CO129-473 - Individuals - 1921 — Page 126

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MAY 20

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DANGAROủ DRUGS.

LRAGUE AND THE TRAFFIC.

A telegram from Genera, states that the princi- pal feature of the final sitting on Friday of thei League of Nations Opium Committee, was a very frank speech by Sir John Jordan, leto British Minister to Pokin, in which he made clear the presant situation in China. By 1917, he stated, wing to the energetic campaign which the Chinese Government had been carrying on, China was prae- tically free from opium. Just at this tizma, how- ever, the smuggling of opium over the frontiere commenced upon a gigantio sole. The Government found itself able to cope with this. Their resint- ance to the opium trade gradually collapsed, and the situation to-day was that enormous quantities of opium ware being grown in the large provinces, whose military governor are in a position to defy: the distant contral Government. Neverthelem, Sir John mid Phat he wae confident that Chion could still cope with this evil, provided she were loyally! rapported. The only affective way in which m port could be given was to prohibit the growing of opium everywhere except for medicinal and scientific purposes. So long, he said, as the Hague Conven- tion left the Signatory Powers free to grow as much. opiam as they pleased, its application could not possibly operate to rectify the situation in Chin

Mr. Campbell, the Indian representative, pointed out that under Article XXIII of the Covenant, the League of Nations had no right of authority except to supervies the extention of the Hague Convention. Ho dwelt on the difficulty of arriving at this Conven tion, and also on the fact that it had only been in lows for four months. He emphasised the devirs bility of trying the powers of the Hague Convention bafore scrapping them.

Kr. Hamilton Wright, the American Semetary of the committee, strongly supported the lims taken by Sir John Jordan. She declared that if the League's poway in the matter wore a united as Mr. Campbafi contended, the fact should be pro- alaimed to the world, and no time should be lost in summoning afurther International Conference, Co33-1 petant to amend the Hague Convention

After considerable discussion, the majority of the committee adopted the view of Sir Malcolm Dele vingne, the British representative, who proposed postponing this question until the committee had I received all the answers to ila questionnaire, and bad also spent a little time in supervising the actual working of the Hague Convention. Then, he said. the committes would be in a better position in mngenit | im proverbanks to it

This closed the prosandings. The cœurities mili most again in Faőrnary of next year,

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