CO129-353 - Public Offices - 1908 — Page 752

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Agreement

between British and Chinese Govern-

ments.

China's efforts.

European

in China.

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9. In pursuance of the last-cited clause of the Regulations, negotiations were entered into with the British Government which have resulted in au Agreement between the two Governments, accepted by that of China the 27th January, 1908. By this Agreement the British Government binds itself for three years to reduce the export of opium from India each year by one-tenth of the amount annually taken by China on the average of the years 1901-5, and undertakes to renew this obligation, so as to put an end to the export in ten years, if China has, during these three years, faithfully performed her engagement to suppress, pari passu, the production of opium. (For the details of this Agreement, see the official publication, "China No. 1 (1908),” a copy of which accompanies this letter.) The Government of India has taken steps to give effect to this Agreement by reducing the cultivation of opium in its own territories and the export of opium produced both in those territories (Bengal opium) and in the protected States (Malwa opium).

10. The Central Government of China has made great efforts to carry out the Regulations of November 1906. The effect already produced by these efforts has been summarized, from the Reports of the British Consuls in China, in two Reports, prepared, under the direction of the British Minister at Peking, by Mr. Leech, Councillor of the British Legation. The first of these Reports, dated the 27th November, 1907, is contained in the White Paper already quoted, "China No. 1 (1908)," pp. 31 to 45; the second dated the 24th June, 1908, in a more recent White Paper, "China No. 2 (1908),” a copy of which also accompanies this letter. In his first Report Mr. Leech remarks (p 31) that the considerable extent to which the Chinese Government has already succeeded in its attempt at suppression produces the impression that it will succeed in this formidable undertaking. Already the opium dens were closed in nearly all the great cities without causing disturbances, and the majority of those in the country districts (p. 42). Mr. Leech adds, however, (p. 32):

"Whether China can completely obtain the good she seeks without Govern- ment control of opium, both native-grown and imported, is somewhat doubtful. At present she is debarred from doing so by Article 5 of the British Treaty of Nanking of 1842 and Article 14 of the French Treaty of Tien-tsin of 1858.”

In his second Report Mr. Leech states (p. 2) that the cultivation of the poppy has been reduced in many provinces, and that the numerous supplementary Decrees issued by the Central Government manifest the energy and interest taken by it in the suppression of the trade. A special Commission had just been appointed to dismiss all opium-smoking officials (p. 3). The Chinese Government applies to the import of opium from Persia and Turkey the same rule of diminution by 10 per cent. per annum as to that from India (p. 4).

11. In most of the European territorial Concessions in Chinese ports efforts have Concessions been made for the suppression of opium dens. None exist any longer in the British Concessions, At Chinkiang the opium shops will all be closed from the end of this year, "China No. 2" (p. 5). In the International Settlement at Shanghae, as the result of a discussion at the annual meeting of ratepayers in March last, one-fourth of the opium dens were closed from the 1st July, lots having been cast to settle which of them it should be; another one-fourth (369 dens) are to be closed on the 31st December, 1908. These reductions are understood to have been made with a view to bringing the whole to an end within two years, and the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, has promised to do his best to insure that this shall be realized. In the French Concession at Shanghae the licence tax has been increased fourfold and females. prohibited from entering, with the result that twenty-five dens have closed their doors, "China No. 1" (p. 44), but the remainder continue open.

British Crown Colonies, House of Commons Resolution, May 6,

1908.

12. A further debate on the opium question took place in the House of Commons on the 6th May, 1908, particularly with regard to the sale of opium in the British Crown Colonies, which are placed under the direct control of the Colonial Office in. London. The following Resolution was proposed :----

That this House, having regard to its Resolution, unanimously adopted on the 30th May, 1906, that the Indo-Chinese opium trade is morally indefensible, welcomes. the action of His Majesty's Government in diminishing the sale of opium for export, and thus responding to the action of the Chinese Government in their arrangements for the suppression of the consumption of the drug in that Empire; and this House also urges the Government to take steps to bring to a speedy close the system of licensing opium dens now prevailing in some of our Crown Colonies, more particularly Hong Kong, the Straits Settlements, and Ceylon."

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The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, Colonel Seely, on behalf of the Government, accepted the Resolution, and announced that they had already telegraphed to the Governor of Hong Kong as follows:-

His Majesty's Government have decided that steps must be taken to close opium dens in Hong Kong, as they recognize that it is essential in dealing with the opium question in Hong Kong that we must act up to the standard set by the Chinese Government."

Colonel Seely stated that, in Ceylon, the Imperial Government bad accepted the recommendations of a Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Government of the island, in favour of the closing of opium shops at the end of the present year, the establishment of a Government monopoly for the import and sale of the drug, and the distribution by Government of the quantity required by consumers who should have registered themselves for this purpose. The Governor of Ceylon, in giving his approval to the Report, had observed that the brown races, to which the Sinhalese belong, are less tolerant of the opium habit than the Chinese.

With regard to the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States under British Protectorate, the Under-Secretary said that the Imperial Government was awaiting the Report of a local Commission, but he promised the House that action should be taken "which shall lead with certainty in the direction of the ultimate extinction of the abuse of opium.”

The Resolution was supported by the Right Hon. Alfred Lyttelton, Secretary of State for the Colonies in the previous Government, and unanimously adopted by the House of Commons.

13. In French Indo-China, a Commission, presided over by M. Hardouin, has French lately presented a Report which made the following proposals

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(1.) To raise the price of prepared opium.

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(2.) To prohibit the sale of dross.

(3.) To limit the sale of opium in shops.

(4.) Gradually to close public smoking resorts, commencing with those in the less important centres.

"The Commissioners further advise that steps should be taken to bring the pernicious effects of the opium habit to the knowledge of the people, and that smokers should in future be excluded from public offices." ("China No. 2,” p. 6.)

Indo-China.

14. The Governor of Macao has lately issued orders to a Commission to devise Macao, means to rid that Colony of opium, on the lines pursued by the Chinese Government.

15. The present condition of legislation with regard to the sale of opium may Summary of thus summarized :-

be

sale of

Legislation regarding

opium.

In Japan, the Philippine Islands, and most of the self-governing British Colonies, the sale and consumption of the drug are totally prohibited, except for medical use. In China, a great effort is being made to free the Empire from this curse. In Formosa, most of the British Crown Colonies, Macao, and French Indo- China, beginnings, or at least promises, of legislation with the same object have been made.

In British India, the sale of opium prepared for smoking is prohibited, but that of opium for cating is permitted, except that in Burmah it has been forbidden, since the 1st January, 1894, to sell opium to Burmaus and to certain other native tribes. In the Straits Settlements also, the sale of opium to Malays is forbidden, but this prohibition, as also that existing in Burmah, appears to be more or less evaded.

In the Dutch Indies, where the sale of opium is a Government monopoly, the import and consumption of opium appear to be increasing year by year, to the great injury of the Javanese.

cultivation.

16. The cultivation of the poppy (Papaver somniferum) and manufacture of opium. Sumruary as exist in Turkey, Persia, British India, and China. Turkey opium is preferred for to poppy medical use; in the United Kingdom chemists are bound by the directions contained in the "Pharmacopoeia Britannica" to use it exclusively. In Persia, according to the testimony of American missionaries and of a British Consul, the cultivators are given to the opium vice, which reduces them to great misery. In India the cultivation has been diminished, in concert with China, which has undertaken to extinguish it entirely within ten years. There is a small amount of poppy cultivation and opium

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