CO129-396 - Public Offices - 1912 — Page 89

Enclo. in Mr Wingfield's No.133 of September 16th, 1912.

TRANSLATION.

Private.

6.C.

33

87

29834

GF 27 SEP 12

Ministry of the Colonies

Colonies

-

7th Department.

-

23 SEP

Directorate General for the

Lisbon September 6th, 1912.

To His Excellency the Director meneral of Commercial and

Consular Affairs. In continuation of the despatch from

this Department of the 24th of August last and in reply to

Your Excellency's despatches of July 6th and August 22nd

(Case 112 11), I am instructed by His Excellency the Minis -

ter of the Colonies to inform you that a careful examina-

tion of the Vacao Opium question has given rise to the fol-

lowing observations and considerations. On the part of the

British Government it is stated that for local consumption

and exportation from vacao 440 chests of opium are suffi-

cient. On the part of the Governor of Macao it is asserted

that during the period of the previous contract (1903-1909)

the monthly average for local consumption was 53 chests and

for exportation 153, amounting to 630 for local consumption

and 1830 for exportation per year. At the present moment,

however, owing to the adoption of the restrictive measures

taken in accordance with the resolutions of the Shanghae

Conference, a large reduction took place both in the local

consumption, which dropped to an average of 38 chests per

month, and in the exports, which dropped to a monthly aver-

age of 61 chests, that is, 450 chests for consumption and

732 for exportation annually. In the meanwhile the limit

of the existing contract (1910-1913) was 20,000 "bolas"

(500 chests) of opium for local consumption and 60,000

(1,500 chests ) for exportation, with a successive annual

reduction of 10 and 15 per cent respectively. Notwithstan-

ding the relative extent of the monopoly concession, it is,

however,