beeper |
30236/27
2
brands of opium, viz., (a) pure Indian opium at
$15 a tael: (b) a blend of indian with non-Indian
opium at 78.53 a tael: and (c) non-Indian opium
at $6.66 a tael. This decision was announced in
Government Gazette Notice No.556 of the 29th
September, 1927.
12.
Unfortunately I made two miscalculations.
I did not foresee the extent of the demand for the
blend of Indian with non-Indian opium at 78.33 a
tael and for non-Indian opium at 6.66 a tael.
Nor did I foresee the extent to which the sale of
these new brands would stop the flow of
confiscations. In other words, I underestimated
the signal and immediate success of my experiment.
It is, as I informed you in my telegram of the
12th December,
1927′ no longer an experiment.
we have recaptured the Hong Kong opium market for
the time being, and it is an accepted fact in the
Colony that the opium smugglers have had a serious
set_back. There has been a considerable reduction
in gaol figures of opium offenders, and there is no
sign of any increased consumption to balance the
increased official sales. As, however, in
October last the consumption of government opium
roae beyond all anticipation from 500 taels to
2,000 taels a day, in itself an indication of
the extent to which smugglers had previously
dominated the market, it became clear that
our stocks of confiscated non-Indian opium would
not suffice and must be supplemented, if the new
+
No. 6. 30236/
275 No.427
13
policy
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