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273
Special Notice.
These six Regulations are given below.
1. All sellers of raw opium shall, if within Canton, apply to this bureau, and if outside Canton shall apply to the offices of the local authorities for certificates to be held by them as an authority on which they may carry on their business; such certificates are renewable yearly, and no charges are made for the certificates. Any shops established secretly and without having obtained a certificate will in every instance be searched for and suppressed.
2. If any person or purchaser comes to purchase raw opium, the raw opium shop shall examine and ascertain if he has or not a certificate for purchasing raw opinm and a certificate for smoking opium. If he has no certificate or if his certificates are insufficient, no sale to him shall be allowed. The quantity shall be limited to one panful. With Patna opium one ball shall be taken as one panful, and with Malwa opium 60 or 70 taels shall be taken as one panful. No sale in smaller quantities shall be allowed. Any sale made in contravention of these regulations shall, when discovered, be met with a punishment.
3. Every raw opium shop shall once a month prepare a clear table showing the quantity sold, making a distinction between foreign opium and native, and submit same to this bureau or to the offices of the local authorities for perusal.
4. Sale of raw opium by any but a raw opium shop shall not be allowed. This is to prevent confusion.
5. All purchasers of raw opium, if in Canton, shall apply to this bureau for tickets in triplicate. These tickets are to be used in such a way that one part shall be kept in this bureau, one in the raw opium shop, and one in the house of the purchaser of raw opium. The raw opium and the ticket shall not part company. When the raw opium has been boiled into a prepared state the corresponding ticket shall not be used to cover other (opium). This ticket is limited to be used once only. To purchase a second time you must apply a second time. Outside Canton application should be made to the office of the local authorities.
6. All purchasers of raw opium shall carry with them their licences for smoking opium, together with the tickets in triplicate, and hand same to the raw opium shop for examination. Only then may he make any purchase.
Hsüan Tung, 1st year, 3rd moon, 13th day
(No. 39.) Sir,
(May 2, 1909).
Inclosure 5 in No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Consul-General Fox.
I HAVE received your despatch No. 58 of the 28th ultimo, relative to certain
Peking, June 17, 1909. new regulations issued by the Canton Government for the control of the sale and purchase of raw opium.
I have carefully studied these new regulations, together with the accompanying proclamation and forms of licence, and compared them with the regulations of the 4th September, 1908, and I cannot find in them any innovation which would cause me to depart from the attitude which I took up in regard to this matter last year, an attitude subsequently approved by His Majesty's Government.
I understand that under the new regulations all raw opium shops at present existing can be licensed, though once this registration of existing establishments has been accomplished, no new shops will be allowed to be opened. This is merely carrying into effect No. 5 of the original Imperial Regulations of 1906, and as such we cannot properly oppose such a step. His Majesty's Government ruled that neither these regulations, nor the provincial regulations of last year, should be regarded as constituting an infringement of our treaty rights, and Sir Edward Grey went further and said that, even should a case be made out in favour of the rules being considered to constitute a technical violation of treaty rights, he would be disposed all the same not to raise objection to the rules being carried out.
Under these circumstances I do not feel that you are called upon to make any protest against the enforcement of the new rules. address the Viceroy, making use of the same arguments against the enforcement of We suggest that you might
the new regulations as I employed in my letter to Prince Ching in regard to certain regulations issued by the Cheklang authorities, and I see no objection to your making You should remind the Viceroy of his assurance some representation on these lines.
of last year that the regulations then issued, with which the new ones are to all intents and purposes identical, applied only to rteail sellers of raw opium, and express a hope that his Excellency can give you a similar assurance in regard to the new regulations. If his Excellency is unable to do this you should say that, acting on instructions from me, you must request him to issue clear instructions that foreign opium must be excluded from the operation of any clauses in the regulations which are intended to You should add that you will make no formal protest apply to the wholesale trade. as long as the licensing regulations are carried out in a proper spirit and in such a manner as not to interfere with the wholesale trade between the British importer and the native purchaser.
As I instructed you before, you must carefully watch the working of the licensing system, and if you detect any tendency towards the formation of a monopoly or of a close ring for the purpose of dictating prices to the importing firms, you should make representations to the Viceroy that the regulations are not being carried out in the spirit in which we had accepted them. You might inform Messrs. David Sassoon and Co. of the substance of this despatch, but you should not mention what Sir Edward Grey said as to condoning a technical violation of treaty rights.
Your Highness,
Inclosure 6 in No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Prince Ch'ing.
I am, &c.
J. N. JORDAN.
Peking, April 12, 1909. WITII reference to my note of the 4th January, and to your Highness's of the 14th January, on the measures taken in Kuangtung and Kiangnan for controlling the sale and consumption of opium, I have the honour to inform your Highness that I have received from His Majesty's consul-general at Shanghae certain new rules and regulations issued by the Opium Prohibition Bureau of Chekiang which indicate attempts to form a monopoly of the sale of opium in that province, and to impose restrictions on dealings in foreign opiam which are inconsistent with treaty provisions. I am also informed that identical measures are being introduced in the provinces of Hupei and Anhui.
As your Highness is aware, the suppression of the use of opium has been the subject of a special agreement between our two Governments, which has so far been strictly adhered to by His Majesty's Government. Under this arrangement the quantity of opium exported from India was reduced last year, and will be further reduced this year; and all that it is necessary for China to do is to see to a reduction of the cultivation of native opium, for with reduced imports and reduced cultivation there will naturally be reduced consumption and the use of the drug will gradually become extinct. An examination of the regulations issued in Chekiang, and probably also in Hupei and Anhui, will show your Highness that they constitute prohibitive measures affecting the legitimate trade of British merchants which are not sanctioned by the agreement between the two Governments, and are a direct contravention of long-standing treaty arrangements.
In your Highness's note of the 14th January, in reply to my previous objections, you informed me that the system of wholesale houses in Kiangnan was only intended to restrict the sale of native opium, and that in Kuangtung no system of wholesale houses had been begun. I have the honour to request, therefore, that the provincial authorities of Chekiang, Anhui, and Hupei may be instructed to exclude foreign opium from the operation of the clauses in their opium regulations which apply to the wholesale trade.
I avail, &c.
J. N. JORDAN,
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