500.C1197/812
The Secretary of State to the Secretary General of the League of Nations (Avenol)1
The Secretary of State of the United States of America has the honor to refer to a note from the Secretary General of the League of Nations dated December 14, 1934 (No. CL 211, 1934 XI),1a communicating two resolutions adopted by the Advisory Committee on Traffic in Opium and Other Dangerous Drugs at its Eighteenth Session in regard to the clandestine manufacture of narcotic drugs and the illicit traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs in China. The resolutions read, respectively, as follows: [Page 745]
“Resolution I.
“The Advisory Committee asks the Council to request Governments having extra-territorial powers in China to take the following measures without delay, unless they have already been adopted:
- “(1) To deport from China all their nationals who have been convicted of taking part in the illicit manufacture of drugs in China or in the illicit traffic in such drugs in China. Once deported, these persons should not be allowed to re-enter China.
- “(2) Enactment of legislation which will apply in extraterritorial jurisdiction to impose adequate penalties upon their respective nationals who are in future convicted of illicit trafficking in opium or narcotic drugs in China or of complicity in the illicit manufacture in China of narcotic drugs.
- “(3) Withdrawal of the protection accorded to vessels engaged in inland water navigation in China and flying the flags of these countries when those vessels are found to be habitually employed in the illicit traffic in opium and dangerous drugs.
“Resolution II.
“The Advisory Committee,
“Having examined carefully the information available to it concerning the alarming situation existing in China as regards poppy cultivation and consumption of opium, the illicit traffic in opium and its derivatives, and, above all, as regards the rapid development of clandestine manufacture of morphine and heroin in the Chinese territory:
“Expresses the desire to be informed as soon as possible of the results of the enquiry which was announced a year ago by the Chinese Government and which was intended to serve as a basis for the establishment of a comprehensive plan to prevent illicit traffic in opium and its derivatives and to suppress immediately all illicit manufacture of opium derivatives;
“Expresses the wish that, while awaiting the results of this enquiry, the Chinese Government should take every possible step to combat the illicit traffic in opium and drugs in China and to prevent its territory from becoming a source of supply for traffickers in other countries;
“Recommends that the Council should communicate officially to the Chinese Government and the Governments of the Treaty Powers, through the Secretary-General, the Minutes of the Committee’s discussion on the situation in the Far East at its sittings on May 29th and 30th, with a request for the observations of those Governments on the facts disclosed by the discussion and for their replies to the questions put in the course of this discussion.”
With respect to Resolution I the Secretary General requests the Government of the United States to inform him of the measures it has already taken or proposes to take on the lines indicated by the Advisory Committee. With respect to Resolution II the Secretary General transmits the minutes of the meetings of the Advisory Committee on May 29 and 30, 1934 (document C.317.M.142.1934.XI—Extract), [Page 746] and requests the Government of the United States to submit its observations on the facts recorded by the discussion reported in the minutes and to furnish replies to the questions raised during the debate. The Secretary General adds that the two resolutions and other enclosures mentioned in his note have been communicated to the Government of China.
With reference to Resolution I, paragraph (1), the Secretary General is advised that the laws of the United States do not authorize the deportation from China of American citizens who may be convicted of taking part in the illicit manufacture of drugs in China or in the illicit traffic in such drugs in that country. However, American nationals who are convicted in the courts of the United States in China and sentenced to substantial terms of imprisonment are committed to penal institutions in the United States and, in the case of persons convicted of offenses against the narcotic laws, their return to China may, as it already has been in at least one instance, be prevented. Moreover, Section 2 of the Act of Congress approved January 19, 1929,2 providing for the establishment of narcotic farms in the United States for the treatment of drug addicts authorizes the commitment to such institutions of persons convicted in the consular courts of the United States—including those in China—who are addicted to the use of habit-forming drugs. Consideration is now being given to the question of the practical necessity or desirability of recommending the amendment of the laws of the United States so as to authorize the American authorities in China to deport from and prohibit the return to China of American nationals convicted of participating in the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs in China.
Referring to the second paragraph of Resolution I the Secretary General is advised that certain laws of the United States penalizing the illicit traffic in opium and other drugs are already applicable to American citizens in China. The act of Congress approved February 23, 1887, as amended (24 Stat. 409; 34 Stat. 814), enacted to carry into effect the provisions of the Treaty as to Commercial Intercourse and Judicial Procedure, concluded between the United States and China on November 17, 1880, provides:
“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 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 [Page 747] 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 $500 nor less than $50, 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 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 China. (Feb. 23, 1887, c. 210, § 3, 24 Stat. 409; Title 21, Sec. 193, U. S. Code.)”
The Act of Congress approved March 3, 1915 (38 Stat. 817) was enacted to
regulate and control the practice of pharmacy and sale of poisons in
American consular districts in China. Sections 6, 8 and 11 of that Act
read, respectively, as follows:
Section 2 of the act just cited provides that applicants for a license to practice pharmacy “shall submit evidence sufficient to show to the satisfaction of said Consul (American Consul) that he is of good moral character and not addicted to the use of…3 narcotic drugs, so as to render him unfit to practice pharmacy”.
Section 4 of the same act provides for the revocation of a license to practice pharmacy which was obtained by any person found to “be addicted to any narcotic or stimulant…3 in such manner and to such extent as to render it expedient that in the interest of the public his license be cancelled”.
Section 6 of the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act, as amended,
provides that:
Section 4 of the act cited penalizes the possession of smoking opium and appears to be applicable to “all persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States”, including presumably American nationals in extraterritorial countries, including China. The section reads as follows:
“Any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States who shall, either as principal or as accessory, receive or have in his possession, or conceal on board of or transport on any foreign or domestic vessel or other water craft or railroad car or other vehicle destined to or bound from the United States or any possession thereof, any smoking opium or opium prepared for smoking, or who, having knowledge of the presence in or on any such vessel, water craft, or vehicle of such article, shall not report the same to the principal officer thereof, shall be subject to the penalty provided in section 174 of this title. Whenever on trial for violation of this section the defendant is shown to have or to have had possession of such opium, such possession shall be deemed sufficient evidence to authorize conviction, unless the defendant shall explain the possession to the satisfaction of the jury. (Feb. 9, 1909, c. 100 § 4; Jan. 17, 1914, c. 9, 38 Stat. 275; Title 21, Sec. 178, U. S. C.)”
It is possible that other provisions of the laws of the United States relating to narcotic drugs might be held to be applicable to American citizens in China, and consideration is being given to the question whether it is necessary or desirable to make more explicit provision for the application to American nationals in China of the general laws of the United States designed to prohibit the illicit traffic in opium and other narcotic drugs.
With respect to the third paragraph of Resolution I, the Secretary General is informed that no vessel flying the American flag and engaged in inland water navigation in China has ever been found to be “habitually employed in the illicit traffic in opium or other dangerous drugs”. In the event that any vessel enjoying American protection in China should engage in such illegal activities, this Government would, upon receipt of satisfactory evidence of such activities, withdraw its protection from such vessel and would inform the appropriate Chinese authorities that the facilities granted to such vessel on the basis of its former American documentation need no longer be granted.
With regard to Resolution II, the Department, pending the receipt of further information concerning the outcome of measures taken [Page 750] by the Chinese Government since April 1934, has nothing to add to the facts brought out in the discussion which took place at the Opium Advisory Committee’s meetings on May 29 and 30, 1934; but submits the following observations:
From the data hitherto available, it is estimated that some ninety percent of the world’s production of opium is grown in China. This represents a practically unlimited supply of raw material for the manufacture of morphine, heroin and other dangerous drugs. It is, therefore, felt that the Chinese Government rests under a heavy responsibility to the other nations of the world not only drastically to reduce this vast production of opium, but also to ensure meanwhile that the output of raw opium from its poppy fields is not diverted from medical and scientific use to supply the demands of addiction in China or in the rest of the world. It is hoped that the measures taken by the Chinese Government since the spring of 1934 may speedily result in effective and material reduction in the large amount of raw opium produced in China and in the production and consumption in China of prepared opium. So that the other nations may be kept informed of the progress which the Chinese Government makes in the effort to destroy the menace which this huge production of opium constitutes for the rest of the world, it is hoped that the Chinese Government will publish annually detailed statistics, by provinces, of the areas planted to the poppy, the production of raw opium, the movement of opium both raw and prepared, and the quantities of raw opium used for producing opium prepared for smoking, as well as detailed figures showing stocks at the end of each year and the revenue obtained from the traffic.
Such action by the world’s largest producer of raw opium could not but be regarded as a distinct step forward in concerted effort to limit and reduce the world production of the raw materials from which narcotic drugs are made, a limitation which the Chinese representatives have frequently, in the past, characterized as essential to an effective solution of the narcotic drug problem.
It is also hoped that the Chinese Government will take steps to render more effective its prohibition of the importation into China of Persian and other foreign opium and that, as a measure of cooperation, the British Government will continue to supply through the Secretary General of the League of Nations to the parties to the Narcotics Limitation Convention of 19316 details such as it has previously furnished in regard to the movement of opium from the Persian Gulf.
It is hoped that the Chinese Government will submit and that the Secretary General will transmit to all parties to the Narcotics Limitation [Page 751] Convention of 1931 individual reports, under Article 23 of that Convention, of all of the important cases of illicit traffic and of clandestine manufacture, in order to show more completely and definitely the trend of the illicit traffic in China, the measures which are being taken to suppress that traffic, and the difficulties encountered in enforcing that suppression.
It is also hoped that the authorities of the International Settlement at Shanghai will continue to send in their valuable reports on individual cases of illicit traffic discovered in that International Settlement and that the Secretary General will circulate these to Governments in the manner prescribed by the Narcotics Limitation Convention of 1931 for the exchange between Governments of reports of this character. It is hoped that the Governments of nations which have Concessions in China will also continue to submit similar reports and that the Secretary General will similarly circulate them.
To provide a barometer of clandestine manufacture of heroin, it is hoped that the Chinese Government will publish statistics of the import into China of acid acetic anhydride showing the quantities of this substance imported at the various ports. It is also hoped that similar statistics will be published showing imports into the Kwantung Leased Territory and into Manchuria and Jehol.
The Department awaits the receipt of the laws and regulations promulgated to give effect in China to the Narcotics Limitation Convention of 1931 which the Chinese Government is understood to have submitted for transmission by the Secretary General to all governments parties to that Convention, in accordance with Article 21 thereof.