CO129-390 - Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1912 [5-6] — Page 307

i

follows:-

A. Bengal Opium:

i. Stock in Hongkong...

.3,446 chests.

il. Stock in Shanghai.

.10,289

#

iii. Stock in Calcutta

(bought but not yet

shipped).

1,280

N

15,015

11

293

say....15,000 chests.

B. Malwa Opium:

chesta.

i. Stock in Hongkong.

..3,280

ii. Stock in Shanghai.

.8.724

iii. Stock in Bombay......

.9,784

21,788

Less probable delivery to end of year (7 months I 600)....

.4,200

17,588.

say.

.17,000 chests.

Total.

.32,000 chests.

The value of this stock at £400 per chest of Bengal Opium and £350 per chest of Malwa Opium is:-

300

₤260 000

Bengal Opium. .£6,000.000 Malwa Opium.....£5,950,000

Total......

.£11,950,000

or say twelve million pounds: and I am assured that this is a conservative estimate.

3.

The financial position is therefore extremely serious; for, if the price of certified opium continues to fall, this stock can only be worked off at an enormous loss. For this

reason