CO129-405 - Public Offices - 1913 — Page 521

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

C.O

18638

OPIUM.

REC

IRES 2 JUN 13

[May 8.]

SECTION 1.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[20492]

(No. 22.) Sir,

No. 1.

Sir Edward Grey to Sir A. Johnstone.

Foreign Office, May 8, 1913. YOUR telegram No. 4, Treaty, of the 4th instant, in which you stated that the meeting of the Opium Conference would probably be postponed till the autumn, bas been considered by the Interdepartmental Committee on Opium,

The committee are unanimously of opinion that it is most desirable that the original intention of the Netherlands Government should be maintained, and that a conference should be held, if possible, in June.

Such a conference would enable the signatory States not only to review the position created by the additional signatures affixed to the convention since the 23rd January, 1912, and examine into the possibility of depositing their ratifications, but also to concert measures to secure the signatures of countries which have either refused to sign or have for the present abstained from doing so. The replies of these countries to the invitation of the Netherlands Government, so far as they had been submitted to the committee, revealed the existence of misunderstandings as to the provisions and purport of the convention, which would seem in certain cases capable of being overcome.

In these circumstances the committee suggest that the time has arrived when action on the part of the Netherlands Government may usefully be supplemented by action taken jointly by the signatory Powers. They further consider that time would be saved in arriving at a decision as to the most appropriate action to take if all the signatory Powers were now to meet in conference at an early date, and that any action decided on would be likely to come with greater weight if it was the outcome of the joint deliberations of the assembled Powers.

The committee see reason to hope that it would be possible in this way to expedite the signatures of certain countries in whose case the question does not appear to have been definitely decided, and even to induce other countries to reconsider their refusal to sign in the light of the new arguments which the conference would no doubt be able to formulate.

You should at once approach the Netherlands Government and urge on them the undesirability, in view of the arguments put forward by the Interdepartmental Committee, of postponing to the autumn the meeting of the conference, for which invitations have already been accepted for June.

I am, &c.

E. GREY.

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