CO129-405 - Public Offices - 1913 — Page 225

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

OPIUM.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[3811]

No. 1.

5189

RECO

REG 13 FEB 3

[January 25.]

SBOTION 3.

Sir,

India Office to Foreign Office.--(Received January 25.)

India Office, January 24, 1913. IN reply to your letters of the 7th and 22nd instant, I am directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council to inform you that, having consulted the Government of India, be concurs in Sir J. Jordan's proposals relating to the closure of Chinese provinces to Indian opium, as specified in his telegram of the 3rd January.

A copy of the telegram, dated 23rd January, received from the Government of India on the subject is enclosed for Sir E. Grey's information. Instructions have been given for the telegram to be repeated to Sir J. Jordan, and I am to suggest that he should be asked for any observations that he may wish to make on the Government of India's views respecting the opium stocks.

I am, &c.

T. W. HOLDERNESS,

Enclosure in No. 1.

Government of India to the Marquess of Crewe.

(Telegraphic.) P.

PLEASE see your opium telegram dated 16th instant.

January 23, 1913.

We agree to proposals made by British Minister at Peking on the subject of closure of provinces. On the question of stocks, we desire to point out that we hoped that our recent contraction of the amount of uncertificated opium to be sold and the action which we took to postpone certificated opium sales might induce opium merchants holding stocks in China to dispose of part of these stocks in non-China markets, and that it would encourage opium dealers in China to make purchases which, while their market was overloaded and large supplies were arriving from India month by mouth accentuating the glut, they would be unwilling to make. The statement that no solution of the question of stocks is offered by the action which we have taken is therefore, in our opinion, premature, and we think that before further consideration is given to the question it is desirable to obtain experience of the actual effects of our action. You will, however, we trust, agree that we liave done everything to relieve the situation that we could be expected to do, and that it is beyond our power to deal with the maintenance for stocks at present in existence of a market which the 1911 agreement guaranteed them.

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