CO129-371 - Public Offices - 1910 — Page 292

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.

CHINA TRADE.

SECRET.

[46760]

No. 1.

290

5653

[December 28 KB 10

SECTION 3.

7

Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received December 28.)

(No. 457.) Sir,

Peking, December 9, 1909. ON the 12th October last Mr. Max Müller received a private letter from Mr. Alston, enclosing an extract from a letter written by a lady missionary in the province of Fuklien. The extract, which had been communicated to Mr. McKinnon Wood by Sir John Kennaway, criticised the attitude of Ilis Majesty's consul at Foochow with regard to the closing of opium shops in the district of Ku-t'ien.

I now have the honour to transmit to you copies of correspondence with Mr. Play- fair on the subject. From Mr. Playfair's reply to my despatch you will observe that the statements made by Miss Church are in many respects inaccurate, and that His Majesty's consul merely took action to maintain what he considered to be the treaty rights of the British opium importers. I have, however, in my despatch to Mr. Play- fair, explained the difficulties of the situation and the necessity of cautious handling of these questions relating to the opium rules of 1906, and he has accordingly ceased to make representations against the action of the Chinese authorities in the Ku-tien district.

The despatch to His Majesty's consul at Nanking of the 13th August, copy of which I communicated to Mr. Playfair for his guidance, was transmitted to you in my despatch of the 17th August last.

I have, &c.

J. N. JORDAN.

i

Inclosure 1 in No. 1.

Sir J, Jordan to Consul Playfair.

(No. 15. Confidential.) Sir,

Peking, October 19, 1909. I TRANSMIT to you herewith a copy of a letter from a missionary lady in Gu-liang regarding the suppression of the opium trade in Ku-t'ien (Ku-cheng). This letter was communicated to Mr. McKinnon Wood, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and was forwarded privately to Mr. Max Müller to ascertain whether the facts as stated therein were correct. I have read the passage in your Intelligence Report for last quarter, which describes the same incident, but I thought that you would like to have an opportunity of stating your views on the version given in the enclosed letter. Questions concerning the amount of protection to be extended to the foreign opium trade in the interior are very difficult, and require most delicate handling. It is impossible to define exactly how far we ought to interfere to force this trade on the Chinese in the interior, unless in the case of unfair discrimination in favour of native opium contrary to the terms of the Additional Article of 1855. In the present instance the sale of the opium seems to have been conducted by native agents of the foreign firm concerned, and it appears to me doubtful how far the status of such agents and their transactions can be recognised by us under rule 5 (I) of the Rules of Trade attached to the Tien-tsin Treaty and the Additional Article of 1855.

The enclosed copy of a despatch to His Majesty's consul at Nanking will help to show you what attitude you should adopt in regard to such questions in the future, and you should be particularly careful not to commit yourself in any way to any of the British opium importing firms.

I am, &c.

J. N. JORDAN.

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