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Enclosure 2 in No. 1
Sir J. Jordan to Prince Ch'ing.
Your Highness,
Peking, March 23, 1911. ON the 15th instant I had the honour to address a note to your Highness regarding a further instance of the detention by the Opium Prohibition Bureau of thirty-six chests of Indian opium while being conveyed from Canton to Kiangsi under transit pass.
I have as yet received no reply to the note in question, and I am now in receipt of a further telegram from His Majesty's consul-general at Canton that the opium is still being detained under the pretext that the owners have no permits to handle opium.
I must therefore again renew my request that telegraphic instructions may be sent to Canton for the immediate release of the opium, and I trust that the verbal assur- ances given me on the 18th February by his Excellency the Grand Secretary Na Tung, that all illegal restrictions on the trade in foreign opium would be put a stop to, will be faithfully carried out in the future.
These repeated violations of the treaty obligations can no longer be tolerated, and unless something is done at once to make the Viceroy understand that he cannot ignore the rights of British subjects, I shall be obliged to report to His Majesty's Government the effect which his Excellency's action must have on the opium negotia- tions now proceeding between myself and your Highness's board.
I avail, &c.
(Translation.) Sir,
Enclosure 3 in No. 1.
Prince Ch'ing to Sir J. Jordan.
J. N. JORDAN,
Peking, March 29, 1911.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's note of the 15th instant regarding the detention by the Opium Prohibition Bureau of thirty-six chests of Indian opium while being conveyed from Canton to Kiangsi under transit
pass.
My board accordingly telegraphed to the Canton Viceroy to investigate the case and release the opium. However, having received a further note from your Excellency on the 23rd instant to the effect that the opium was still detained, a further telegram was sent pressing the matter, and the Canton Viceroy has now replied as follows:----
"The Opium Prohibition Bureau states that in the North River district of Kuang- tung Province, cases frequently occur of merchants importing opium through the district to a false destination; they sell the opium en route, and some of it probably flows back into Kuangtung, with the result that there is no way of checking the exact amount of opium consumed in the province.
"Last year the prohibition of opium was effectively enforced, but opium which passed through for Kiangsi increased several times in amount, the reason being that some of it was consigned to neighbouring provinces, aud yet was consumed in Kuang- tung. Of this there can be no doubt.
"In the present case of the opium declared for import by the Kiangsi merchants at Samshui, included in the total of thirty-six chests, there were seven chests of Patna opium and five chests of pai pi' opium. These chests were for transmission to the Kuang Shun Ho shop of Kiangsi. Permits have already been issued, and the opium has been released. The other twenty-four cases were only declared by the dealers at the customs for transmission, and no mention was made as to what place in Kuangsi and to what shop the opium was to be consigned. The place of consumption having now been ascertained and substantial guarantees provided, permits have been issued and the opium released."
I have the honour to observe that the detention in this case was due to the fact that the place of consumption was not declared, and seeing that the opium has nOW been released, the matter need not be discussed further.
I avail, &c.
Prince CHING.
(No. 8.) Sir,
Enclosure 4 in No. 1.
Consul-General Jamieson to Sir J. Jordan.
Canton, March 15, 1911. I HAVE the honour to report that, on receiving from the Hong Kong Government information that two lots of Indian opium, thirty six chests in all, destined for Kiangsi under transit pass, had been detained at Samshui by the Opium Prohibition Bureau, I addressed a strong protest to the Acting Governor-General. He replied yesterday that it had not been detained, and I learn privately from Chinese concerned that the bureau, in view of the large quantity proceeding into the neighbouring province at one time, took more than ordinary care to see that the accompanying documents were in order. Having satisfied themselves on this point they allowed the opium to pass through, and the matter may be considered at an end. The authorities are of opinion that the steady growth of the trade in opium under transit pass into Kiangsi is extremely suspicious, inasmuch as they have reason to believe that the major portion thereof is conveyed back into Kuang-tung through illicit channels. They accordingly submit all such shipments to very close scrutiny.
In your telegram No. 8 of the 14th March, you refer to other so-called seizures at Canton which Messrs. Sassoons have brought to the notice of the Foreign Office. As I had the honour to telegraph you to-day, the only other case of which I am aware is that of a dispute between the tax collectors and a dealer at Kongmoon. I sent for both parties to appear at the consulate, and Mr. Giles examined them both.
A copy of his memorandum as to what took place is enclosed. The manager of the Wu Hing shop appeared at the time to be quite satisfied, at least he made no protest against the imposition of a fine for irregularity, but he would seem subsequently to have altered his mind, as the enclosed copy of a letter from Messrs. Sassoons to me shows.
I am quite prepared to reopen the matter if he produces his books and permits, and am merely waiting for him to do so. That, although a week has now elapsed, he should not have presented himself, is to me indicative that his case cannot be a sound one.
I have, &c.
J. W. JAMIESON.
Enclosure 5 in No. 1.
Memorandum.
ON the 27th and 28th February, 1911, I examined the manager of the Wu Hing raw opium shop and a representative of the Fu Yütch Company of Canton.
The former alleged that he had purchased a chest of Patna opium in the 12th moon of the 1st year of Hsuan Tung, imported it into Kongmoon and paid duty and -kin. On the 19th day of the present moon a deputy from the Fu Yüeb Company inspected the Wu Hing godown, and found that the amount of opium in stock exceeded that given in the firm's books by twenty-five balls (sixty-five balls instead of forty). This was explained by the fact that this opium had been sold, but that delivery had not been taken.
Permits of purchase were produced to the deputy, but disregarded by him. The deputy declared that Wu Hing's own reports showed that they ought only to have thirty-four balls in stock, and consequently he confiscated the balance of thirty-one balls.
The representative of the Fu Yüch Company replied by stating that, previous to the inspection, the Wu Hing shop were asked to report what their stocks of opium were, and that they declared that their stocks were thirty-four balls. At the inspection another thirty-one balls were found hidden under a couch. As the opium had been imported over a year earlier, the deputy was suspicious lest the intention was to store up the opium for consumption after opium smoking had been entirely prohibited. Finding that there were thirty-one balls in excess of the amount reported the deputy seized the opium, pending a decision of the Opium Prohibition Bureau in the matter.
As regards the permits referred to they were not of recent date, and only covered some teu balls or thereabouts. Moreover, they should have remained in the hands of the purchasers, and were only produced after the thirty-one balls had been seized lending colour to the supposition that they were obtained improperly with a view to deceiving the deputy. The manager of the Wu Hing shop denied that any opium had been concealed in his shop.
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