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to me by the Aeting Governor, a copy of whose despatch on the subject I have the honour to inclose.
As far as the legitimate trade of the Colony is concerned, I am not disposed to think that it would have been prejudiced by the Ordinance as it was originally faid before the Council. And with regard to the illicit trade, the framers of the Government Bill could not have been expected to legislate in its favour.
The Colonial Government would doubtless have been justified in giving effect to the Ordinance notwithstanding the opposition, inasmuch as it had been approved by Her Majesty's Government and the Government of China, as well as accepted by the Portuguese Government for adoption by the authorities at Macao; but looking to the unpleasantness of the position which might have been created in the Colony had such a course been followed, I am of opinion that the Government could hardly have done otherwise than consent to take into consideration the suggestion of the opponents of the Bill to be allowed to propose amendments on behalf of the retail dealers.
These amendments are specified in the accompanying copy of a despatch from the Acting Governor, and although their complicated character will undoubtedly render the execution of the Ordinance less easy, I felt I should only be embarrassing the Colonial Government if I declined to bring them to the notice of the Chinese Government.
Thanks to the intervention of Sir Robert Hart, Inspector-General of the Maritime Customs, the Tsung-li Yamên has been willing to give the amended Ordinance a trial, but at the same time, a hope was expressed that the export from the Colony of opium in quantities less than a whole chest would be restricted with respect to conveyance to junks and the Canton river steamers. In other words, that Canton should be the only Treaty port included in the arrangement.
By a telegram from the Acting Governor, dated the 27th instant, I have learnt that the amended Ordinance as modified by the Chinese Government has been passed.
I have, &c.
(Signed) JOHN WALSHAM.
Inclosure 1 in No. 2.
Mr. Marsh to Sir J. Walsham.
Hong Kong, April 3, 1887. Sir,
I HAD the honour of forwarding a telegram on the 2nd instant, informing you of the strong opposition that Mr. Russell's Opium Bill has encountered both from the unofficial members of the Council and from the Chamber of Commerce, who have been almost unanimous in asking for an adjournment of the second reading of the Bill. The reason alleged is in order to give time to consider whether it might not be possible to devise some scheme by which the sale of opium in quantities less than oue chest, prohibited by clauses 3 and 4 of the Bill, could not be permitted without prejudice either to the Chinese Customs or to the Government of this Colony.
2. An outline of such a scheme was submitted to Mr. Russell last week by one of the principal opporents of the Bill, and after considering it at a meeting of the Executive Council, at which his Honour Sir George Philipps and Mr. Justice Rassell were invited to assist, it was thought desirable to adjourn the second reading for a short time, in order to see whether this scheme could be developed in a manner which would be satisfactory to all parties. In an able speech made the following day at Council by the Chief Justice, to which I would invite your special attention, he advocated an adjournment, and called attention to grave inaccuracies in the speeches of the two learned counsel who bad been permitted to appear at the meeting of the 30th March on behalf of the wholesale and retail dealers in opium.
3. It has been alleged that the whole of the retail trade in opium will be destroyed if Mr. Russell's Bill is passed. This retail trade is estimated not to exceed 7,500 piculs
dollars. a-year, or a value of
4. The collection of all customs duties was on the 2nd instant vested in the Chinese Imperial Customs, and the competition which hitherto existed, and caused a rebate to be offered by the native Collectorate, has ceased.
The retail trade must be very much affected by this fact, which is altogether independent of the proposed Bill. The Bill, by effectually preventing smuggling, will further affect the retail dealers from whom opium has been procured for smuggling.
It is understood that the new scheme is to be matured in the course of a few days. If it is one that can be adopted by the Government, and is likely to be acceptable to China,
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I will telegraph at once to your Excellency, and if you inform me that it is approved, I will then telegraph to the Secretary of State for instructions on the subject.
I have, &c. (Signed) W. H. MARSH.
P.S.-I annex, for your Excellency's information, a Report taken from one of the daily papers of the proceedings in Council on the motion for the second reading of this Bill, which Report, although not quite accurate in every respect, will serve to inform you of the arguments that have been used in the debate.
W. H. M
Inclosure 2 in No. 2.
Mr. Marsh to Sir J. Walsham.
Sir,
Hong Kong, April 5, 1887. IN continuation of my despatch to your Excellency of yesterday's date, and with reference to a telegram which I have dispatched to-day, I have now the honour to inclose copy of a scheme which has been submitted to Government for permitting the retail sale of opium whilst sufficiently safeguarding the interests both of China and of this Govern-
ment.
This scheme, which, in the opinion of this Government, is a satisfactory one, has been signed, you will observe, on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce and of the wholesale and retail dealers in opium. It has further been communicated to Mr. Morgan, one of the Imperial Customs Commissioners, who has expressed the opinion that it will probably prove acceptable to Sir R. Hart, and has undertaken to communicate with him. I therefore forward it for your consideration, in order that you may ascertain the views of the Chinese Government thercon, which I should feel much obliged by your communi- cating by telegram as soon as possible.
2. Mr. Russell, who threw into form the proposals submitted in the first instance, suggested certain important modifications of a more binding nature, and these were adopted. Knowing what were Sir R. Hart's and Mr. Brenan's views in the matter, he has taken care to close up every discoverable gap through which both our own revenue and that of China could be defrauded; and he considers, as does Mr. Morgan, that the revenue of China arising from opium leaving this port will be safeguarded, whilst that of the Colony will be immensely improved. It will put this Government to some extra trouble and expense, but if acceptable to China, and you see no reason for objecting to it, it will enable this Government to co-operate with China without encountering the opposition of the whole of the mercantile community of Hong Kong, which is of itself, as your Excellency will no doubt agree with me, a reason of some importance.
your
3. In my opinion, the conditions to which the commercial community have expressed their willingness to consent, because they regard them as emanating from themselves, are more stringent than those objected to by them in the draft Bill now before Council. These objections were possibly based to a considerable extent on sentiment, but it must be remembered that the so-called Blockade question is one that caused an immense amount of ill-feeling some years ago. This had almost been forgotten, but the sudden intro- duction of the Bill, which I was not at liberty to make public until I received Excellency's telegram informing me of the adhesion of Portugal to the arrangement, served to rouse the dormant feeling on the subject. This Government did what it could to hasten the Bill, for I read the Bill a first time on your Excellency's telegram, but any attempt to pass it hurriedly through Council without giving sufficient time for considera. tion of its bearing would have intensified this feeling very much by enlisting the sympathy of even the supporters of the measure, and have made the whole community suspicious of Government.
4. The Commissioner of Customs is, moreover, not yet ready to carry out the new arrangements. He has no office or warehouse in Chinese Kowloon, and I believe there are no suitable buildings that might be adapted to that purpose. There was, therefore, no urgent reason for pressing too strongly the second reading of the Bill in the face of the strong public feeling in favour of an adjournment.
This Government is, in the meantime, doing everything in its power loyally to help China. The Arms Bill recently passed enables Government to prevent the assembling of armed bands for the purpose of smuggling, and a large quantity of opium recently seized, although it could not be confiscated, was not given up until much trouble had been given by exacting proof of ownership, and an action is threatened against the Government for damages, as it is said that the old Collectorate were conniving at opium
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