C.O.
This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[April 16.] JUN 08
SECTION 2.
[13252]
No. 1.
(No. 141.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received April 16.)
Peking, March 24, 1908.
I HAVE the honour to inclose copy of a despatch from His Majesty's Consul at Foochow reporting the complaint of the local Chinese authorities against a Parsee firm, Mehta and Co., for boiling opium and selling it to the Chinese; and forwarding two Petitions from the British Missionary Body and the native Anti-Opium Society, in which it was requested that means should be found to put a stop to the practice complained of.
Opium from India is usually sold in the crude form by the British importers, and native retailers prepare it for the pipe and sell the prepared drug to their customers. Since the Chinese Government instituted the present movement against opium-smoking, the boiling and sale of prepared opium are more restricted, and, no doubt, there is greater incentive to foreigners to engage in a form of business which might become all the more lucrative to them because of the restrictions.
Mr. Playfair desired Mehta and Co. to discontinue the practice complained of, and this they agreed to do, but being unable to find any Treaty or Regulation prohibiting the preparation of opium by British subjects, he felt that he had no legal power to constrain Mehta and Co., and applied to me for instructions as to how he should deal with the difficulty which had arisen.
As Mr. Playfair states, the Chinese authorities do not permit Chinese to boil or sell prepared opium without licence, and at Treaty ports where there are foreign Concessions or Settlements, the Municipal Regulations usually class opium shops with other public houses and provide for the issue of licences. Foochow is without a municipality, there being no Settlement or Concession; but it appears to me that the powers conferred on British Consuls by No. XVII of the General Port Regulations can be reasonably construed to cover the case of Mehta and Co., and I have so informed Mr. Playfair in the despatch copy of which is inclosed for your information. Should you consider that Regulation XVII cannot be so construed, it would seem advisable, under existing conditions, that some form of words should be inserted which would make it clear that no British subject can establish an opium shop in China without Consular sanction and licence.
I have approved Mr. Playfair's action in regard to Mehta and Co., and have informed him that in view of the general movement against opium, and the attitude adopted by His Majesty's Government towards that movement, it is very undesirable that British subjects should engage in the business complained of.
I have, &c. (For His Majesty's Minister),
(Signed) STEPHEN LEECH.
(No. 4.) Sir,
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Consul Playfair to Sir J. Jordan.
Foochow, March 9, 1908.
I HAVE the honour to report, for your information, a case which has recently come before me and which has been the cause of much perplexity.
In February last, the Board of Foreign Affairs made a complaint to the effect that Mehta and Co., a Parsee firm, had been in the habit of boiling opium and selling it to Chinese; and the Foreign Board asked me to put a stop to the practice.
Opium imported from India is not fit for the pipe until it has been prepared by boiling. The Provincial Government, in their crusade against opium-smoking, in order to have efficient control over the consumption of the drug, in May last year made it a penal offence that opium should be thus prepared except by licensed shops.
Page 2
[2918 9-9
632
C.O.
This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government 2
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[April16.] JUN 08
SECTION 2.
[13252]
No. 1.
!
(No. 141.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received April 16.)
Peking, March 24, 1908. I HAVE the honour to inclose copy of a despatch from His Majesty's Consul at Foochow reporting the complaint of the local Chinese authorities against a Parsee firm, Mehta and Co., for boiling opium and selling it to the Chinese; and forwarding two Petitions from the Pritish Missionary Body and the native Anti-Opium Society, in which it was requested that means should be found to put a stop to the practice complained of.
Opium from India is usually sold in the crude form by the British importers, and native retailers prepare it for the pipe and sell the prepared drug to their customers. Since the Chinese Government instituted the present movement against opium- smoking, the boiling and sale of prepared opium are more restricted, end, no doubt, there is greater incentive to foreigners to engage in a form of business which might become all the more lucrative to them because of the restrictions.
Mr. Playfair desired Mehta and Co. to discontinue the practice complained of, and this they agreed to do, but being unable to find any Treaty or Regulation prohibiting the preparation of opium by British subjects, he felt that he had no legal power to constrain Mehta and Co., and applied to me for instructions as to how he should deal with the difficulty which had arisen.
As Mr. Playfair states, the Chinese authorities do not permit Chinese to boil or sell prepared opium without licence, and at Treaty ports where there are foreign Concessions or Settlements, the Municipal Regulations usually class opium shops with other public houses and provide for the issue of licences. Foochow is without a municipality, there being no Settlement or Concession; but it appears to me that the powers conferred on British Cousuis by No. XVII of the General Port Regulations can be reasonably construed to cover the case of Mehta and Co., and I have so informed Mr. Playfair in the despatch copy of which is inclosed for your information. Should you consider that Regulation XVII cannot be so construed, it would seem advisable, under existing conditions, that some form of words should be inserted which would make it clear that no British subject can establish an opium shop in China without Consular sunction and licence.
I have approved Mr. Playfair's action in regard to Mehta and Co., and have informed him that in view of the general movement against opium, and the attitude adopted by His Majesty's Government towards that movement, it is very undesirable that British subjects should engage in the business complained of.
I have, &c. (For His Majesty's Minister),
(Signed) STEPHEN LEECH.
(No. 4.) Sir,
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Consul Playfair to Sir J. Jordan.
Foochow, March 9, 1908.
I HAVE the honour to report, for your information, a case which has recently come before me and which has been the cause of much perplexity.
In February last, the Board of Foreign Affairs made a complaint to the effect that Mehta and Co., a Parsee firm, had been in the habit of boiling opium and selling it to Chinese; and the Foreign Board asked me to put a stop to the practice.
Opium imported from India is not fit for the pipe until it has been prepared by boiling. The Provincial Government, in their crusade against opium-smoking, in order to have efficient control over the consumption of the drug, in May last year made it a penal offence that opium should be thus prepared except by licensed shops.
-2]
[2918 9-9
632
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.