CO129-353 - Public Offices - 1908 — Page 650

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dated the 9th October, from which I gather that the apprehensions entertained by opium importers were already allayed. Mr. Fox's further Report upon the subject has not yet reached me,

I have, &e. (Signed)

Inclosure 1 in No. 1.

Wai-wu Pu to Sir J. Jordan.

J. N. JORDAN.

October 6, 190S.

(Translation.) Sir,

AT an interview at the Wai-wu Pu on the 29th ultimo, your Excellency informed the Board that you were in receipt of a telegram from His Majesty's Acting Consul- General at Canton, reporting that Regulations for an official monopoly of the sale of prepared opium were about to be put in force, and requested that such a measure would be most improper the Viceroy should be directed by telegraph to refrain from enforcing it.

In reply to telegraphic inquiries addressed by the Board to the Viceroy at Canton, the following telegram has now been received from his Excellency :-

"By the 5th Article of the Regulations for the Prohibition of Opium, sanctioned by the Throne and issued by the Government Council last year, local authorities are required to ascertain the total number of shops for the sale of raw and prepared opium in all cities, towns, and villages, to keep a register thereof, and issue official licences to carry on the trade, and no more shops must be opened in future. Any person wishing to purchase raw or prepared opium at these shops must produce a licence, and no sale shall be permitted to take place without it. The Reorganization Bureau's proposal to require all shops for the sale of raw and prepared opium, and all persons purchasing raw opium with a view to preparing it themselves, to buy and sell the drug only under an opium shop or smoker's licence respectively, is, in accordance with the Regulations, sane- tioned by the Throne, and does not constitute an official opium monopoly. I have received a despatch from His Majesty's Acting Consul-General at Canton, stating that the pro- hibition to open any new shops for the sale of raw or prepared opium after the registra- tion has been completed was an interference with the import trade in Indian opium carried on by British merchants at Hong Kong. He regarded it as an attempt to create a monopoly, and requested that orders be issued for its annulment.

"I find, however, after careful investigation, that the measure proposed by the Bureau is in accordance with the Regulations sanctioned by the Throne and issued by the Government Council, and affects the whole scheme for the prohibition of opium throughout the provinces, and I cannot therefore order its withdrawal."

We have the honour to inform your Excellency that the provincial authorities of Kuantung bave acted in accordance with the Regulations for the prohibition of opium drawn up by the Government Council and sanctioned by the Throne, which direct that the number of shops selling raw and prepared opium should be ascertained and a register prepared, and that no more shops should be opened. These measures must be enforced if the evils of opium are to be gradually diminished year by year and finally completely eradicated, and they differ entirely from an official monopoly of the sale of opium.

We avail, &c.

(No. 51.) Sir,

(Signed) Prince Ch'ing and Ministers.

Inclosure 2 in No. 1.

Acting Consul-General Fox to Sir J. Jordan.

Canton, September 29, 1908. ON the 23rd instant I received a letter signed by all the principal British firms in Hong Kong dealing in Indian opium, protesting against certain Regulations about to be issued by the Canton Governinent with the object of regulating and restricting the trade in raw opium in this province.

I have the honour to inclose copy of the Hong Kong merchants' letter, together with copy and translation of the new Regulations.

As it appeared to me that the contention advanced in the merchants' letter, namely,

that the effect of these new Regulations would be to create a monopoly in favour of a small ring of Canton dealers in raw opium to the detriment of the Hong Kong importer was a reasonable one, and as, moreover, the restrictions imposed by the new Regulations would undoubtedly interfere with the Treaty rights of British merchants "to carry on mercantile transactions in China with whatever persons they please" (Treaty of Nanking, Article 5), I addressed, on receipt of this complaint, a formal protest to the Viceroy asking him to suspend the inforcement of the new Regulations until he had received a further communication from me on the subject.

This second despatch, copy and translation of which I have the honour to inclose, I sent in to the Viceroy on the 26th instant. After recapitulating the principal objections to the new Regulations, as set out in the Hong Kong merchants' letter to me, and reminding his Excellency that the illegality of an attempt to create a similar monopoly at Nanking last year had been recognized by the Wai-wu Pu, I went on to point out that, as the Indian Government were reducing the annual export of opium from India, any arbitrary steps taken to restrict the sale of Indian opium in Canton were not only contrary to Treaty but quite unnecessary.

I have so far received no reply to either of these despatches, but I expect to hear from the Viceroy to-day, or, at the latest, to-morrow,

I will, as stated in my telegram No. 18, communicate to you by wire the substance of his reply.

I am sending a copy of this despatch to the Governor of Hong Kong,

Sir,

I venture to hope that you will approve the action I have taken in this matter.

I have, &c. (Signed) H. H. FOX.

Inclosure 3 in No. 1.

Hong Kong Merchants to Acting Consul-General Fox.

Hong Kong, September 23, 1908. WE have the honour to bring to your notice translations of the following documents, copies of which are inclosed :-

1. Notification dated "Kwong Sui, 34th year, 8th moon, 9th day" (4th September, 1908), purporting to be issued by the Provincial Judge, the Colonial Treasurer, the President of the Reorganization Board, and the Superintendent of Police of the Province of Kwong Tung.

2. Form of licence referred to in the notification proposed to be issued by the Kwong Tung Coast Defence and Reorganization Board to native shops authorizing them to buy and sell by retail raw opium.

3. A licence referred to in the notification proposed to be issued by the same Board for smokers of opium authorizing the purchase by the individual mentioned in the licence of foreign and native opium from native shops.

The notification states that the provisions contained therein will come into force and become operative on the 1st day of the 9th moon (25th September, 1908). Under the circumstances, therefore, it would appear that no time should be lost in protesting against the action of the provincial authorities, which, for the reasons hereinafter set forth, we contend is wholly illogical and contrary to Treaty.

The notification provides that the local authorities shall make...--

1. Clear investigation into the number of shops selling raw and prepared opium in

every city, town, village, and hamlet.

2. That the local authorities shall then have these shops registered.

3. That the authorities shall then grant them licences for carrying on their business,

i.e., of selling raw and prepared opium.

4. That after ascertainment and registration of the number of opium shops in the Province of the Two Kwongs, no new opium shops doing business in the buying and selling of raw and prepared opium may be established.

5. All opium shops are to be licensed, and the licence is to be renewable every year, and any shop either buying or selling raw opium without having a licence is liable to be seized and shut up.

6. Individuals who wish to purchase raw opium must procure licences, and produce them to the opium shop to enable them to purchase the raw opium from that shop. It is incumbent on that shop to see that the purchaser has a licence enabling him to

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