CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911 — Page 597

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The object of these changes is to shown to any person delaying to produce his stock. abolish opium, and is not to be considered a removal of the prohibition. The cultiva- tion, trade, and smoking of the drug remain as they were before, and secret traffic in town, street, market, and village is forbidden. Any persons infringing the appended regulations will be punished, and their opium confiscated, and if any rascals presume to use this as a means of gain and illegally trade in opium or spread false rumours that the prohibition has been removed, they shall be most severely punished and no leniency shown them. The financial commissioner, the intendant at Mengtsz, and the opium prohibition office have sent instructions to their subordinates, and, more- over, a general proclamation is now issued for the information of the merchants and the people. It is essential that immediate effect be given to these regulations.

Regulations.

1. The time-limit for the export of opium is from the beginning of the third moon to the end of the sixth moon.

2. All opium is to be sent direct to Mengtsz; no sales are allowed on the road; delinquents will be arrested and their stocks confiscated.

3. This grant is for the express purpose of allowing the sale of old stocks of opinto; it does not allow crafty merchants to go elsewhere, collect opium, and bring it into Yünnan for sale to their own private gain. Any person found so doing will be punished, and the opium confiscated.

4. An office for the sale of opium will be opened for the time being in Mengisz by the intendant. On arrival at Mengtss, the opium is to be handed to the office for identification and sale; a high price will be paid for the opium, and all private sales will be prohibited.

5. Li-kin and duty will be double the old duty, at the rate of 63 taels for every The Meugtsz office will arrange 1,000 oz.; other amounts will pay in proportion. the export duty,

exportediate li-kin barriers will compare the goods with the accompanying papers, and, if correct, the goods will be allowed to proceed on their way. Pats must always accompany the opium, which must travel by the straight road in order to avoid abuses.

7. By the end of the sixth month all opium will have been exported, and no amounts, however small, will remain. Any person found with opium will be punished, and the drug confiscated.

8. When the seventh moon arrives, the original prohibition will return into force; local officials will be instructed to keep the strictest watch; no cultivation will be allowed, and any poppy found will be uprooted at once and the person punished.

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

10008

OPIUM.

REC

[May 29.]

CONFIDENTIAL.

R 16 JUN IT

SECTION 1.

(20546]

(No. 127.) Sir,

No. 1.

Mr. Rumbold to Sir Edward Grey-(Received May 29.)

Tokyo, May 12, 1911. BEFORE his departure on leave of absence, His Majesty's Ambassador noticed in the Confidential Print ("Opium," January 26, Section 4) the letter from the India Office to the Foreign Office of the 25th January last, containing suggested additions to the draft of a reply to be made by His Majesty's Government to the Netherlands Government on the subject of the proposed Opium Conference at The Hague.

The following sentence occurs in the suggested addition to paragraph 9 of the draft reply alluded to above :-

"The attitude of the Japanese Government is important, as by all accounts Japan is one of the countries from which morphia is conveyed in large quantities, in spite of the preventive efforts of the Chinese Government, into China.”

Sir Claude MacDonald instructed me to mention this alleged export of morphia to Marquis Komura when I next saw his Excellency.

I carried out these instructions on the 4th instant, and Marquis Komura promised that he would make enquiries and let me know the result. When I saw his Excellency westerday he did not give me a direct answer as to the correctness or otherwise of the alleged export of morphia from Japan to China, but stated that Japan had, in principle, decided to put a stop to the trade in morphia. The Japanese Government had not, however, yet come to a decision with reference to the trade in cocaine. Int Excellency said that he had noticed a paragraph in the newspapers to the effect that the proposed Opium Conference would not meet this year. He asked whether I could confirm this news. I told him that I had also noticed the paragraph in question, but had no information to corroborate it.

I have, &c.

HORACE RUMBOLD.

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