CO129-235 - Public Offices - 1887 — Page 379

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REGO I AUG 87

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No. 1.

Sir J. Walsham to the Marquis of Salisbury.-(Received July 25.)

(No. 36. Ext. 14.) My Lord,

Peking, May 28, 1887.

A BILL, entitled "An Ordinance for the better Regulating the Trade in Opium," was submitted to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong by the Acting Governor of the Colony on the 18th March last, and read a first time. A copy of the Ordinance will be found at p. 81 of the printed papers inclosed in your Lordship's despatch No. 310, Confidendial, of the 26th November, and is marked (B).

On the Bill being read a second time on the 1st April, great opposition was made to the 3rd and 4th clauses of the Ordinance by the unofficial members of the Legislative Council, as well as by the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce; and the Colonial Govern- ment was asked to take into consideration certain amendments which it was proposed to introduce into the Ordinance.

These amendments being regarded by the Colonial Government as generally satisfactory, I consented to their being laid before the Chinese Government, who eventually accepted them as a tentative measure, subject to a slight modification which they suggested.

By a telegram from Hong Kong, dated the 27th instant, I learnt that the amendments as modified by the Chinese Government had been passed by the Legislative Council, and that there was a probability of the Ordinance becoming law on the 1st June.

I was very glad to receive this news, as the delay which has occurred in giving effect to the Ordinance has greatly favoured the efforts of the high authorities at Canton to prevent the stations in the neighbourhood of Hong Kong and Macao, commonly known as the "blockade stations," from coming under the sole charge of Sir Robert Hart, the Inspector-General of the Chinese Foreign Customs Service.

The substance of this despatch has been telegraphed to your Lordship.

I have, &c.

(Signed) JOHN WALSHAM.

No. 2.

Sir J. Walsham to the Marquis of Salisbury.-(Received July 25.)

(No. 37.) My Lord,

Peking, May 29, 1887. IN my telegram No. 14 of yesterday, I stated that the Legislative Council of Hong Kong had passed with certain modifications the Ordinance for the better regulation of the opium trade in the Colony, which had been submitted to them by the Government in

March last.

The 3rd and 4th clauses of the Ordinance, which restricted the import and export of the drug to whole chests, met with great opposition from the non-official members of the Council as well as from the Local Chamber of Commerce, who regarded this provision of the Ordinance as a direct interference with the retail opium trade.

The grounds of their opposition are fully set forth in the discussion which took place on the second reading of the Ordinance, and are recorded in the newspaper extracts sent

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