CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910 — Page 31

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.1

OPIUM.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[29462]

(No. 247.) Sir,

No. 1.

ō 30 [August 16.914

SECTION 1

REGS 8 SEP 10

Mr. Max Müller to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received August 15.)

Peking, July 28, 1910. IN continuation of my despatch No. 227 of the 15th instant, and with reference to my telegrams Nos. 125 and 129 of the 22nd and 25th instant respectively, I have the honour to transmit herewith a copy of a memorandum which I received from the Wai- wu Pu in reply to my request that they should appoint a delegate to discuss with me the prolongation of the arrangement between Great Britain and China for the progressive reduction of the export of opium from India.

The whole tenour of this communication appeared to me so discourteous and in such contrast to the generous terms which I was authorised to offer to the Chinese Government that I could not help thinking that it was due to some misunderstanding on the part of Mr. Hu Wei-te, who, being a new arrival at the Wai-wu Pu, is not conversant with the current questions. I accordingly asked Mr. Liu Yu-lin to call on me, and outlined to him the terms on which I was authorised to negotiate. I said that I hoped that the Chinese Government would reconsider the decision conveyed in their most unfriendly memorandum, as it would produce a deplorable effect if a state- ment were made in Parliament the following Tuesday that we were prepared to offer China most generous terms in regard to the reduction of the import of foreign opium, and that she had absolutely refused to negotiate. I took the opportunity of reminding Mr. Liu that Sir John Jordan, in two memoranda dated the 7th and 17th January, 1908, had pointed out to the Wai-wu Pa that "any restriction which might be imposed in India on the quantity of opium shipped for any given destination would always be liable to evasion by transhipment or any alteration of the ship's destination."

On the 24th instant Mr. Liu returned to say that the memorandum had been written under a misapprehension, and that he would probably be delegated to discuss the whole question with me, and late in the evening I received a second memorandum, copy of which I have the honour to enclose. I need hardly say that this memorandum does not exactly represent the tenour of my remarks to Mr. Liu Yu-lin, but as its general tone is far more friendly and appreciative of the good intentions of His Majesty's Government, I did not think it necessary to call attention to the fact.

I hope to have a first meeting with Mr. Lin Yu-lin to discuss the various proposals on the 30th instant.

I have, &c.

W. G. MAX MÜLLER,

Enclosure 1 in No. 1.

Wai-wu Pu to Mr. Max Müller.

July 22, 1910. (Memo.)

THE Board has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Max Müller's memorandum of the 9th July on the subject of opium, and in which he states:---

[Quotes memorandum of the 9th July in full.]

The Board has the honour to observe that the British Government has assisted China in her measures for the suppression of opium by making an arrangement whereby the export of foreign opium from India should be reduced by one-tenth The British annually until the trade was extinguished altogether in ten years. Government further announced that the arrangement should be for a trial period of three years, and that if the Chinese Government should have really reduced the cultivation and the number of smokers, the British Government would agree at the expiration of the three years to continue the gradual reduction as before. The meaning of this is that if China should really be successful in her efforts, then foreign opium from India must be gradually reduced until the total extinction of the trade by the end

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