[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.)·
OPIUM.
CONFIDENTIAL.
(36351]
No. 1.
[August 6.]
SECTION 3.
1.9 51
240
Sir J. Jordan to Sir W. Langley.-(Received August 6.)
Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle, Co. Down, My dear Langley,
August 4, 1913. YOUR letter of the 2nd only reached me to-day, and I hasten to send you my views on the Government of India's telegram of the 25th July with which I am in general agreement. China should, as suggested by the Viceroy, be reminded of the voluntary proposal she made in February last for taking over the stocks and establishing a monopoly. She asked, in return, that the import of Indian opium should cense. The import has since ceased, but urged on by agitators, native and foreign, the Chinese Government has gradually increased its demands until it now asks for the reshipment of the stocks to non-China markets. The Chinese Government cannot fail to realise that this proposal is unreasonable so long as the native cultivation continues, but both in China and in England the whole question seems to be in the hands of agitators, who are prepared to go any length to put a stop to what they regard as a highly immoral trade. In China, at any rate, the Government is entirely at the mercy of these agitators, and will venture to make no agreement of which they disapprove. While, therefore, I think that the proposals of the Government of India form a reasonable basis for the revision of the 1911 Agreement, I am afraid that they stand little or no chance of acceptance by the Chinese Government. That, however, is no reason why they should not be put forward, and in doing so it would be advisable to review the whole question and state, as Sir Edward Grey pointed out to General Chang, the great efforts we have made and the heavy sacrifices we have incurred in promoting the work of opium suppression in China. The question is now narrowed down to the disposal of some 20,000 chests of opium-scarcely a third of the normal annual import a few years ago, and latest accounts show that the stocks are being gradually and steadily absorbed.
It may be taken as morally certain that the pressure of public opinion will prevent China giving any guarantee that she accepts liability for the disposal of the stocks, and that the negotiations for the revision of the 1911 Agreement will drag on without any result. But we shall have shown our willinguess to revise on reasonable terins, and shall gain time for the disposal of at least a considerable portion of these obnoxious stocks, which have been a sort of nightmare to us in Peking ever since June 1912 when the Indian Government, to my great regret, declined to recognise the pressure of circumstances and suspend further sales.
The Chinese Government and the provincial authorities know perfectly well that the opium trade exists on sufferance, and that they can stop it any time. The most, therefore, we can hope for is that the stocks will be allowed to go quietly into circulation until May 1914 when a further examination of the provinces will doubtless be demanded. The Chinese will then make a determined effort to clear the remainder of the provinces, and will probably be as successful, for the time at least, as they were this year. They will then be in a much stronger position to insist upon the reshipment of the surplus stocks which, it is to be hoped, will not by that time exceed, say, 10,000 chests. In my opinion, the Government of India ought to be prepared to face this contingency in a practical way. The Chinese Government have long ago prohibited the import of native opium into Shanghai, and no power, short of actual force, will enable Indian opium to get into circulation after native cultivation has been suppressed, even temporarily.
This is, however, looking ahead. For the present our best course is to answer the Chinese request for revision in the sense suggested by the Government of India, and let the negotiations proceed in the usual Chinese leisurely style until the time comes round for the examination of the remainder of the provinces. It is rather a poor policy, but the only other solution would be the removal of all the existing stocks,
[1836 ƒ—3].
Home
India
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.