CO129-486 - Public Offices - 1924 — Page 477

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imagined, and, if the got marritsl

Chimes, the

supperently empreston with ther less of the Colany would be only a matter of

line.

The Szaman's strike

djist lesson, shaving the Relory's absoluter Sipindiacs upon the gooit will of the Chines

X

OL

473 A

Er. Flotoner said that the discontinuance of the Government

monopoly would mean spraat increase of margling and, consequently

of tɔm use of the drug.

poveikže

reventive Service 15 the monopoly was done away with, but howoTOR, rather than have any syston of rationing, hia Government would

prefer to close the monopoly. The Calany af dang Long was not

go ́permanent ae was gemórally imagined. It was entirely dependent upon the Chinges, and if Chinees bestility were invoked,

the British rule in Hong Kong sould not continne, The dook

strike in Hong Kong was an illustration of how the life of the Colony could be disturbed by influences ja China. The nonepely, he thought, was useful-an-persttting-lár-abiding. Phinese to

If opium smoking were prohibited, they

Fould be in the daily position of being able to arrest 20% of the population. ås it would be impossible to do this, and in order

that the law might be vindicated, there would have to be die-

orimination as to who was to be arrested. This would mean even

There was another

Discontinuance of

sere corruption than there at present.

osmeideration which should be borne in mind.

spium moking wuld probably mean a very large increɛze la worse habits, such as cocaine and drug-taking, and the seting of opium.

Jle did not agree with Sir John Jauleson that the rising generation

disapproved of opium. There was a period, when the aṛitation was at its height, when young Chinasen returning from Europe were in-

bued with the western ideas that opium moking was wrong; opinion

was now a fout prevalent vent bad, however,/aoted, and It was now reoo hised that opium smoking

in moderation was not deleterious.

Bir E. Delevingne said that it would hardly be accepted that

the majority of the Chinese were determined to have their opium, wooh a proposition would certainly be rejected by the official representatives of the Chinese Goverment. He referred to the statement in the Report of the Malaya Committee that most of the

Chinese smoking, learned the praction in the Colony.