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made by them to find or seize it, it being frankly admitted that this would involve a degree of personal danger greater than the
Customs Officers are prepared to risk.
be pointed out, applies just as much to endeavouring to execute their duties.
This risk, it needly hardly
ship's officers in
Cases are also on record, where opium foud and reported
by ships' Officers, has been taken away by Chinese organizations with official titles, without any subsequent evidence of arrest or punishment of the guilty parties.
So long as Provincial Government Officials a re in a position to encourage the rowth of opium with a view to profit, they will do nothing to stop the traffic and they ill deliberately
not prevent it.
The enclosed extracts from "Shipping & Engineering" of
30th August last, and rom the "North China Daily News" of 7th September, will give you information from other sources.
It is implied in your letter that the searching of British vessels is carried out only by the Chinese Maritime Customs, but
this is not borne out by experience at certain China Forts, where ships are searched by so-called official bodies such as the Opium
Suppression Bureau and Salt Prevention Society, with the knowledge
of H..Consuls and of the Chinese Maritime Customs. We have
endeavoured to ascertain what is done with opium so siezed, but
without success.
The Customs do at least at intervals burn their
accumulated stocks
•
My remarks refer particularly to British owned Shipping Companies, but I understand your enquiry to be regarding British
ships in general, and there are British Chinese owned steamers
sailing under the British flag between here and Canton and West River Ports, on which it is possible the same efforts are not
made to prevent smuggling, and which no doubt are searched by
Chinese Tax Collecting bodies and others without rotest, if not
with t he actual connivance d etailed above. To prevent smuggling
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