CO129-471 - Public Offices - 1921 — Page 110

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off. The paste remaining was alleged to form the "raw Hal" of the morphine, The process as thus explained did ppear to differ materially from that followed in the 109 ration of opium paste and seemed indeed to be merely a

form of the same process, so enquiries were made with a to elucidating this point and requests were put forward be shown the actual process of extraction of the morphine.

but the most evasive answers were however received, and it le manifest after several interrogations had been made that questions were distasteful and that further persistence

cause considerable embarrassment, so the matter was per-

we dropped.

The

With regard to the production of morphine by the Bureau, official in charge stated that the only reason why this was nced at all was that in certain kinds of opium, ..g. Turkish percentage of morphine was higher than was required for tum prepared for smoking and that the percentage had in con- mance to be reduced in order to ensure uniformity in the

dard of opium sold by the Bureau to licensed amokers. Thine thus produced was in a orude state and was all sold the Hoshi Drug Company, by whom it was exported to Japan and ke refined. In the process of refinement there was a con- derable loss of weight, so that of the total amount of crude

phine produced, some 300 pounds per month, the proportion of

If however Aned morphine obtained was less than one-half.

There

Mis large amount of morphine were genuinely exported to Japan, it would appear in the published annual Customs returns,

is nevertheless no item in the returns

1919 and 1920

-

at least in those for

that could possibly cover anything like so larg

a quantity of the drug. In view of the already noticed attitude

of the Bureau officials it was deemed inexpedient to ask for

rther explanations, and the mystery was left unsolved. British Consulate, Tansul.

March 19th,

1921.

(sa.) G.E. Phipps.

H.M. Consul.