CO129-395 - Public Offices - 1912 — Page 500

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No. 265.

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Sir:-

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495

PEKING,

PAP 20 JUL 12 June 25th, 1912.

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of

your despatch No. 163 of the 8th instant requesting to

be furnished with my opinion as to the necessity for

prohibiting the importation of Turkish and Persian

opium into Hongkong.

In my telegram No. 184 of the 28th August 1911 I

pointed out that were Hongkong kept open to the import

of Persian opium while its entrance into China was

prohibited, the Colony would run the great risk of

being made a base for smuggling into this country.

When the opium merchants in Hongkong were notified by

the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs that the im-

portation of Turkish and Persian opium would be pro-

hibited from the 1st January 1912 they appealed to me,

through the Governor of Hongkong, to obtain for them

an extension of the time limit and in their appeal

they stated that for some qualities of Persian opium

the

The Right Honourable,

Sir Edward Grey, Bart., K.G., M.P.

&c.,

&c.