CO129-502-10 Macao opium traffic 6-12-1926 - 7-12-1927 — Page 27

Enclosure in Mr. Grant Watson's despatch No.306 of September 20th

1927.

27

COPY.

HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S ELBASSY,

LISBON.

November 26th, 1926.

Your Excellency:

By a memorandum dated September 14th last the

Portuguese Government enquired on what terms His Majesty's

Government would be disposed to negotiate a new convention

for the supply of Indian opium to Macao similar to the

convention of June 14th 1913, which terminated on February

4th 1923. Further, the Government of the Republic put for-

ward a proposal to fix the quantity of opium to be furnished

to Macai by British India in the same proportion as that

adopted for the French and Dutch colonies in the Far East.

Under the instructions of His Majesty's Principal

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, I have the honour

to inform Your Excellency that careful consideration has

been given to the Portuguese Government's proposal, but

that the general policy which has recently been adopted by

the Government of India would make its acceptance impossible.

Sir Austen Chamberlain directs me to explain that it is the

definite policy of that Government to extinguish the export

of Indian opium to the Far East completely within ten years,

by progressive annual reductions of ten per cent of the

present total; and to distribute, pending final extinction,

the reduced annual totals of exports to the eight countries

to which export is at present allowed under direct sale

agreements, namely, Malaya, Hongkong, Ceylon, the State of

North Borneo, Sarawak, Siam, Indo-China and the Netherlands

East Indies.

I avail myself etc., etc.,

His Excellency:

(Signed) LANCELOT

CARNEST

Dr. A.M. de Bettencourt Rodrigues,