CO129-482 - Public Offices - 1923 — Page 81

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imported, na suggested below in paragraph 3,

The

3. His Majesty's Government roposed that under any new arrangement a maximum of one hundred chests should be imported in the first year, to be reduced anually by fifteen till the figure of fifty chests per annum is reached. Portuguese suggest that a maximum of two hundred and forty chests nhould be allowed, to be reduced annually by twenty chests till the figure of sixty is reached. Thus in nine years the opium imported would be reduced to the minimum apunt, wild is twenty per cent more than the minimu: proposed by His Majesty's Government. Such a concession, though considerable, is one which, i.. the Secretary of State's opinion, might be made, cupecially in view of the recent statistics of Horton's opius requirements. The Hongkong Goverment has now stated that the maximum amount of opium which may be imported into the Colony should be fixed at four hundred chests a year, and that no estimate lower then three hundred and sixty chests a year should be taten. On & per capita calculation, this re-

estinate would allow forty six to fifty one chests a year to

supply Macao's legitimate requirements. These new figures

show that Hongkong's average requirements were under-estimated

in paragraphs 5 and 6 of Foreign Office despatch to Lisbo

No. 373 of the 30th October; and it is suggested that con-

ceccions might well be ode to the Portuguese Governant on

this point, though it would perhaps be desirable to make some

effort to reduce the initial figure of two hundred and forty

chests, which they have themselves put forward for our

consideration.

This question, however, must be considered

in/