CO129-405 - Public Offices - 1913 — Page 252

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

OPIUM.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[7800]

No. 1.

[February 12.]

SECTION 1.

Minutes of the Third Meeting, held at the Foreign Office on February 12, 1918, to discuss the Opium Traffic at Macao with a Representative of the Portuguese Government.

THE meeting was held in resumption of the adjourned meetings of the 13th and 27th January, and the same persons were present as on those occasions.

M. da Fonseca aunounced that he was authorised by his Government to accept the proposals put forward by Mr. Severn at the meeting of the 27th January, and stated that he accepted them in principle. He said, however, that in the interval between the two meetings he had received a telegram from Macao viâ Lisbon giving details as to the export of opium from Macao to Mexico and elsewhere in the year 1912. The telegram, after stating that a chest produced 1,000 taels of prepared opium, gave the following figures of export to Mexico:--

In April

In Angust

In September

Total

Taels.

110,000

126,000

174,000

116,000 or 416 chests,

The total export in 1912 was 740,000 taels (740 chests), which meant that 324 chests of prepared opium were exported to places other than Mexico.

In view of these figures, M. da Fonseca felt that he could not agree to so big a reduction as was proposed by Mr. Severn, viz., to a maximum of 120 chests, but he was prepared to fix the maximum at 300 chests.

to.

After some discussion, in which Mr. Severn pointed out again the danger of accumulating stocks of opium which would in his opinion result from allowing a large maximum, M. da Fonseca suggested 240 chests as a compromise, and this was agreed The Maçao farmer will therefore be allowed to import into Macao under the new contract 500 chests per annum, of which 260 may be prepared for local consumption and 240 for export; it being clearly understood that if it is shown that the legitimate export trade exceeds 240 chests, the farmer will be allowed to exceed this limit on a further payment to the Government in respect of each chest in excess of 240.

state-

M. da Fonseca then asked that some record of their arrangement should be drawn up and signed by those present. It appeared that he desired the inclusion of ment that the Indian market would remain open to Macao. Mr. Drake said that he had no authority to bind the Government of India in the matter, and that there did not seem to be any need for a signed record since the position was that the Portuguese Government, after consulting His Majesty's Government in a friendly way, had decided to adopt certain measures which were a matter for Portugal alone.

M. da Fonseca, however, pressed the point, and it was finally agreed that a state- ment should be prepared and considered at a meeting to be held on the 17th February. The meeting thought that it would be of interest to know where the 324 chests not exported to Mexico in 1912 actually went, and M. da Fonseca promised to make telegraphic enquiry.

The meeting then adjourned.

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