البينات
4
States accredited to the Governments which were represented at the Shanghai Inter- national Opium Commission.
In this instruction, after setting forth what, in the opinion of appear to be good and sufficient reasone, it is proposed that an international conference my Government, be held at a convenient date at The Hague or elsewhere composed of one or more delegates of each of the participating Powers, and that the delegates in question should be given full power to conventionalise the resolutions adopted at Shanghai so that they may be given international effect.
A tentative programme is suggested by the Government of the United States, based upon the resolutions and proceedings of the International Commission, which it is thought, might properly serve as the basis at least for preliminary discussion, and a formal expression of opinion is invited, not merely upon the topics outlined, but au enumeration of other aspects of the opium problem which may seem of peculiar importance to any participating nation.
If, therefore, the programme as outlined should meet with the approval of His Majesty's Government, it would, in the opinion of my Government, be highly serviceable that on some aubsequent date, say before the 1st December next, the participating Governments should exchange their views, together with such recom- mendations and ob ervations as may occur to them.
I am therefore instructed to request that a delegate or delegates be appointed by His Majesty's Government, furnished with full powers, to negotiate and conclude an agreement, provided that as a result of the enquiries of the Shanghai Commission His Majesty's Government may approve the idea of an international conference for the suppression of the opium evil.
I have, &c.
J. R. CARTER.
Circular Instructions issued by United States Department of State respecting International Opium Conference.
To the diplomatic officers of the United States accredited to the Governments which were represented in the Shanghai International Opium Commission.
Gentlemen,
Department of State, Washington, September 1, 1909. THE Government of the United States has learned with satisfaction the results achieved by the International Opium Commission, which concluded its labours at Shanghai on the 26th February, 1909. opium movement much has been accomplished by the commission; and by both the In the opinion of the leaders of the anti- Government and people of the United States it is recognised that the results are largely due to the generous spirit in which the representatives of the Governments concerned approached the subject.
The Government of the United States appreciates the magnitude of the opium problem and the serious financial interests involved in the production of and trade in the drug, and it is deeply impressed by the friendly co-operation of the Powers financially interested and the desire as expressed by the resolutions of the commission that the opium evil should be eradicated not only from Far Eastern countries, but also from their home territories and possessions in other parts of the world.
During the investigation of the opium problem in the United States by the American commissioners, it became apparent that, quite apart from the question as it affects the Philippine Islands, a serious opium evil obtained in the United States itself; that this was primarily due to the large Chinese population in the country, to the intimate commercial intercourse with the Orient, and to the unrestricted importation of opium and manufacture of morphia.
Thus, the interest of the United States in the opium problem is material as well as humanitarian, and, as the result of the investigations made before the meeting of the commission at Shanghai, the Congress of the United States passed the following legislation:-
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled-
That after the 1st day of April, 1909, it shall be unlawful to import into the United States opium in any form or any preparation or derivative thereof: Provided that opium and preparations and derivatives thereof, other than smoking opium or
5
197
opium prepared for smoking, may be imported for medicinal purposes only, under regulations which the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorised to prescribe, and when so imported shall be subject to the duties which are now or may hereafter be imposed by law.
Sec. 2. That if any person shall fraudulently or knowingly import or bring into the United States, or assist in so doing, any opium or any preparation or derivative thereof contrary to law, or shall receive, conceal, buy, sell, or in any manner facilitate the transportation, concealment, or sale of such opium or preparation or derivative thereof after importation, knowing the same to have been imported contrary to law, such opium or preparation or derivative thereof shall be forfeited and shall be destroyed, and the offender shall be fined in any sum not exceeding 5,000 dollars nor less than 50 dollars, or by imprisonment for any time not exceeding two or
years both. Whenever on trial for a violation of this section the defendant is shown to have, or to have had, possession of such opium or preparation or derivative thereof, auch possession shall be deemed sufficient evidence to authorise conviction, unless the defendant shall explain the possession to the satisfaction of the jury.
It will be observed that this Act excludes from the United States opium except for medicinal purposes. It is not unlikely that the Government of the United States may at an early date enact further legislation to place the entire manufacture and distribution of medicinal opium, its derivatives and preparations, and other habit- forming drugs, like cocaine and Indian hemp, under federal supervision and control.
The United States, however, is not itself an opium-producing country, and in order to make its laws fully effective and stamp out the evil, there should be control of the amount of opium shipped to this country. To this end it will be necessary to secure international co-operation and the sympathy of opium-producing countries.
In the original despatches which led to the calling of the commission, the American Government considered the time had come to decide whether the conse- quences of the opium trade and habit were not such that the civilised Powers should take measures in common to control the trade and eradicate the habit, and the sugges- tion was made that there be an international conference to consider the question in its international bearing, and if feasible to draft an international agreement.
As, however, the Government of Great Britain intimated that procedure by way of commission seemed better adapted than a conference for an investigation of the facts of the trade and the consequences of the habit preliminary to any action by the Powers jointly and severally, and inasmuch as the material placed before the conference might be insufficient to arrive at definite recommendations, the United States modified its original attitude. Therefore, in the latter part of 1906, the Government of the United States approached several of the Powers more particularly interested in the question for an international commission of enquiry to study the scientific, economic, moral, and legislative aspects of the opium problem.
It was finally agreed by the Governments concerned that a commission should meet at Shanghai on the 1st January, 1909. The commission met on the 1st February, having been postponed out of respect to the late Emperor and Dowager Empress of China, and adjourned on the 26th February, 1909. After a thorough and searching study of the opium question in all its bearings, the commission adopted the following resolutions :-
Be it resolved:
1. That the International Opium Commission recognises the unswerving sincerity of the Government of China in their efforts to eradicate the production and consump- tion of opium throughout the Empire; the increasing body of public opinion among their own subjects by which these efforts are being supported; and the real though unequal progress already made in a task which is one of the greatest magnitude.
2. That in view of the action taken by the Government of China in suppressing the practice of opium smoking, and by other Governments to the same end, the International Opium Commission recommends that each delegation concerned move its own Government to take measures for the gradual suppression of the practice of opium smoking in its own territories and possessions, with due regard to the varying circumstances of each country concerned.
3. That the International Opium Commission finds that the use of opium in any form otherwise than for medical purposes is held by almost every participating country to be a matter for prohibition or for careful regulation; and that each country in the administration of its system of regulation purports to be aiming, as opportunity
יד -
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.