CO129-516-5 Policy of Hong Kong government on the purchase and supply of opium 25-2-1929 - 10-5-1929 — Page 11

Jraft 4/5.

6. My shangwur.

23. 4. 28.

1-

4 To Air M. Delevingne (100.) w/c 1 - Coms. 25/4/29 5th Brilish Bulletin of Society of Suffressure of Ofier Prade

6. Sir M Delevinque

26.4.29

(Agrees to proposed reply is fai

ворожет

subject to additives indicated)

Sir Malcolm Delevingne agrees

generally with the proposed reply to Hong Kong.

He suggests an alteration in the terms of the

assurance as to permission to purchase Persian

Opium. His formula would seem to imply

that Hong Kong will only be allowed to buy

Persian Opium in order to make up their total

supplies to the supply authorised from India

in the standard year. We have in the past

resisted any such attempts to fix for all time

the amount of Opium which the Hong Kong

Government may be allowed to buy, and I think

we must continue to do so. As the population

increases it is inevitable, so long as Opium smoking

Swaggling is allowed, that the demand for

Government Opium will tend to increase, although

in the last few years, owing to the operation

of the smugglers, there has in fact been a

decrease. Moreover, if the Government ever succeeds in preventing smuggling, in order to

meet the demand itself it will need further

supplies of Opium. The formula I proposed

had this possibility in view and promised

Hong Kong