CO129-396 - Public Offices - 1912 — Page 253

250

25

24

THE OPIUM EVIL.

The agreement of 1911 has an annex providing for the release into China of some thousands of chests of opium held by traders. But the number of these chests is to be deducted from the gradually wan- ing annual exportation from India, permitted by the agreement of 1907 and by the later agreement.

The agreement of 1907 between Great Britain and China, and the modification of that agreement of May 8, 1911, just outlined, is per- haps the finest example of the comity of nations recorded in modern times. After a controversy sustained for over 100 years both parties to the Indo-Chinese opium trade have now determined upon the gradual and effective suppression of that trade, and one of them-- China--has agreed, and has so far most effectively carried out its agreement, to suppress an internal production of opium six times greater than the foreign traffic in the drug.

The acceptance of Chapter IV of the International Opium Conven- tion by the treaty powers represented at the conference broadens this comity and will prevent any nation signatory to the convention taking unfair advantage of the special Anglo-Chinese agreement.

To continue an outline of the International Opium Convention, it may be stated that by Chapter V, composed of two articles, the con- tracting powers agree to examine the possibility of enacting laws or regulations making the illegal possession of the drugs named in the convention liable to penalties unless existing laws or regulations have already done so; and they are to communicate to each other through the Netherlands ministry for foreign affairs the text of the laws and the administrative regulations which concern matters aimed at by the convention; also statistical information with respect to that which concerns the traffics covered by the convention.

But especially attention should be directed to Chapter VI of the convention containing its final provisions. This chapter, composed of articles 22, 23, 24, and 25, marks a radical departure from final provisions as seen in any other international convention.

It recog- nizes the futility of an attempt on the part of a minority of the powers of the world to bring under control the international traffic in any- thing which may be produced or trafficked in by the nationals of any State, and would seem to have irretrievably determined that future international conferences, such as the International Opium Confer- ence, must be composed of and its convention to be effective signed by an overwhelming majority of the States directly or indirectly interested. Nearly all international conventions similar to the opium convention heretofore signed have been signed by delegates of a comparatively small number of the major and minor States, and generally speaking, their final provisions have permitted of the adhe- sion of States not represented at the conference, and have provided for ratification by the signatory powers in the shortest possible time- usually not to exceed two years.

The International Opium Conference had no sooner assembled than certain of the delegations pointed out that it would be useless for those State represented in the conference, and who were the largest producers and traders in opium, morphine, cocaine, etc., to agree to radical measures for the international control of these drugs, so long as it was open to the nationals of those States not represented at the conference to continue or take up the production of and traffic in them.

THE OPIUM EVIL.

It was contended by the American delegation, and they were not alone in this contention, that the International Opium Conference was composed of nations representative of the civilized world; there- fore that the delegates should pledge their Governments to the con- vention, and that the ordinary form of adhesion and ratification should be adopted as the final provisions of the convention. The American delegation was urged to this contention by the belief that those Gov- ernments interested and not represented at the conference would soon adhere to what had been signed, as they had many times adhered to other conventions to which they were not directly signatory. But this view was not favored by a majority of the delegations present, and the conference finally decided, as provided by article 22 of the con- vention, that the powers not represented at the conference shall be permitted to sign the present convention, and that to this end the Netherlands Government shall invite immediately after the conven- tion shall have been signed all the powers of Europe and of America not represented at the conference (and then is enumerated the 34 other powers of Europe and America) to designate a delegate armed with the full powers necessary for the signing of the convention at The Hague.

Article 22 proceeds to provide that the convention shall be fur- nished with the signatures of the other powers by means of a “Pro- tocol of signature of powers not represented at the conference,” to be added after the signatures of the powers represented, and indicating the date of each signature; and that the Netherlands shall give a monthly notice to all the signatory powers of each supplementary signature.

Article 23 provides that after all the powers, as much for themselves as for their possessions, colonies, protectorates, and leased territories shall have signed the supplementary protocol of signatures, the Netherland Government shall invite the powers to ratify the conven- tion, together with the protocol of signature.

In case the signature of all the powers invited shall not have been secured by December 31, 1912, the Netherlands Government shall immediately invite all the powers who have signed by that date to designate delegates to proceed to The Hague to examine into the possibility of nevertheless depositing their ratifications. Ratifica- tions shall then be executed within as short a time as possible, and shall be deposited at once at The Hague in the ministry for foreign affairs. It is also provided that the Netherlands Government shall give notice to all the powers who shall have ratified the convention, and of the date on which the last of such acts of ratification shall have been received.

By article 24, it is provided that the convention shall go into effect three months after the date on which the Netherlands Government gives notice of ratification to the powers, and again that all laws, regu- lations, and other measures provided for by the convention shall be drawn up not later than six months after the effectuation of the convention; it is further provided that these measures shall become operative subject to an agreement between the signatory powers at the instance of the Netherlands Government.