CO129-395 - Public Offices - 1912 — Page 333

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be subsequently explained) this difficulty was met in another way by providing that, before the convention drawn up by the conference is ratified, the non-participating Powers of Europe aud America should be invited to give their signatures to it, and thus place themselves on the same footing

12. Definitions of the terms "raw,"

as the original signatory Powers. had been submitted by the Programme Committee, after a report by the Technical prepared," and "medicinal" opium, which Committee, were then accepted. These definitions were those which now find place at the head of chapters 1, 2, and 3 of the convention; but there was a further paragraph in the definition of raw opium which extended its application to what is known commercially as powdered and granulated opium. This latter paragraph, as submitted by the Programme Committee, departed from the terms drawn up by the Technical Committee, and, inasmuch as in this altered form it appeared to include under “raw opium" what were in effect medicinal or officinal substances, this paragraph was subsequently struck out, leaving the definition of raw opium as it now stands. result is that, as indicated in our telegram to you of the 8th January, 1912, powdered or granulated opium would only be "raw opium" if it did not fall under one of the other definitions, i.e., in so far as it was merely the raw product of the poppy simply powdered or granulated. To render this point quite clear, and in accordance with instructions received from you, we made a specific declaration to this effect (which is reproduced in our despatch No. 13 of the 20th January) at the twenty-first session (17th January). After some discussion it was then decided to ask the Technical Committee to report whether any further alteration of the definition of raw opium was desirable. The committee held that the declaration made on behalf of the British delegation might be deemed sufficient, or else that sorae maximum percentage of morphine would have to be introduced; the former alternative was endorsed by the conference as a whole at the twenty-third session.

The

It may be added that, apart from this particular point, the definitions as they now stand follow the broad lines between opium eaten and opium smoked, which has always been adopted in India. Opium which is eaten is "raw" opium, while smoking preparations are "prepared "opiumi.

13. At the third session approval was also given to the heads of discussion which the Programme Committee had thought suitable in respect to raw and prepared opium; and a resolution that the participating Governments ought to enact effective laws and regulations for the control of the production and distribution of raw opium was proposed by the British delegation.

14. At the fourth scesion (8th December) the consideration of this resolution was continued, and included some discussion on the information which had been communi- cated by Sir William Meyer in the first of his reports above mentioned (Appendix I)}, including the statement on behalf of the Indian Government that their restrictions on the consumption of raw opium could not be pushed to the extent of forbidding its use save for strictly medical purposes.

Finally the resolution was carried unanimously, and forms the basis of article I of the present convention, the concluding proviso, à moins que des lois ou des règlements existants n'aient déjà réglé la matière, having been added here as in some other articles. 15. The British delegation then presented a resolution to the effect that each participating Government should strictly limit the number of places through which raw oplum may be exported or imported. The German delegation opposed this proposal on the ground that while it might be suitable for countries with a limited number of seaports, and where opium was received or sent out in bulk, it could not be applied to Germany, with its extended land frontiers and its network of railways, where, moreover, opium was often sent in small quantities in the same package with other chemicals. On a division the resolution was carried, the only actively opposing vote being that of Germany. We fult, however, that, in view of the difficulties we should probably have with the Germans when we came to the discussion of morphis and cocaine, it would be inadvisable to place them in an attitude of open opposition to us at the outset of the conference, and we accordingly entered into private negotiations with the German delegation as to an amendment of the resolution which it might propose and the conference accept. We came to a satisfactory agreement on this point, and were consequently able, at the fifth session (11th December) to accept the German amend- ment, which made the resolution run thus: "That every Government participating in the conference shall limit, as far as is consistent with its own trade conditions, the number of places through which the exportation or importation of raw opium shall be allowed." The resolution as thus amended was carried unanimously, and forms the basis of article 2 of the convention.

16. At this (fifth) session the British delegation movod a resolution to the effect that the participating Governments should adopt measures--

(1.) To prevent the export of raw opium to countries that had prohibited its entry; and

(2.) Similarly to control the export of raw opium to countries which restricted its import.

The Portuguese delegation proposed the insertion of the words "by special agreement or otherwise" after the words "adopt measures," appealing to the precedent afforded by the negotiations between Great Britain and China on the subject of Indian opium. Their object was throughout to prevent material loss to the trade of their colony, Macao, The Chinese delegation demurred to this amendment on the ground that the circumstances in regard to Indian opium were special, and that there was no reason why a similar procedure should be followed with reference to other Powers whose territories did not produce opium on a large scale.

As Mr. Max Müller pointed out in the course of the debate, the real point at issue was the observance by Portugal, along with the other treaty Powers, of the Anglo- Chinese agreement of the 8th May, 1911, for in that case the Portuguese could only deal with Indian opium "certificated" for export to China, and from the Chinese point of view it did not matter through what precise channel such opium came into China. We, therefore, accepted the Portuguese amendment, which we considered to be also of practical utility as making it clear that China could not use the article arising from the resolution in question as a pretext for denunciation of existing treaties. Thus amended, the resolution was carried, though China, the United States, and Persia reserved their votes.

The Chinese suspected throughout, and we think with ample grounds, that the Portuguese desired to use Macao as a dumping ground for contraband opium, and to maintain smoking establishments there.

17. Later (at the twenty-first and twenty-second sessions), on the second reading of article 8 of the convention, which reproduced the terms of the resolution, the Chinese moved the omission of the words "by special agreement or otherwise" (par convention spéciale ou autrement), and in view of the emphatic declaration they then made that, so amended, the article would not be used to affect existing treaties, we supported their amendment, which was carried, with a dissent by Portugal, subsequently withdrawn at the twenty-fourth session.

18. The Persian delegate, however, moved (also at the twenty-second session) to re-insert these words in clause (a) of article 3 (they had previously appeared in the preamble), but the proposal was rejected, the Portuguese delegation being the only one to support it, and in signing the convention the Persian delegate made a reservation in regard to this clause.

He suggested at the twenty-fourth session that this reservation might be avoided if, after the word empêcher in clause (a) of article 3, the conference would insert the words aussitôt que possible; but an amendment he brought forward to this effect was defeated.

19. To revert to the fifth session, the Netherlands delegation then proposed the enactment of a special convention which would have made wholesale dealings in opium a Government monopoly in the countries taking part in the conference, producing countries exporting only to the Governments of the States which adhered to this convention. The object was, as M. Cremer explained, to afford an additional check against contraband trade. This project, the text of which, with an explanatory inemorandum, will be found in the minutes of the eighth session, was criticised by the German delegation as going beyond the limits of the original programme for the conference as set forth by the United States Government, and later on (at the eighth session) it was withdrawn on the ground that the State monopoly system advocated would not find general favour.

20. The British delegation then proposed a resolution to the effect that each participating Government should notify all consignments of raw opium to such other participating Governments as might desire the information, but after some criticism this was withdrawn as impossible of general application.

21. The next resolution we moved was that every package containing raw opium intended for export should be so marked as to indicate its contents, and this was accepted with a German amendment that it should only apply to packages exceeding 5 kilog, in weight, the Germans explaining that they could not so deal with smaller

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