File No. 774/23–27.
Minister Rockhill
to the Secretary of State.
American Legation,
Peking,January 4,
1907.
No. 497.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit to you,
herewith, copy of a note from the Prince of Ch’ing dated December 17
last, asking the assistance of the Government of the United States in
carrying out the recent imperial edict for the stopping of the use of
opium (see my No. 400 of September 21),a and in enforcing the regulations issued in
conformity therewith. A copy of these regulations is inclosed. The two
points in which he hopes our Government will be able to assist China in
the matter are, (1) that in the foreign settlements we will, by proper
orders, arrange for the inspection of premises where opium smoking is
carried on, and by prohibiting the sale of opium except under certain
conditions help enforce the regulations now applied by the local Chinese
authorities elsewhere; and (2) that our Government will waive its right
to the favored-nation treatment as regards the importation and sale in
China of morphia and instruments for injecting it, and consent to put
the provisions of Article XVI of our treaty of October 8, 1903, in force
at once without waiting for the consent of all the other treaty powers
to a similar prohibition, as I had previously informed them our
Government must do, on receipt of your instruction No. 143 of April 27
last.
On receipt of this note I called on the Waiwu Pu and saw His Excellency
T’ang Shao-i, who is, under the Viceroy Yuan Shih-k’ai, the prime mover
in this great reform. I reviewed the past action of the United States in
helping China to eradicate the opium evil, the provisions of our treaty
of 1844 (Article XXXIII), and that of 1880 (Article II), and the act of
Congress of February 23, 1887, and assured him that China could
confidently count on our hearty assistance
[Page 141]
in the present fight its Government is making to
free the country of this curse. I expressed, however, the fear that, as
the action of the United States in the past had not had the desired
effect of restricting in the least the spread of opium smoking, so with
the present case, if we agreed to the immediate enforcement of the
provisions of Article XVI of our treaty of 1903 without similar action
being agreed to by all treaty powers, the result would be the same. This
seemed the more likely since his excellency told me he did not believe
that morphia or instruments for its injection were imported into China
from the United States.
Reverting to the terms of Article XVI of our treaty, I asked His
Excellency if China had, as provided therein, framed regulations to
effectually restrict the use of morphia to medical purposes, and adopted
measures to prevent the manufacture in China of morphia and instruments
for its injection. He replied that no such regulations had been framed
as yet, nor measures adopted.
I then stated my belief that, before asking our Government to agree to
the immediate enforcement of the provisions of the treaty, China should
herself do all she was required to do under it. To this His Excellency
assented, and said that he would bring this to the immediate attention
of his Government, and that he thought suitable regulations and
provisions for their enforcement could be issued and made effective at a
very early date. I assured him that when this was done I would be much
pleased to submit to your favorable consideration the request contained
in the prince’s note of the 17th of December, although I feared, as I
had previously said, that independent action on our part would have
little practical result. To this he could not agree, but thought, on the
contrary, that it might hasten acceptance of the prohibition by all the
powers.
As regards the enforcement in the international settlements of measures
tending to restrict or prohibit the use of opium, I assured His
Excellency that our consular officers would do all that was possible,
acting in conjunction with their colleagues of course, as we had no
exclusively American concessions anywhere in China.
I learn that in Shanghai the municipal council of the international
settlement has been approached in the matter by the taot’ai, and that
while it is disposed to take such action as will meet the wishes of the
Chinese, it is not inclined to do so until it has ocular proof that the
Chinese regulations are being stringently enforced in the city and in
all the localities in the neighborhood of the settlement under Chinese
rule.
In Tientsin the regulations are being enforced in most of the foreign
concessions, but in some there appears to be considerable disinclination
to do so, but perhaps this will be overcome. The loss of revenue to the
Shanghai settlement from licenses for opium smoking establishments would
amount to a considerable sum, and in some of the settlements, as
Tientsin, Hankow, and elsewhere, it would also be considerable. As the
practicability of enforcing the prohibition of opium smoking throughout
the Empire is not universally conceded, it seems to me probable that no
stringent measures will be taken in the treaty ports, except where, as
in this province, the local authorities prove themselves able to enforce
the regulations.
I have, etc.,
[Page 142]
[Inclosure
1.—Translation.]
The Prince Ch’ing to
Minister Rockhill.
Foreign Office,
Peking,December 17,
1906.
No. 226.]
Your Excellency: I have the honor to inform
Your Excellency that on September 20, 1906, the grand secretariat
received an imperial edict, saying:
“Ever since the relaxation of the prohibition of opium smoking the
evil has spread abroad over the Empire in all directions. The
smokers waste their time and their property, ruin their health, and
impoverish their families. The condition of poverty and weakness
which has been growing during the past decades may really be traced
to this. In a word, the habit is one which arouses indignation. At
present the court is earnestly engaged in planning to make the State
strong, and it becomes of urgent importance to warn all our people
to rouse themselves and get rid of this long-standing evil and turn
to paths of health and happiness.
“We hereby command that the evil habit of using opium, whether
foreign or native, be entirely eradicated within ten years. As to
what measures shall be taken to prohibit the smoking of opium and
the cultivation of the poppy, we direct the council of state to draw
up and submit to us appropriate regulations dealing with the
same.”
The council of state has accordingly prepared ten regulations for
dealing with this matter, and, having reported them to the throne,
has received an imperial rescript saying: “Let it be as
proposed.”
Among these ten regulations we find one in which it is stated that
“as foreign opium comes from abroad, the question of dealing with it
is one affecting foreign relations, and it becomes necessary to
request that the board of foreign affairs be instructed to consult
with the representatives of the foreign powers with a view to
securing uniform action in prohibiting its import;” also a statement
to the effect that “we find that morphia and the use of the
hypodermic syringe for injecting the same are even more injurious to
the health than opium, and stringent orders ought to be issued to
all the customs authorities, in accordance with the terms of Article
XI of the revised British commercial treaty with China and those of
Article XVI of the revised American commercial treaty with China, to
entirely forbid their import into China except for medical
purposes.”
My board has received a copy of the above-mentioned regulations from
the grand council and is well aware that Your Excellency’s
Government has always sympathized with China in the matter of
suppressing the opium evil; that the relations between China and the
United States are most cordial; and that there is no good
undertaking in which your country has not given us its assistance,
and, now that we have received another decree directing us to
consult and make a satisfactory arrangement, we have prepared a
memorandum dealing with the matter, which we send inclosed, and
which, I trust, Your Excellency will forward to your Government for
its consideration,
A necessary dispatch.
Seal of the Wai Wu Pu.
[Subinclosure.—Translation.]
- 1.
- There are many opium shops and opium-smoking houses in the
foreign settlements, in addition to which the inns, wine shops,
tea houses, and brothels are also used for purposes of opium
smoking. Besides there are many hongs and shops which sell opium
pipes, opium-pipe bowls, as well as the lamps and other
apparatus used in opium smoking, and I have to request that your
Government will issue orders to have employed in all the foreign
settlements the same methods of inspection and prohibition as
are used by the local Chinese authorities.
- 2.
- All countries are thoroughly acquainted with the injury done
by morphia and the instruments for its injection. My board in
the third moon (March-April) sent a note to each of the
representatives in Peking of the various powers, asking their
consent to the prohibition of the import of morphia and the
instruments for its injection. The greater part of them have
already replied, giving consent; but there are a few who have
not yet replied, to whom we have written again urging action.
This is a matter which must be classed as a worthy undertaking,
and I have to request that your Government will at once consent
to its being undertaken with a view to its thorough
enforcement.
[Page 143]
[Inclosure
2.—Translation.]
Regulations for the suppression of opium
smoking.
Submitted by the council of state during the tenth moon
(November-December), 1906, and approved by the throne.
(Printed in Foreign Relations 1906,
pp. 366–369.)
[Inclosure 3.]
Treaty of Wangshia (1844).
Article XXXIII. Citizens of the United
States who shall trade in opium or any other contraband article of
merchandise shall be subject to be dealt with by the Chinese
Government without being entitled to any countenance or protection
from that of the United States.
[Inclosure 4.]
Commercial treaty (Peking—1880).
Article II. The Governments of China and of
the United States mutually agree and undertake that Chinese subjects
shall not be permitted to import opium in any of the ports of the
United States, and the citizens of the United States shall not be
permitted to import opium into any of the open ports of China or
transport from one open port to any other open port, or to buy and
sell opium in any of the open ports of China. This absolute
prohibition, which extends to vessels owned by the citizens or
subjects of either power, to foreign vessels employed by them or to
vessels owned by the citizens or subjects of either power and
employed by other persons for the transportation of opium, shall be
enforced by appropriate legislation on the part of China and the
United States, and the benefits of the favored-nation clauses in
existing treaties shall not be claimed by the citizens or subjects
of either power as against the provisions of this article.
[Inclosure 5.]
Revised Statutes of the United
States.
Chapter 210. An act to
provide for the execution of the provisions of article two of the
treaty concluded between the United States of America and the
Emperor of China on the seventeenth day of November, eighteen
hundred and eighty, and proclaimed by the President of the United
States on the fifth day of October, eighteen hundred and
eighty-one.
Be it enacted, etc., That the importation of
opium into any of the ports of the United States by any subject of
the Emperor of China is hereby prohibited.
Every person guilty of a violation of the preceding provision shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall
be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars nor less
than fifty dollars, or by imprisonment for a period of not more than
six months nor less than thirty days, or by both such fine and
imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.
- Sec. 2. That every package
containing opium, either in whole or in part, imported into the
United States by any subject of the Emperor of China, shall be
deemed forfeited to the United States; and proceedings for the
declaration and consequences of such forfeiture may be
instituted in the courts of the United States as in other cases
of the violation of the laws relating to other illegal
importations.
- Sec. 3. That no citizen of the
United States shall import opium into any of the open ports of
China, nor transport the same from one open port to any other
open port, or buy or sell opium in any of such open ports of
China, nor shall any vessel owned by citizens of the United
States, or any vessel, whether foreign or otherwise, employed by
any citizen of the United States, or owned by any citizen of the
United States, either in whole or in part, and employed by
[Page 144]
persons not citizens
of the United States, take or carry opium into any of such open
ports of China, or transport the same from one open port to any
other open port, or be engaged in any traffic therein between or
in such open ports or any of them.
Citizens of the United States offending against the provisions of
this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon
conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five
hundred dollars nor less than fifty dollars, or by imprisonment for
a period of not more than six months nor less than thirty days, or
by both such punishments, in the discretion of the court.
The consular courts of the United States in China, concurrently with
any district court of the United States in the district in which any
offender may be found, shall have jurisdiction to hear, try, and
determine all cases arising under the foregoing provisions of this
section, subject to the general regulations provided by law.
Every package of opium or package containing opium, either in whole
or in part, brought, taken, or transported, trafficked, or dealt in
contrary to the provisions of this section, shall be forfeited to
the United States, for the benefit of the Emperor of China; and such
forfeiture, and the declaration and consequences thereof, shall be
made, had, determined, and executed by the proper authorities of the
United States exercising judicial powers within the Empire of China.
(February 23, 1887.)
