CO129-395 - Public Offices - 1912 — Page 563

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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]

C. O.

OPIUM.

CONFIDENTIAL.

211

· June 26.1

SECTION CO

2 AUG 12

[27107]

No. 1.

Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.--(Received June 26.)

(No. 251.) Sir,

Peking, June 10, 1912. WITH reference to my despatch No, 234 of the 23rd ultime, I have the honour to transmit to you herewith copies of further correspondence which has passed between the Wai-chiao Pu and this legation regarding the illegal restrictions imposed on the trade in Indian opium in the provinces of Chekiang and Fukien, and at Canton.

In their reply to my memorandum of the 9th May, copy of which was enclosed in my despatch No. 234 of the 23rd ultimo, the Wai-chino Pu, in their memorandum of the 27th May, copy of which is enclosed, informed me that they had received a reply from the Tutu of Chekiang to the effect that the opinn detained in that province was the property of Chinese merchants who should discuss the terms of settlement with the local authorities, and that British merchants were not concerned in any losses that may have been sustained.

In my reply dated the 30th May, copy of which is enclosed, I informed the Wai- chiao Pu that this was the first occasion on which any responsible Chinese Government had placed such an interpretation on the 3rd clause of the additional article to the Chefoo agreement of 1885, which stipulates that opium in which foreigners are interested must be conveyed into the interior by Chinese subjects, that the engagement into which China entered in 1885 applies to the goods, not to the merchants carrying the goods, and that I must protest against the encouragement which the Wai-chião Pu were giving to the high-handed action of the Chekiang authorities. I added that the observance of the additional article to the Chefoo agreement under the Empire had encouraged His Majesty's Government to enter into the commercial treaty of 1992, which, inter alia, deals with the abolition of li-kin and the increase of the tariff duties, but that the claim of the Government of the republic to treat foreign goods in Chinese hands in the interior as it pleases, irrespective of treaty obligations, would, 1 fear, be received with grave disappointment by His Majesty's Government, and I renewed my demand for payment of the claim presented in my memorandum of the 9th May. To this I have not yet received a reply.

In my memorandum of the 21st May to the Wai-chiao Pu, copy of which was enclosed in my despatch No. 234 of the 23rd ultimo, I called attention to the renewal of restrictions at Canton and to the increased poppy cultivation throughout the provinces, aud on the 24th ultimo I received a reply, copy of which is enclosed, requesting to be furnished with details of the restrictions and the names of the districts in which opium was being grown, and on the 31st ultimo I informed the Wai-chiac Pu that details would he furnished in due course, and at the same time gave the names of provinces and districts where the poppy is known to be under cultivation. These details have not yet reached me, but Mr. Jamieson, whom I instructed by telegraph to protest against the proposal to close prepared opium shops, telegraphed on the 7th instant that the administration are prepared to abandon the objectionable regulation regarding prepared opium shops, but insist on the domestic rights to deal with smokers whose fees for quarterly licences are to be increased from 20 to 40 cents.

At an interview with Yuan Shib-kai on the 5th instant 1 reviewed the whole question at great length, and gave him clearly to understand that these repeated violations of treaty must seriously militate against the eventual recognition of the Republican Government. He appealed to his whole official record as proof that he had always recognised the binding force of treaty engagements, and he begged me to believe that he was anxious now as he ever had been to keep faith with foreign Powers. But the new Government was beset with difficulties, and the relations with the provinces were still in a very indeterminate state. All he could do was to assure me of his resolve to enforce the treaty to the best of his ability in the present abnormal state of things, and to trust to our forbearance for failures caused by exceptional circumstances.

I have, &c.

J. N. JORDAN.

[2519 cc-1]