COPY.
Ong regd. on 52930728
52752 43
Extract from a Confidential letter, dated 23rd October,
1928, from Mr. J.D. Lloyd (Imports and Exports Office,
Hong Kong) to Mr. Caine.
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I have recently had the good fortune to have
the chance to examine some of the Chinese account books
They are very
kept in Macau by the Opium Farmer.
instructive, and I have drawn up a report on the
examination, which will no doubt reach you in due
course. The chief features are that the Persian opiun
imported into Macau was on account of the Farmer and
was sold by him in retail lots from a few pounds up,
that there was no trace of the exports to Paraguay as
reported by the Government of Macau, the comparatively
small quantity sold for consumption in Macau itself,
about 3,000 taels per week, the large amount paid out
by way of gratuities whenever raw opium of any kind was
received; at the end of 1924 the Governor of Macau
received a diamond ring costing $1,200 as a birthday
present, the Attorney General got a fixed salary of
$2,400 per annum, all the other lawyers in Macau got
annual retaining fees of from $2,400 to $600.
It is
quite plain that the farmer disclosed all his imports to
the officials concerned and apparently trusted them to
report as much or as little as was necessary to the
public. All the Persian accounted for under the heading
"Negotiantes" seems to have been imported by the Farmer,
and bought by him before the ship ever left Bushire, in
most cases his own men were on board the vessel on her
outward trip.
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