CO129-369 - Acting Governor May Governor Sir Lugard - 1910 [10-11] — Page 180

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As the matter is one of urgency I would beg for a speedy answer.

As regards the general question of extending the time for boiling down, I would point out that the term thirty days is vague. Does it mean thirty days from the arrival of the opium in China, or thirty days dating from its arrival at its destina-

Is it thirty days after it is in the hands of the wholesale importer, or thirty days after the latter which shall have sold it to the prepared opium dealer?

tion?

In any case the term is too short, in that it does not remove from the levy the stigma that it is in effect a charge on raw opium at time of purchase. Your Excellency's communication

is dated September 24. I have in my possession two receipts dated September 30, on which it is stated that at time of purchase the seller has paid the levy on behalf of the buyer.

In the many discussions which have taken place I have stated as my opinion that, should a boiling down limit be considered necessary, it must be for a term of months. The matter appears of such easy adjustment. Your Excellency reiterates that the strictest super- vision is necessary. Granted; but every wholesale dealer is registered and guaranteed, every prepared opium shop aleo. What then is there to stand in the way of an efficient check, after the Imperial Paritime Customs have furnished the returns of original import? A system of mutual guarantee could surely be devised, whereunder it would be possible to have the levy collected at stated periods, and a certificate of boiling down obtained.

it is the inquisitorial methods of the Kuang Yuan Office, under the present system, which have called forth such loud and universal denunciation, on the part of non-Chinese and Chinese alike. Of the fact that the latter are as dissatisfied

as the former the incident of the dealers at Samshui coming to Canton, related in Your Excellency's latter communication under acknowledgment affords proof. It is therefore this system that manifestly stands in need of immediate abolition.

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