§ SIR H. COTTONI beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the retention of 1,600 opium dens within the British settlement of Shanghai is entirely dependent on the annual meeting of ratepayers of the settlement, which will be held in March next; whether the ultimate control over the municipal council and responsibility for the settlement rests with His Majesty's Government, under whose authority alone the settlement has any existence in China; and, if so, whether, having regard to the decision of His Majesty's Government to support and encourage the anti-opium policy of the Chinese Government, even though it may cost us some sacrifice, His Majesty's Government will now take steps, before the meeting of ratepayers in March, to ensure that the municipal council at Shanghai shall follow the example of the Chinese authorities in the native city of Shanghai and close all opium dens in the British settlement without delay.
§ SIR EDWARD GREYThe retention of the opium dens in the settlement is, in the first resort, a matter for the decision of the municipal council, who are elected by the ratepayers. The ultimate responsibility for the good order of the settlement, which now has an international status, rests not only with His Majesty's Government, but with the other Treaty Powers in China. The council have already been informed 200 of the desire of His Majesty's Government that the bona fide efforts of the Chinese authorities to diminish the consumption of opium should be encouraged and supported as far as possible, and the council have decided to refuse applications for new licences. The council having intimated that they cannot go beyond the refusal of applications for new licences without the authority of the ratepayers, His Majesty's Government consider it advisable to await the result of the meeting to be held next month before taking further action in the matter.