THE OPIUM TRADE.

HC Deb 16 March 1891 vol 351 c1043

MR. S. SMITH (Flintshire)

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to a Petition to Parliament on the subject of the opium trade, signed by over 11,000 Chinese residents of Singapore, wherein they pray of the British Administration Not to ruin them morally, physically, and materially, by affording facilities for carrying on the traffic in this most pernicious drug"; and whether he can state if nearly half the Revenue of Singapore is derived from the opium traffic?

THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Baron H. de WORMS,) Liverpool, East Toxteth

My attention has not been drawn to any Petition on the subject of the opium trade signed by Chinese residents of Singapore complaining of the facilities afforded to the trade. In reply to the last question of the hon. Member, I may say that the Excise on opium in Singapore produces more than one-half of the total Revenue of the colony.