Acting Secretary of State to the Netherlands Minister.
Washington, March 22, 1911.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note No. 216 of the 10th instant, in which, referring to your note of November last relative to the meeting of the International Opium Conference, you inform me by order of your Government that in [Page 55] consequence of objections made by some Governments the date of the opening of the conference had to be changed from May 30 to July 1 next; also that your Government would attach great value to knowing before April 15 next whether this Government accepts the conditions of the British Government in respect to the repression of the morphine and cocaine trades, as the latter Government had consented to participate in the conference on the conditions which you set forth, namely—
- 1st.
- That the Governments concerned should prepare before the conference meets statistical statements of the trade and manufacture of morphine and cocaine in their respective countries;
- 2d.
- That the question of regulating the said trade and manufacture shall be embodied in the program of the conference;
- 3d.
- That the Governments shall declare their readiness to take vigorous measures to suppress the said trade and manufacture.
I am happy to be able to inform you that this Government takes due note of the change of the date of the opening of the International Opium Conference from May 30 to July 1, which is entirely agreeable to this Government; and that the proposals made by the British Government in regard to the manufacture and trade in morphine and cocaine will have its earnest support.
As soon as this Government learned of the proposals of the British Government in regard to morphine and cocaine, Mr. Beaupré, the American minister at The Hague, was instructed on September 27, 1910, to inform your Government of the proposals, and also that the United States was in entire accord with them as being in conformity with resolution 5 of the International Opium Commission. The United States has already completed its examination of the morphine and cocaine questions, and statistics on these subjects are contained in a report, several copies of which have been sent to Mr. Beaupré for transmission to the Netherlands Government.
In addition to the copies of the report sent to Mr. Beaupré for transmission to the Netherlands Government, copies of pending legislation were also sent to him for the same purpose, so that your Government is now fully informed that it is the earnest desire of this Government that the British proposals in regard to the manufacture and trade in morphine and cocaine shall be fully considered in the forthcoming conference.
For your convenience, I take great pleasure in sending you herewith three copies of the above-mentioned report, and three copies each of bills now before the Congress aimed to control the importation, exportation, and interstate traffic in habit-forming drugs; also copies of a bill which is in conformity with resolutions 8 and 9 of the International Opium Commission and applies adequate pharmacy laws to persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States practicing pharmacy in the consular districts of this Government in China. This bill passed the Senate during the last Congress, but failed of action in the House of Representatives by reason of the great pressure of important matters before that body. The Department has no reason to doubt that it will be enacted into law by the forthcoming Congress.
Accept, etc.,