§ Mr. THEODORE C. TAYLORasked whether the International Conference upon opium and kindred drugs is to be held upon the 16th October next?
§ Sir E. GREYNo date has yet been fixed, but it is hoped that the Conference may meet at some time during the spring of next year.
§ Mr. THEODORE TAYLORasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether he has received a request from China that she shall be allowed under the terms of agreement of 8th May last to exclude opium from three of her provinces; and, if so, what action he is taking in this matter?
§ Sir E. GREYThe Chinese Government have expressed a desire to exclude Indian opium from Manchuria, Shansi, and Szechuan, under Article 3 of the Agreement of 8th May last. His Majesty's Minister in Peking has, with our approval, refused to consider the proposal until he is satisfied that breaches of Article 7 of that Agreement by the Chinese authorities in Canton and Fukien have ceased, and that it is the intention of those authorities to fulfil the terms of the agreement in future.
§ Mr. THEODORE C. TAYLORasked what were the stocks of Malwa and of provision opium, respectively, on 1st April last and at the present time; and how many acres, if any, are now being authorised by the Indian Government to be sown with the opium poppy for next year's crop?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for INDIA (Mr. Montagu)The stock of Bengal provision opium on 31st March last was returned at 32,598 chests. Deducting the number of chests sold for export to China and elsewhere from April to August, the stock is now about 19,700 chests. Malwa opium stocks are in the hands of traders for the most part resident in native States, and are not returned. They were estimated last year at upwards of 50,000 chests. The area for which licences to cultivate opium will be granted this year has been approximately fixed at 200,000 acres.
§ Mr. THEODORE TAYLORasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to the success that has attended the opium policy of the United States in the Philippine Islands and which is attending a similar policy now being carried out by us in Wei Hai Wei, namely, the policy of registration of existing smokers, limiting them in quantity supplied, and of fixing a time limit in which the practice must cease, and further of preventing the commencement of the opium smoking habit on the part of any new victims?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the COLONIES (Mr. Harcourt)I am, of course, aware of the results of the policy in Wei Hai Wei, but I have no special information as regards the Philippines.
§ Mr. THEODORE TAYLORasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether anything beyond the closing of opium dens has been or is being done in Hong Kong to stop the vice of opium 2083 smoking; and whether any efforts in the direction of registration and limitation of old smokers and prevention of the commencement of the habit on the part of new victims are being put forth by the Hong Kong Government?
§ Mr. HARCOURTMy hon. Friend will find a full statement of the restrictions on the use of opium in Hong Kong on pages 26 and 27 of the annual report for 1909, Cd. 4964–33. The introduction of a system of registration is impracticable.
§ Mr. THEODORE TAYLORasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the recommendations of the Straits Opium Commission of 1907 are being fully carried out; and whether the policy which has been successful elsewhere, of registering all existing opium smokers, imposing a time limit, and making illegal the commencement of the vice by any fresh victims, has been or will be adopted in the Straits Settlements and in the Federated Malay States?
§ Mr. HARCOURTThe answer to the first question is in the affirmative, and the answer to the second is in the negative.