Office of the Historian

File No. 774/400–401.

Chargé Lorillard to the Secretary of State.

American Legation,
Lisbon, October 30, 1908.
No. 446.]

Sir: Referring to the department’s instruction No. 160 of March 10, 1908, inviting the Government of Portugal to take part in a joint investigation of the opium trade and the opium habit in the Far East, and in continuation of Mr. Bryan’s No. 422 of August 4, 1908, on the same subject, I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy and a translation of a note from the foreign office, dated the 22d instant, whereby the Portuguese Government officially accepts the invitation of the American Government, states its intention to be represented on the international commission which is to meet at Shanghai in January next, and adds that the subject to be discussed has been the object of investigation by a committee sitting at Macau since August last.

I have, etc.,

George Lorrillard.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]

The Minister for Foreign Affairs to Chargé Lorillard.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Division of Commercial and Consular Affairs, First Bureau,
Lisbon, October 22, 1908.

In reply to His Excellency Mr. Charles Page Bryan’s note of the 18th of last July, I have the honor to communicate to you that His Majesty’s Government, accepting the invitation of the Government of the United States of America, has decided to be represented on the international commission which is to [Page 107] meet at Shanghai, in January, 1909, to study and propose means to combat the use of opium in the regions of the Far East, and it is a subject which is the object of investigation by a commission sitting in the colony of Macau since August of the current year.

I avail, etc.,

Wenceslau de Lima.