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representations to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in regard to this case, and had again renewed them verbally in the sense of my telegram, and he stated that the Minister for Foreign Affairs had said that he had sent a deputy to Chekiang to report, and had telegraphed to the local authorities that their interference with the trade is a breach of the opium agreement with the terms of which they must comply, and that he would again telegraph.
On the 4th instant I addressed a further memorandum to the Wai-wu Pu recounting all these breaches of treaty and agreement, and requesting that telegraphic instructions should be at once sent to the Chekiang authorities to release the opium seized, and to refrain in future from interference with the trade in Indian opium. I have the honour to enclose a copy of this memorandum.
The enclosures in Mr. Savage's despatch No. 8 of the 22nd February show that there was no discrepancy between the nine chests of Malwa opium seized at Chiang-t'ou and the amounts stated in the customs transit certificates by which they were covered.
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Memorandum communicated to Wai-wu Pu.
HIS Majesty's Minister is in receipt of information from His Majesty's consul- general at Shanghai and His Majesty's consul at Hangehow that, by order of the authorities of Chekiang, all opium shops have been closed and the preparation of opium prohibited in that province, and that on the 13th February a proclamation was issued by the deputy-governor of Shao-hsing ordering the destruction of all opium in stock after the end of the month.
His Majesty's Minister begs to point out that this summary action by the authorities of Chekiang is a distinct breach of article 3 of the agreement relating to opium of the 8th May, 1911, which lays down that His Majesty's Government further agree that Indian opium shall not be conveyed into any province in China which can establish by clear evidence that it has effectively suppressed the cultivation and import of native opium." He is in possession of information that opium is being freely cultivated in several prefectures in Chekiang, so that Indian opium is a legitimate article of trade in that province, and the stops now being taken to prevent its sale are contrary to the terms of the agreement. When the province of Chekiang can establish by clear evidence that it has effectively suppressed the cultivation and import of native opium, then and only then can the province claim exemption from the importation of Indian opium, and, until that exemption has been duly accorded, any destruction of Indian opium in that province will entail claims which it will be the duty of His Majesty's Government to enforce.
His Majesty's Minister has therefore to request that immediate steps be taken to put an end to interference with the trade in Indian opium by the authorities of the province of Chokiang.
Peking, February 27, 1912.
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
Memorandum communicated to Wai-wu Pu.
ON the 26th February His Majesty's Minister forwarded to the Wai-wu Pu a memorandum requesting that immediate steps should be taken for the withdrawal of regulations being enforced by the authorities of Chekiang prohibiting the sale of Indian opium, and ordering the destruction of stocks of opium found in that province after a fixed date. In that memorandum His Majesty's Minister pointed out that this summary action of the Chekiang authorities is a distinct breach of the agreement relating to opium of the 8th May, 1911, and, much to his regret, he has to draw attention to further breaches of that agreement in the same province.
On or about the 25th January last, nine chests of Indian opium in seventeen packages hearing Customis seals and labels intact, while in transit to Lan-ch'i Hsien and Ch'ü-chou Fu, were seized at the railway station of Chiang-t'ou or Chia-k'ou on
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the pretext that they were not accompanied by permits to purchase opium outside and convey it into the province. His Majesty's Minister has frequently pointed out that the additional article to the Chefoo Agreement makes full provision for the trade in and transit of Indian opium, and that the enforcement of provincial regulations in restraint of that trade and transit constitute a breach of that article. It transpired, however, that the merchants had unnecessarily applied for such permits at both Lan-ch'i and Ch'ü-chou, but had been informed by the local authorities at these places that they had none to issue, and were not sure of the exact procedure to be followed, since the revolution had created some confusion in the organisation and working of the anti-opium offices. When this discovery was made, it was charged that there was a discrepancy between the number and weight of the packages and the figures given in the Customs transit certificates, a charge which has not been substantiated.
On the 26th February His Majesty's consul-general at Shanghai telegraphed that one and a-half chests of Malwa opium in 144 packages, duly labelled by the Chinese authorities, and covered by twenty transit certificates, on the way to the province of Kiangsi viâ railway to Hangchow, were seized at the Hangchow railway station on the flimsy pretext that the transit certificates bore Imperial dates.
Such acts as the above are unreasonable and detrimental to good relations, and His Majesty's Minister has to request that telegraphic instructions be at once sent to the Chekiang authorities to release the opium seized, and to refrain in future from interfering in a trade the conduct of which is carefully laid down in treaty and agreement whose terms leave no room for misconstruction.
Peking, March 4, 1912.
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