CO129-367 - Acting Governor May - 1910 [6-7] — Page 261

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on behalf (of the Government) as tax on prepared opium

$7.20*. I would draw attention incidentally to the fact

that the word here used for "tax" is not

I may

also point out that the obvious inference from regulation

12 is that the additional tax is paid on the Raw Opium,

for if the tax is paid on prepared opium why should it be

stated that one tael of Raw Opium is calculated as producing

half a tael of prepared opium ? Moreover,

inasmuch as the

purchaser of Raw Opium is required by regulation 7 to boil

it within three days of purchase, it is clear that in

effect (whether payment is made before or after boiling)

the tax must really fall on Raw Opium dealers.

4

With regard to the second point

the foreign Raw Opium merchants are endeavouring to obtain

proof of the fact that differentiation is made in favour

of native opium, but it is difficult for them to do so,

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they have no agents except at Treaty Ports. I may add that

the Consul-General's contention that, native opium being

cheaper than foreign, the tax is actually heavier upon the

former, appears to neglect the fact that the weight lost in

preparation of native opium is considerably less than that

lost in preparation of foreign opium. A reference to

Tables XIII and XIV in Mr. C. Clementi's Confidential

Memorandum