8th FEBRUARY, 1909

THE PRESIDENT took the Chair at io.3o a.m.    H.E. Tsunejiro Miyaoka. called attention to an ainbiguity in the Report on Japan: page 27. Under "Purchases and Sales," the quantities given are in Kilos, the decimal point being carried to three places.

Dr. TENNEY enquired if the Japanese Delegation intended to present any report dealing with the opium question in Corea. Monsieur Miyaoka, in reply, stated that Corea had been omitted from the Japanese Report by an oversight, but that enquiries were IlONV being made, and the necessary information would be supplied later.

The PRESIDENT remarked that questions of the kind propounded by Dr. Tenney should be handed to the Delegation concerned in writing.

Mr. -PANG KUO-AN presented a Report on opium for China, and dealt seriatim with the subjects referred to under the different headings, Cultivation of Opium; Production and Consumption; Morphia; Anti-Opium Remedies; Anti-Opium Measures.
He acknowledged the shortcomings of the Memorandum, but described the difficulties that had to be contended against by his Delegation in compiling it. Owing to the absence of any proper Government machinery, it was well-nigh impossible for them to obtain reliable statistics of the area of land under cultivation, and no attempt had been made to arrive at any conclusion in that respect. MI-. T'ang explained the discrepancies that appear between the estimates of Morse and Leech, and those based on Customs Reports. With regard to the figures reported by the Board of Revenue, he stated that about 25 per cent of the total quantity of opium produced in China escaped taxation, and that the Imperial Exchequer received not more than one-third ,)f the revenue actually collected, the remaining two-thirds being retained by the different provinces for local administrative purposes. Referring to the figures under "Consumption," he acknowledged that so million might be considered an under-estimate of the total adult male population of China, but that the actual number was immaterial : no manipulation of figures could alter the fact that more than 600,000 piculs of opium were consumed annually within the Empire up to the year 1906.

Speaking of morphia, Mr. T'ang said that enormous quantities of the drug were being imported clandestinely into China, and he quoted figures from the Memorandum in support of his statement. He also indicated the necessity for immediate action to curtail the spread of so-called anti-opium remedies amongst the people, as most of these nostrums contained opium in some form or other. He reviewed the progress of the anti-opium campaign in the different provinces, and the results that had attended official and public action. He described the task before them as stupendous, and declared that the Chinese people were grappling earnestly with a problem greater than any that had ever confronted a nation in the history of the world.

Mr. Tang considered that on the whole the situation in China with regard to the opium evil was distinctly encouraging, and he concluded bv expressing the hope that the movement initiated by China's late Rulers in their memorable' Edict of the 2oth September, 1906, would be brought to a successful conclusion.

In presenting a Report for Germany (including Kiaochow), Dr. Ri3SSLER said :—

"I am in the happy position to present a short report as we have not to face a serious opium problem, either in Germany or in our Far Eastern Colony. As regards the German Empire the poppy is grown for the sake of its seed which is used in bakeries, and for the production of oil ; but opium is not produced from it to anv extent 1,vorth mentioning. No special laws exist reg-arding the cultivation and the manufacture of opium. The importation of opium is dut), free, no taxes of any kind are levied thereon. The right of selling opium and its derivatives for medical purposes is confined to apothecaries; for other than medical purposes it may be sold by persons holding a license, but certain conditions, of course, have to be observed. The importations have been constantiv increasing since i9oi and amounted to 68,7oo kg. in 1905. The principal importations were from Turkey in Asia and France. About one-fifth are re-exported, mainly to the United States of America.

"As regards Kiaochow, the cultivation of the poppy. has been prohibited since the territory came under Gerinan administration. The importation of prepared opium is likewise ptohibited and the sale of the drug is kept under strict control. Keepers of divans, retail dealers and private smokers have to take out licenses. The importations are small and mainly for local consumption ; in 1907 they amounted to 1.4.3 piculs. About 2.6 per cent of the population are opium smokers. The revenue derived from opium was about 1.3 per cent of the total revenue in 1906-7."

The PRESIDENT announced that in accordance with Rule i;, the names of the follow-ing Secretaries had been formally reported to the Chair :

America:    :MR H. F. HAWLEY.
Japan Mr. KEIZO YOKOYAMA.
Persia :    Mr. B. A. SOMEKH.
France:    Mr. XAVIER DE LAFORCADE.

The Chief Commissioner of the Netherlands Delegation, Mr. A. A. DE JUNGH, presented a Report concerning the Opium question in Netherlands-India, and a Memorandum on the Opium Monopoly in that Colony, together with two small boxes containing a set of samples illustrating the packing system employed. His statement is as follows :—

" In presenting the report of the Netherlands Delegation, I beg to state that it gives summary information on the opium question in Netherlands-India, under the headings which 1,vere suggested by the American Government as a practical way of dealing with the subject.

" We have not thought it advisable to bewilder the Commission with a mass of statistics, but we are ready to give such additional information as may, be desired, and as is in our possession.

" Of the five Appendices to our Report, No. 111, which is the Opium Monopoly Ordin-ance for Java, is the most important one to the Commission. It contains the rules for our Régie system, which may possibly serve as an example to other Powers who are desirous of putting the sale of opium under effective Government control.

" It may be mentioned here that the President of the Philippine Opium Commission of i9o3, which studied all the opium systems in the Far East, told me that in his opinion our Java system was the very best, both for the benefit of the people and in the interests of the Treasury.

"To facilitate the study of our system, we beg to add to our report a separate Memorandum, in which are given more details than are to be found in the ordinance, and some statistics showing the cost price of monopoly chandu, the net profits of the Régie as compared with those under the farm system, and the decrease in the use of opium per head of the population from 1894 to 1908, being a period of fifteen years."

The Commission adjourned at 12.3o p.m. On re-assembling at 2 p.m., Monsieur MIYA0KA moved the following resolution :—

That as far as practicable notice of reports, questions or propositions to be submitted, and of speeches or remarks to be delivered, shall be given to the Chair in advance, in order that the latter may be in a position to announce before the adjournment of each session the order of business which is likely to engage the attention of the Commission at the following sitting.'

A short discussion followed. Sir Cecil Clementi Smith suggested that the words " speeches or remarks " should be left out of the resolution, and Monsieur Ratard concurred in thinking that it would be itnpossible to notify. in advance the nature of any speeches it might be necessary to deliver. Dr. Hamilton Wright spoke in favour of the resolution, which, however, was lost on being put to the vote.

A report on the opium question as it concerns Siam was submitted by, the Right Hon. 131-11..A SAKDISINIE, Chief Commissioner of the Siamese Delegation. He said that in Slain the manufacture and sale of opium was and had been for a long time under Government supervision. It was formerly administered by an opium farm, but since January, 1907, had been controlled directly by the Opium Régie. He stated that practically no opium was imported into Siam, except as supplies for the Government factory, and that the country itself produced no opium. The licit use' of morphine and other derivatives was confined to medicinal purposes, and the illicit use of morphine, in the form of hypodermic injection, was rarely rnet with. The Right Hon. gentleman affirmed that the aiin of his Government was to ultimately suppress the use of opium altogether ; but they intended to follow a conservative policy, and not to venture on experiments that might prove disastrous to the revenue of the State without helping towards the desired end.

The Commission adjourned at 3 p.m. until Wednesday, 10th February.

[ NoTE: —The official stenographer, NIr. True, was taken seriously ill on the 8th February, and the Comtnission nets without the services of stenographer until the Isth February.]