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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government]
493
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
24839
[July 18.]
12 AUG 10,
SECTION 3.
>
[25950]
(No. 213.) Sir,
No. 1.
Mr. Max Müller to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received July 18.)
Peking, June 29, 1910. I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith copy of a despatch from His Majesty's vice-consul at Ningpo regarding a protest of Messrs. Sassoon against the application of certain opium licensing regulations, together with a copy of my reply.
As reference is made in Mr. Barr's despatch to certain correspondence which passed between him and this legation in the early part of this year in regard to the issue of these regulations for the province of Chekiang, I think it better also to enclose copies of the despatches then exchanged.
Mr. Barr's action appears to have been very similar to that taken by His Majesty's consul at Foochow in the Kucheng case, which has formed the subject of correspondence between the Foreign Office and this legation both last year and this, and between the Archbishop of Canterbury and yourself, Sir, and of at least one question in Parliament.
I venture to hope that my instructions to Mr. Barr will meet with your approval.
I have, &c.
W. G. MAX MÜLLER,
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
(No. 8.)
Sir,
Acting Consul Barr to Mr. Max Müller.
Ningpo, June 15, 1910. I HAVE the honour to report that in April last Messrs. Sassoon and Co. lodged with me a protest against certain measures taken by the Ningpo branch of the Opium Prohibition Bureau, whereby their trade in this district was seriously affected.
The bureau had ordered that all opium shops outside Ningpo were to be closed, and consumers to go to Ningpo to buy any opium they might require.
Owing to this cutting off of the whole retail trade in the country districts the large Ningpo hongs dealing with Messrs. Sassoon found themselves unable to dispose of their purchases, and therefore refused to take delivery of them from Messrs. Sassoon.
I had carefully read your despatch No. 4, Confidential, of the 18th February, on the subject of Messrs. Sassoon's previous complaint as to certain opium taxation at Hangehow, and, bearing in mind the instructions and the whole tenour of that despatch, I wrote to the taotai protesting against the new procedure as greatly prejudicial to British trade, but avoiding any marked insistence upon our treaty rights and so forth. The agent whom Messrs. Sassoon sent to me with their letter, Mr. Chen, was a man of great experience in matters relating to opiun, who had on a previous occasion, at an interview with the Nan-Ch'ang Opium Bureau arranged by the consul at Kiukiang, been able to arrive at a satisfactory modus vivendi with respect to a question of opium taxation. In the hope that he might be equally successful on the present occasion, asked the tactai to arrange a meeting between Mr. Ch'en and the local opium bureau, that they might endeavour to come to a satisfactory settlement which should prejudice neither China's efforts to suppress the use of opium nor our legitimate commercial interests.
I
The matter was somewhat delayed by the illness, first of the taotai and then of Mr. Ch'en; but the answers eventually received from the Opium Bureau and the taotai were entirely unsatisfactory, and showed no desire to approach the matter in the conciliatory spirit I was advocating. It was stated that the action taken was merely the enforcement of the Hangchow opium regulations of January last, which admitted of no relaxation; that the shops being already closed it was not practically possible to reopen them; that Messrs. Sassoon were in error in stating that their trade would be affected thereby; and that for Sassoon's agent to discuss these regulations was not permissible, so that he had better return to Shanghai.
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