CO129-405 - Public Offices - 1913 — Page 188

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

OPIUM.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[2949]

No. 1.

[January 20.]

SECTION 1.

Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received January 20.) (No. 3.) Confidential Sir,

Peking, January 3, 1913. WITH reference to my despatch No. 460 of the 22nd November enclosing correspondence with the Wai-chiao Pu on the subject of the detention of twenty chests of Indian opium at Anching. I have the honour to enclose translation of a memorandum from the Wai-chiao Pu, dated the 30th December, stating that steps might now be taken for the release of the opium in question and that instructions in this sense were being sent to the Anhui Tutu.

The Customs admit the accuracy of the statements made in the memorandum relating to the discrepancies in the dates on the certificates. These discrepancies, according to the Customs' explanation, appear to be of a very trifling nature.

A large number of unused certificates dated 1911 in indelible ink were in hand at Wuhu at the close of that year and were made use of during 1912, the final figure 1 in 1911 being altered to 2 so that the date might read 1912.

In my memorandum to the Wai-chiao Pu of the 21st November, I enclosed copr of a notification issued by the officer in charge of the li-kin station at Wan-chih (about 20 miles south of Wuhu) in which he indicted the Wuhu Customs for daring to issue transit certificates (in accordance with treaty) for these twenty packages of Indian opium. The present explanation of the Wai-chiao Pu would appear to be a mere subterfuge to cover the breach of treaty involved by the illegal detention at Wan-chih of the twenty chests in question.

I have, &c.

J. N. JORDAN.

Enclosure in No. 1.

Note communicated to Sir J. Jordan by Wai-chiao Pu.

REFERRING to the case of the detention by Anhui province of twenty chests of Indian opium, the telegram from the Anhui Tutu stated that "examination of the transit certificates showed that the foreign dates had been obliterated and altered, and that the Chinese dates did not correspond, indicating the existence of fraud; the detention was, therefore, in accordance with regulations."

Under the circumstances this was repeated by the Wai-chiao Pu, who added a declaration that as regards the Indian opium detained in consequence of discrepancies in the dates on the certificates, should it be subsequently ascertained that the discre pancies were occasioned by clerical errors on the part of the maritime Customs, the opium can be returned."

Subsequently the transit certificates were sent up by Anhui for inspection, and the Wai-chiao Pu desired the revenue council to have them examined. The council now reply that, according to the reply received from the Inspector-General of Customs, the erasures and alterations in these transit certificates had been made prior to their issue, and were not effected fraudulently by the merchants themselves. Customs' regulations, however, require that any alterations necessary in any decuments issued by the maritime Customs, must be initialled by a Customs official, and the failure of the Customs official in this instance to initial the alterations in certificates issued by the Wuhu Customs, in which the foreign date 1911, written in error, had to be changed to 1912, is a piece of carelessness which admits of no defence.

The Wai-chiao Pu maintain that as the Inspector-General has ascertained that these transit certificates were really not in order-owing to the carelessness of the Wuhu commissioner-the detention at Anching in accordance with the regulations on detention of irregularity was quite correct. As, however, it has now been ascertained that the

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