59890/24
No
GETEVA OPIUM CONFERENCES.
498
1. Caps
IKUTES of Inter Departmental Conference in the Deputation Room in the Home Office at 4.45 p.m. on Friday
19th December, 1994.
italy PRESENE.
The Home Secretary (in the Chair).
Sir John Anderson, G.G. B.
Sir Valcolm Delevingne, K.0.5.
Mr. G.D. Kirwan, .C.
No.
Home Offic0
Secretaries
Mr. M.D. Perrins
Mr. S.P. atarlow, 0.8.E.
Mr. H.W. Kalkin, 0.J., G.M.C.
Mr. 3.0. Newton
Mr. A.V.G. Randall, 0.5.E.
Sir Gilbert Grindle, K.O.M.G.,
Mr. J.J. Paskin, F.C.
Foreign Office
Genie z
Colonial Office.
Sir Louis Kershaw, K.C.S.I., G.I.E.
Mr. P.J. Patrick
Mr. G.G. Dixon
India Office,
At the request of the Home Secretary, Sir Malcolm Delevingne outlined the events which had led to the adjournment of the Second Opium Conference.. He remarked in passing that the work of the Sub- Committees of this Conference had been very largely completed, and useful results had been obtained.. The matter which had led to the dead- lock was the American proposal to amend Article 9 of the Hague Convention so as to require those countries in which opium smoking was still permitted to reduce every year their imports of opium for smoking purposes by 10% of their existing imports, thereby bringing about complete suppression at the end of ten years. This proposal, of which there had been no warning prior to the publication of the draft Amrican scheme three days after the Conference opened, had the effect of re- opening a matter which had been the special subject of consideration at the First Opium Conference. Sir Malcolm Delevingne's instructions had been definitely not to admit that this question could be re-opened at the Second Conference. When the debate on the American proposal oame up at short notice, he had spoken in accordance with the so instructions and he had finally made the suggestion (as an announcement of policy. but not as a proposal for discussion at the Second Conference) for an impartial commission to visit the Far Eastern territories where opiom smoking was still permitted. He remarked that this proposal had not been taken up by any of the delegations present except the Japanese, Then it becare apparent that the Americans were intending to force their
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