted whether the Government control was even yet complete enough to make this plan possible.

SIR G. GRINDLE objected that as this measure would increase smuggled supplies it would not be an effective measure and would, therefore, be inconsistent with the treaty obligation.

SIR M. DELEVINGNE suggested that, if Lord Cecil's proposal were adopted. it might be possible under the new arrangements to do something effective to stop hoarding and prevent discontent. The regular customers would be known-arrange- ments could be made that their normal supplies should be reserved for them---and outsiders and casual customers would not be allowed to buy up the supplies. As regards the objection that smuggling would increase, the fact was that, as regards smuggling. the situation had already got out of hand. Even in 1925, before the steep rise in the Government figures had begun, it was estimated that there were 110 tons