[This Bocument is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
343
2
the present stocks has been obstructed; and, secondly, as proposed by Sir J. Jordan, to allow for inspection to continue after the clearance of the stocks.
In view of proviso (a) above article 9 should be repealed.
Article 2 would be omitted. Article 3 needs to be revised as suggested by Sir J. Jordau so that until the stocks are cleared the provinces of Kwantung and Kiangsu may remain open, the safeguard being justified by the state of cultivation. Article 5 is not needed. Article 6 remains. Article 7 remains until the stocks are cleared. Article 8 should be modified as suggested by Sir J. Jordan, and, in particular, it should preserve the right of entry for certificated chests sold in November and December last, and now on their way to China, or not yet shipped from Bombay. There are believed to be some 1,775 chests at Bombay now. Article 10 would remain.
I shall be glad to learn in due course whether the Chinese Government consent to an agreement on the above lines.
I
am, &c.
E. GREY.
C.O
OPIUM.
36672
RECE Rr: 23 OCT 13
CONFIDENTIAL.
[October 2.]
SECTION 1.
[43922]
No. 1.
Foreign Office to Messrs. Sassoon and Co.
Gentlemen,
Foreign Office, October 2, 1913. WITH reference to your letter of the 4th ultimo, I am directed by Secretary Sir E. Grey to inform you that the estimate of 13,200 chests, as the amount of opium annually required for consumption in countries other than China, was based on a careful calculation made by the Government of India from the best available materials. The reduction of 9,000 chests for 1913 was intended as a purely temporary measure, and was not due to any belief that the estimate of 13,200 chests was in excess of actual requirements.
Seeing, therefore, that there is at present no prospect of the stocks at Shanghai finding their way to markets outside China, the Secretary of State for India in Council has sanctioned the proposal of the Government of India that not more than 13,200 chests of uncertificated opium will be offered for sale in 1914.
As regards your suggestion that this decision will help to maintain an illegitimate trade through Macao, 1 am to invite your attention to the terms of the recently concluded agreement with Portugal for the regulation of the opium monopolies in Hong Kong and Macao, which it is hoped will have the effect of minimising, if not entirely checking, the export of smuggled opium from Macao.
A copy of the agreement is enclosed herewith.
Zome
...
[1903 b-1]
I am, &c.
W. LANGLEY.
India
...
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