CO129-483 - Others & Individuals - 1923 — Page 462

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This is another factor which must not be lost sight of.

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the

In England the anti-drug campaign is being carried on in a sympathetic atmosphere. In Hong Kong and the East generally the Government is without this aid importance of which it is difficult to over-estimate.

Sir R. E. Stubbs has not given any indication either that he would be deterred by the prominence of these men from enforcing the law, in the event of actual conclusive evidence of their complicity in the illicit traffic in opium, being obtained; or that he is not prepared to make every endeavour to obtain such evidence. But it might be well to clear the matter up by telegram. I submit a draft for consideration

0. It is not clear what Sir M. Delevingne means by his reference to "the continuance of the Mononoly in its present form". It seems very certain that if the monopoly were abolished the Colony would be certain to be flooded with smuggled opium, (of very much poorer quality and more deleterious than that now prepared and sold by the Government), and the resulting state of affairs would be very much worse than the present conditions. It would seem the height of folly for the Colony to relinquish this source of revenue if thereby not only no good but absolute evil would

result.

JJ 17/

#) (307578) Wt. 20119/86 Gp. 140 80,000 11-29 W &8 Lu.