CO129-484 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1924 [1-7] — Page 489

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TELEGRAM from the Governor of Hong

Secretary of State, for the Colonies..

Dated 14th July

(Received Coloniai

ice 3.16 p.m. 14th July, 1924)

tu.155.

18) Confidential. Your telekram 7th July. So long as China produces: opium in vast quantities prohibition would only mean substitution of smuggled for Government opium. Theory of the British Representative is

untenable. At present the profits of smuggling are limited by the existence of ligitimate supplies. If legitimate supplies were stopped temptation to amiggle would be increased, as much larger profits could be made especially as wealthy people who now use the Government opium would be driven to use contraband. Most large seizures are due to information given by persons who have not been paid well enough to keep secret. With increased profits higher bribes would be possible, and we could not compete without greatly increasing our scale of rewards whereas if deprived of the opium revenue we could not afford to maintain the

present scale. Moreover there would be thousands

مجھے

of small smugglers of Chinese opium. On account of the increased profit they could afford to bribe the Chinese Police and Revenue Officers. Even if these were incorruptible which is not the case evasion would be easy owing to the facilitey of landing from boats in hundreds of places on the coast. Prohibition could only be made effective by giving the Police practically unlimited power to search persone and premises and to do so would cause such popular indignation that not only would every Chinese be in sympathy with the smugglers butthe satisfactory relations of the Government with the

people

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