[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
OPIUM,
CONFIDENTIAL.
[2500]
(Confidential.) Sir,
No. 1.
Foreign Ofice to India Office.
[February 6.]
SECTION 2.
Foreign Office, February 6, 1914. I AM directed by Secretary Sir E. Grey to transmit to you herewith, to be laid before the Secretary of State for India, paraphrase of a telegram from His Majesty's Minister at Peking relative to the disposal of the stocks of certificated Indian opium still awaiting entry into China. Copies of Sir J. Jordan's despatches No. 2 and No. 9 of the 3rd and 12th January respectively have already been forwarded privately to your Department.
The state of the opium traffic in China is fully described in Sir J. Jordan's recent despatches, copies of which have from time to time been forwarded to your Department, and it is unnecessary here to analyse afresh a situation with the essential features of which the Marquess of Crewe is already familiar. It is sufficient to say that, having considered the question in the light of Sir J. Jordan's latest recommendations, Sir E. Grey is convinced that the time has arrived when His Majesty's Government must come to a final decision concerning the policy which they are to pursue during the declining days of the opium traffic in China.
It is, of course, still possible for His Majesty's Government to maintain their present attitude until the entry into force of the Opium Convention and the closing of the provinces in China which still remain open under the agreement of 1911 combine to put a final stop to the absorbption of the stocks. If present conditions continued there would indeed be some prospect of disposing of a portion of the stocks before the door is finally closed; but there is every probability that five new provinces will be added to the prohibition list in May; already a large proportion of the opium which enters China follows illicit channels, while much of the remainder only reaches the retailer in safety as a result of special representations to the Central or Provincial Governments. With the disappearance of internal disorder and the pressure which will probably be exercised by an increasingly resentful public opinion, the difficulties attending the distribution of the stocks cannot but become greater, and the methods by which it is carried out more and more questionable. It is in fact extremely probable that after May next only a small percentage of the balance of the stocks will find its way into China, and that, too, by means with which it is most undesirable that His Majesty's Government should have even the remotest connection.
The Chinese Government have offered to take over the existing stocks at a reasonable price, payment to be made in instalments, and the manner of their ultimate disposal to remain undecided. For the reasons given by Sir J. Jordan in his telegram of the 16th January, Sir E. Grey is very strongly of opinion that it would be most unwise to accept this offer.
There remains then the alternative proposal, put forward by Sir J. Jordan, that the Government of India should take over the stocks, a proposal which, in Sir E. Grey's view, offers the only satisfactory solution of this question.
The advantages attaching to this scheme are considerable. It is a matter of common knowledge that the opium policy of Great Britain in regard to China has made on that country an unfavourable impression, which has already exercised a prejudicial influence on British interests. A continuance of this policy can only deepen this impression and aggravate its effects, while a spontaneous reversal will not only tend to efface the evil memories of the past, but may also be expected to create an atmosphere favourable to this country in the future. At a time when foreign competition is especially energetic in a country of vast undeveloped resources, an opportunity such as the present is one which His Majesty's Government cannot afford to neglect.
The opportunity will not recur, and, if Great Britain is to derive some advantage from her renunciation, the stocks must be withdrawn before the impression is created that such a step has been forced upon His Majesty's Government. If, indeed, the Government of India consent to repurchase the stocks, Sir E. Grey would suggest for Lord Crewe's consideration that it would be politic to inform the Chinese Government
[2053 ƒ-2)
* Sir J. Jordan, No. 5, Telegraphic, January 16, 1914.
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